The best of Modern's Best Practices by John Hill
Modern’s monthly best practices newsletter was launched three years ago. Since then, we’ve published three or four practical pieces a month – more than 100 since the series launched – that highlight how the best facilities get the job done. During that time John Hill, a vice president with TranSystems and one of the industry's thought leaders, has shared his insights on topics as varied as how to do more with less, distribution elves, his first job on a lathe, and what his mother might think about your warehouse. Below are four of our favorite Hill columns from the past three years.

best practices articles of the month

• Warehouse management: The fine art of doing better with what you have
  An inordinate number of companies, excited by new tools and systems, continue to overlook the importance of taking a step back and assessing "tamer" options before running off to buy a "silver bullet."
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• Distribution management: Do you believe in distribution elves?
  Once, consumers took it on faith that their orders would arrive. Today, they want visibility into your stock, their orders and the expected delivery times. That takes more than elves.
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• Warehouse management: Investing in human capital
  Without an educated and motivated workforce, labor management systems and tools will take you only so far.
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• Warehouse management: What would your mom say about your warehouse?
  A 15-minute walk-through of a facility can tell more about operations than an hour in the conference room.
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other recommended items

• ProMat 2009 Show Daily
  ProMat 2009, showcased more than 750 exhibits and included a comprehensive educational conference. The event, held at McCormick Place in Chicago, offered an array of products to help improve productivity at your company.
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• Manufacturing: Council creates new logistics certifcates
  The Manufacturing Skill Standards Council has announced the creation of a new credentialing system which allows what it calls “front line workers” to become logistics certified.
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• Supply chain software: Field expected to grow, AMR reports
  AMR Research is forecasting steady growth for the supply chain management software industry for at least the next five years, and at the moment RedPrairie seems to be leading the pack.
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• Packaging: Bar coding and labeling drive packaging machinery growth
  World demand for packaging machinery is forecast to grow 5.2 percent annually through 2012 to almost $40 billion.
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blogs

• Materials handling: Making China "palletable"
  Takeaways by Tom Andel, Editor-In-Chief, Modern Materials Handling
  My first full week back from ProMat 2009, the showcase of state of the art materials handling technology, and what’s on my mind? Pallets.
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• ProMat 2009: For Manhattan Associates, it’s all about the platform
  Company Briefings by Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large, Modern Materials Handling
  ERP for the supply chain. That’s one way to think about Manhattan Associates approach to the supply chain execution space.
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• Supply Chain Apocalypse? I can't even spell the word!
  On Your Worst Behavior by Frank
  Did you know this is Armageddon Week on the History Channel? Every night there’s going to be a program on how close we are to the end of the world.
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