NA 2006 eShow Daily Table of Contents
-- Modern Materials Handling, 3/27/2006
Day One Articles from the Show Floor | Day Two Articles from the Show Floor | Day Three Articles from the Show Floor | Day Four Articles from the Show Floor
Modern Video logs from the show floor:
V-log - Software updateV-log - Trends in automatic guided vehicles
Modern Audio logs from the show floor:
Audio - Materials handling equipment highlights from the showAudio - Information system highlights from the show
 Day Two - it's a ZOO at NA - a pictorial | |
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This is my blog from NA2006. I’ve never written a blog, never managed a Show Daily and never been on a business trip—it was a bit of March madness. Click here to read tales from the press room and anecdotes of the Show Daily staffers. ...Read Blog
- Noël Bodenburg, Managing Editor, Modern Materials Handling
Thursday, March 30, 2006
NA winds downs, ProMat gears up
At 3:00 p.m. today, the last of the show visitors will leave the I-X Center and bring an official close to NA 2006. By Friday, most of the exhibits will be crated up and put on a truck back to wherever they came from. A show that took five days to set up will be torn down in a day and a half.
Foundation selects scholars
Some attendees of NA 2006 will be here to learn more about materials handling for their present jobs.
Next stop: CeMAT Asia 2006
Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) will be leading a group of U.S. manufacturers to exhibit in the MHIA Pavilion at CeMAT Asia 2006, which will run October 10-13 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in China.
Konstant introduces bolted structural rack
Though they've both been owned by the same parent company for several years, Konstant Products and Pacific Westeel have operated separately until now. At a press conference this week, the merger of the two companies was announced along with the release of a bolted structural racking system.
Software boasts many options
SI Systems (Booth 2413) is highlighting both equipment and a software suite. The ergonomically enhanced LO-TOW vehicle is chain driven from the floor and features quiet, gentle operation. The Cartrac overhead conveyance is also on display.
Software helps small and mid-size warehouses
Sage Software (Booth 746) announced its Accpac WMS 5.0 aimed at greater efficiency and accuracy through increased pick rates, decreased errors, higher compliancy, and accurate forecasting of warehouse resources and demands.
Looking ahead to ProMat 2007
Today marks the conclusion of NA 2006, four days of comprehensive problem solving and networking to provide solutions for the complex operational and supply chain challenges faced by industry today.
System controls trucking operations
RACO Industries (Booth 549) features the Yard Director Yard Management System that supports SMTP email alerts, which are triggered when user-defined thresholds are crossed.
HighJump introduces labor management
Labor management systems that measure the real-time performance of workers on the floor are no longer just for the largest warehouses with 200 or more employees, said Chris Heim, president and general manager of HighJump Software (Booth 1632).
New packaging meets lighter volume needs
Known for its bubble wrap packaging solutions, Sealed Air Corporation (Booth 1000) is showcasing its line of foam packaging solutions. The product line, which gives custom fitting protection to shipments, premiered its Instapak Quick RT this week at the I-X Center.
Two SICK systems unveiled
SICK (Booth 2408) premiered two products: a volume measurement system, the VMS410, and the Pick2Light bin control system.
Pepperl+Fuchs shows encoding system
Pepperl +Fuchs' (Booth 925) acquisition of the PosiTrack Positioning System brings fraction-of-a-millimeter position feedback to a range of industrial and commercial applications.
Tabletop air pillow machines weighs in at 20 pounds
Storopack (Booth 3040), manufacturer of protective packaging and cushioning solutions, is featuring the AIRPlus Mini, which produces air pillows at a rate of 20 feet per minute—occupying less than two square feet of desktop space.
What it takes to stage at NA 2006
A list of numbers from NA 2006.
Light pallets for heavy loads
Novo Foam Products (Booth 602) has launched its Air Ride Pallet line, which combines strength and performance with lightweight construction. The pallet is only 11 pounds, yet can perform equal to pallets weighing four to six times as much.
CIBER offers supply chain advice and music trivia
Crowds of show attendees have gathered this week around the booth of systems integrator CIBER (Booth 837) to play the company's rock 'n roll trivia challenge.
More companies eye network optimization
Supply chain consulting and integration services firm ESYNC (Booth 940) is seeing more client engagements focused on logistics network optimization, driven partly by rising transportation costs, said John M. Hill, principal with the firm, at a press conference.
Vocollect moves into new markets
Vocollect (Booth 832), a supplier of voice-directed work technology, announced yesterday that it has acquired Adherence Technologies Corp., a maker of voice-activated documentation and communication systems for nursing homes.
