2023 Productivity Achievement Awards

Modern’s Productivity Achievement Awards honor companies that made outstanding operational improvements through materials handling systems and related warehouse automation or software systems.

Modern’s editorial team selects finalists from the System Report articles published the previous year. A panel of industry experts then reviews the finalists in each category and selects a winner for each.

Finalists in the Manufacturing and Warehousing/Distribution categories are recognized for the effectiveness of the systems they’ve implemented and how these systems help them meet customer service, changing channel and business conditions, all while dealing with operational issues like labor availability or ergonomics. The “Innovation” category recognizes a company that successfully employed a solution that exceeds convention.

In addition to achievements in productivity, throughput or efficiency, winners were also judged on how projects inside the four walls complement broader business objectives or distribution strategies.

This year’s Productivity Achievement Awards judges were: Don Derewecki, senior consultant at St. Onge Co.; Eric “Mac” McPherson, vice president of client services with Open Sky Group; and Christian Dow, executive vice president of Membership and Industry Leadership for MHI.

This year, we had just one System Report focused on productivity improvements at a manufacturing site, Guardian Industries. And as a result, their worthy project gained the Manufacturing achievement award by editorial staff determination.

The 2023 Productivity Award winners are:

• Warehousing/Distribution Award: Medline
• Manufacturing Award: Guardian Industries
• Innovation Award: American Eagle Outfitters

The other finalists (excluding Manufacturing, where there wasn’t one this year) as selected by editorial staff were as follows: for Warehousing/Distribution, Pitman Creek; and for Innovation, DHL Supply Chain.

Congratulations to the managers of these operations as well, and a sincere thanks to all of those professionals who share their approaches to systems and processes in our System Report cover stories.