Ideas for optimizing the flow of materials through distribution centers and manufacturing facilities and tips for making the best use of labor and mechanical and automated equipment—delivered through news and feature stories, case studies and columns. en-us http://www.mmh.com/community/Services+and+Best+Practices/48543.html?nid=4132 2008 Reed Business Information. Subject to its Terms of Use. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:20:12 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6578930.html?nid=4132 Factoring the diverse demands of customers into the profitability equation can be daunting, particularly when those demands do not fit your model for order fulfillment and delivery cost containment. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6578208.html?nid=4132 Best-in-class companies are using technology tools to meet customer requirements and turn them to their advantage. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6575890.html?nid=4132 Purchasing and supply executives in the non-manufacturing sector report contraction in economic activity overall. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6575071.html?nid=4132 Robust investments in manufacturing and infrastructure industries worldwide resulted in strong growth this year for the AC drives market. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574989.html?nid=4132 The worldwide market for GTM applications is expected to grow 10.1% over the next five years. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6575055.html?nid=4132 Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in June following four months of contraction, while the overall economy grew for the 80th consecutive month. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574248.html?nid=4132 Whether it's customized picking, value-added services, or meeting tough service-level and order accuracy agreements, customer requirements are a fact of life. Most facilities cope by adding labor and chalking it up to the price of doing business. That works fine when the volumes are low. But as volumes rise, along with the number of customer requirements, those additional labor costs can be... Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574256.html?nid=4132 Kisko Products, one of North America's leading producers and distributors of freeze pops and premium juice products, puts a premium on safety and materials efficiency as they relate to transport packaging. Cases are hand-palletized in loads up to 40 x 48 x 70 inches maximum height, or in half-height loads. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574244.html?nid=4132 The New Jersey Dunkin' Donuts DC switched from paper-based systems to voice technology and a warehouse management system (WMS) several years ago. When the new systems helped the DC rack up double-digit productivity gains, the facility's managers knew they had to share their success. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574245.html?nid=4132 Whether you're looking for a new warehouse management system (WMS), a voice picking system or RFID technology, you won't get your ROI unless you establish a way for the technology's secrets to be passed from one generation of employees to the next. I visited a facility where productivity had gradually degraded over the four years since they implemented a WMS. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574246.html?nid=4132 Readers sometimes ask how we choose each issue's topics. I tell them that mostly, it's by doing what I'm doing right now: Talking to readers. We'll begin planning our 2009 editorial calendar very soon. For Modern's editors, that will mean locking ourselves in a conference room and exchanging notes from all the industry encounters we've had over the past year. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574251.html?nid=4132 SHOW ORGANIZERS estimate 60,000 visitors attended CeMat (www.cemat.de), the “intralogistics showcase,” held this spring in Hannover, Germany. The 1,100 exhibitors at the show offered a treasure trove of new ideas and unique solutions to visitors' materials handling challenges. Automated storage SSI Schaefer's (www. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574253.html?nid=4132 Apple Computer traded places with Nokia for the No. 1 spot on this year's Supply Chain Top 25, a ranking list recently released by AMR Research. AMR praised Apple for anticipating potential supply chain headaches that could have followed the introduction of the popular iPhone with grace and efficiency. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574254.html?nid=4132 Supply chain software provider Manhattan Assoc. (www.manh.com) created some buzz at its annual customer conference this spring with a futuristic demonstration of a hi-tech supply chain command center. The demonstration starred “Dave,” supply chain manager for a fictional company, who stood in front of two flat-screen monitors that displayed data about forecasts, inventory levels and... Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574255.html?nid=4132 Buckhorn added Matthew Gerstner as director of operations…FORTE hired Ian Hobkirk as director of supply chain consulting…Fortna appointed Troy VanWormer director of supply chain consulting…HighJump Software appointed Timothy Campbell chief executive officer…Bruce Larkin joined the Jervis B. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574258.html?nid=4132 A recent “Green Supply Chain” study asked 250 corporate executives to identify the most important environmental issues facing their organizations. The most popular answer was waste disposal and recycling, beating out conservation of natural resources and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574259.html?nid=4132 While China houses much of the world's manufacturing capacity, global supply lines were little affected by the massive earthquake that devastated parts of China this spring. That's because the province of Sichuan, where the earthquake was centered, contributes just 2% of China's GDP, and the areas most affected by the quake are poor countryside towns, says supply chain consulting firm Tompkins ... Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574260.html?nid=4132 The NA 2008 materials handling and logistics trade show held in Cleveland in April featured 70 educational seminars, and now most of these 45-minute sessions are available for viewing online. Visitors to www.nashow.com can search for these educational “webinars” by topic. Each webinar includes an audio recording of a seminar accompanied by the speaker's presentation slides. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574264.html?nid=4132 Even with a slowing economy, all of the SCM categories showed solid growth. Those categories include supply chain planning and network design (SCP) applications as well as supply chain execution solutions like warehouse management (WMS), manufacturing execution (MES) and transportation management (TMS). Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 PST http://www.mmh.com/article/CA6574266.html?nid=4132 The Food Marketing Institute is planning to launch the Product Recall Collaboration Zone, a tool designed to standardize recall announcements. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 PST