Need for RFID training and certification
The development of training and certification programs for radio frequency identification (RFID) technology should help meet the needs of some 60,000 U.S. companies expected to fall under RFID mandates, according to Mark Brown, RFID project manager for International Paper's (Booth 1538) ASURYS unit, which offers RFID training and certification.
Planning in real time
Manhattan Associates (Booth 1032) is highlighting integrated logistics solutions and warehouse and transportation management. Planning in real time is what it's all about, and Manhattan solutions of interest are available in many categories.
Diamond Phoenix lowers costs with Next Gen technologies
The unifying focus behind next generation technologies from materials handling system supplier Diamond Phoenix (Booth 2234) is cost reduction. Via steps like streamlined control designs, the company is out to make solutions more affordable, said Larry Strayhorn, president, at a press conference yesterday.
Conveyor and ink jet printing control systems on display
Controllers for ink jet printheads and motor-driven roller conveyor systems were on display at Matthews Marking Products and Holjeron (Booth 2417), the electronic controls subsidiary of Matthews International yesterday.
CAPE widens product offerings to include order fulfillment, RFID
Long known as a provider of palletizing and packaging design software, CAPE Systems (Booth 742) looks quite different today. The company now offers warehouse management, order fulfillment, RFID, and picking software.
Day Three:
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Another record year for the industry
2005 was another year of strong growth for the materials handling industry. And while the rate of growth may decline this year and next, the industry expects to post respectable numbers going forward.
Supply chain execs share expertise
Day Two opened with the Executive Forum featuring a pair of top executives sharing their supply chain skills with an audience of approximately 200 show attendees.
Modern celebrates a night of productivity
Productivity is the reason why that's possible. And improved productivity is at the heart of the materials handling industry. That's why Modern Materials Handling magazine (Booth 2400) hosted its 16th annual Productivity Achievement Awards banquet on Monday night at the Renaissance Hotel.
Servo motors speed linear transfer vehicle
Linear direct drive servo motors have long powered manufacturing operations where high speeds and accurate positioning are required.
Industry well represented at NA
On behalf of the Board of Governors of The Material Handling Industry, Brian McNamara hopes you are finding your time at NA 2006 to be both productive and enjoyable.
Seminar focuses on voice- and light-directed technology
"Let math guide your decision," said AL Systems president and CEO Paul Lightfoot at yesterday's seminar "Voice is Best (except when it isn't)," which discussed voice- and light-directed picking and putting technology.
New application brought to an old science
IFM Efector (Booth 2439) premiered its optical distance measurement sensor at a press conference yesterday. The sensor incorporates a smart-pixel receiver element that has a "system-on-chip" design.
Gorbel expands line of lifting devices
Gorbel (Booth 1200) is showcasing its expanded line of G-Force Intelligent Lifting Devices. The line includes a 660 pound unit, which features a design that makes it suitable for precision lifting.
Thermal dispenser cuts through the tape
No more accidental cuts from tape dispensers. That's the promise behind a new tape gun from InnoDesk (Booth 749).
Wrapping it up
Caristrap (Booth 645) is featuring a range of safe, strong strapping systems that offer higher dynamic performance than steel, superior tensile strength and elongation capacity, better shock absorption and load shifting control with constant optimal tension.
GBI and TSI team to handle all sorts of sorting
GBI Data & Sorting Systems and Transport Systems (Booth 1608) announced yesterday at a press conference that GBI is now the exclusive distributor of the Wally Universal Cross Belt Sorter in the United States and South America.
Demo3D launched
Demo3D, a materials flow simulation system from Emulate3D (Booth 732), is a physics-based software capable of creating physical interactions between systems elements for debugging.
The Mule kicks around NA 2006
Making its debut at NA 2006 was The Mule, a hand lift truck developed by Beyond Products (Booth 506).
INTHER introduces two paperless picking solutions
INTHER Integrated Systems (Booth 1219) introduced two new paperless picking solutions. The company's new pick-to-light cart combines batch-picking efficiencies with pick-to-light simplicity, speed and efficiency.
Energy savings catalyst for conveyor components
Demand for conveyors using 24-volt DC roller drive technology is getting a boost from the energy savings potential, according to Interroll (Booth 2208).
Day Two:
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Crowds enjoy opening day - NA 2006 opens to record numbers
If there were a matchmaker for the materials handling industry, NA 2006 would be it. The show floor was full yesterday with attendees looking for new ways to increase productivity and exhibitors ready to share their latest developments.
Who's who at NA 2006
NA 2006 is billed as the most important materials handling show in North America this year. But what brings attendees to Cleveland?
Webb introduces automated trailer loader
The SmartLoader, a trailer-loading automatic guided vehicle, was on display yesterday morning at the Jervis B. Webb Company booth.
NA 2006: An educational resource
On behalf of the Material Handling Institute and Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA), I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to NA 2006. During your visit, I hope you will be able to take advantage of the most comprehensive material handling and logistics education opportunity found under one roof in 2006.
Take advantage of show services
Welcome to NA 2006, the largest and most solutions-focused international material handling and logistics show to be held in the United States this year.
Schneider introduces local control for conveyors
Large companies consolidating their warehouse systems are looking to retrofit a common drive control throughout their facilities. Schneider Electric (Booth 2809) is showcasing the ConveyorPak 500—a bundled drive control to mount to sections of conveyor—to do just that.
Unit load handling line now made in USA
Customers can expect shorter lead times and no overseas shipping concerns now that TGW-ERMANCO's (Booth 2202) unit load handling system is being made in the United States. Production of the Unit Load Conveyer (ULC) system in Spring Lake, Mich., is an outgrowth of TGW's acquisition of Ermanco in August 2005, which resulted in the formation of TGW-ERMANCO to serve the North American market.
Dimensioning system scans pallet loads
A provider of automated dimension scanning systems, Quantronix (Booth 1017) introduced a new ceiling-mounted cubing and weighing system.
Hyster introduces wireless fleet management
Industrial truck manufacturer Hyster Company (Booth 1513) is teaming with I.D. Systems, a provider of wireless vehicle management technology, to provide wireless technology for corporate and dealer fleet management initiatives.
HK Systems expands line of AGVs
With the introduction of new vehicles and improved guidance techniques, HK Systems (Booth 1524) expanded and enhanced its line of automatic guided vehicles (AGV).
Interlake demonstrates bolted racks
Bolted rack technology featuring uprights that use bolted connections versus welded ones was demonstrated by Interlake (Booth 2200). The racks are interchangeable with existing Interlake systems.
Voxware's toolkit aims for open voice solutions
With the official release of its VoiceLogisticsPro software development toolkit, Voxware (Booth 1243) says it has accomplished the second key step in supporting open, independent voice-based data collection solutions.
Scanner provides high read rates
Accu-Sort (Booth 2422) showed its AXIOM-X bar code scanner, which provides higher read rates, greater flexibility and lower total cost of ownership than previous systems.
Day One:
Monday, March 27, 2006
Welcome to Cleveland: NA 2006 opens today
NA2006, the North American Material Handling Show and Conference begins today in Cleveland, Ohio.
Several companies, including the Chrysler Group, are co-locating company conferences at the NA 2006 tradeshow. Companies are discussing strategy, exchanging ideas and developing goals to improve efficiency. Best practices detailed at the Executive Forum
The NA 2006 show is an opportunity to learn about the best practices in materials handling, logistics and the supply chain today. MHIA has partnered with ARC Advisory Group to present “Breakthrough Achievements in High Performance Supply Chains,” a special Executive Forum from 8:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 28 in the I-X Center Ballroom. RFID Education Center focuses on implementation strategies
NA 2006 will feature an RFID Education Center, located near the information technology solution center on the show floor, to help educate potential users of uses of RFID. MHIA welcomes you!
Colin Wilson, chairman of the Material Handling Industry of America, welcomes materials handling and logistics professionals to NA 2006 in Cleveland, Ohio. Browsing the MHIA bookstore
Come browse through the stacks at the show bookstore, located on the show floor (Booth # 1704) and sponsored by the Material Handling Industry of America. International visitors find a warm reception
Nearly 2,000 visitors and exhibitors from more than 60 countries will be in attendance at the I-X Center this week. In search of continuous improvement
Materials handling and logistics is not a once and done experience. Technologies and best practices evolve. Leading practitioners are on a quest for continuous improvement that will satisfy customers and give them an edge over competitors. What to do in Cleveland
Make it a great day in Cleveland! That’s the motto of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland. Listed here are several options for entertainment in Cleveland. All aboard the bus
Complimentary shuttle bus service between the official show hotels and the I-X Center is being provided from March 27 to March 30.
Modern Materials Handling recorded a live Webcast on the show floor of NA 2006 with Hydrogenics on the latest in hydrogen-based lift trucks. Click here for more information and to view the event.
Go to MMH.com home page | Go to Modern Marketing Services | View Modern's (and sister magazines, Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review) Global Supply Chain Conference tracks | NA2006 Exhibitors | NA 2006 Featured Products | Modern's 60th anniversary
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