MHI Industry News
   
Emulate3D Ltd.
   
Top Story
  
The talent gap has long been a top concern in our industry and the rapid retirement of baby boomers and COVID-19 are only aggravating the problem. This video addresses the workforce shortage holistically – focusing on how technology, data and culture can come together to bridge that gap.
Optimize. Connect. Automate.
The Raymond Corporation
Business is always changing. Always evolving. To keep pace you must run better, manage smarter. At Raymond we are committed to providing innovative intralogistics solutions that will optimize your business, increase productivity, accelerate insights through connectivity and transform operations through automation.
Learn more
Advertisement
MHI Updates
The Material Handling Industry (MHI) and the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC) announced recently MHI’s acquisition of WERC, which will offer expanded knowledge and educational resources to both associations' audiences. MHI has acquired the assets of WERC and will operate WERC as a division of MHI.
The Vertical Reciprocating Conveyor (VRC) Subcommittee of the Conveyor and Sortation Systems Industry Group has been busy. The group, comprised of the industry’s leading suppliers of these unique vertical lifts, has prepared a comprehensive paper to serve as a brief introduction to VRCs: “VRC 101: Introduction to Vertical Reciprocating Conveyors.”
   
J-tec Industries
      
FOX IV Technologies, Inc.
   
Hoists are used to lift and lower items not easily lifted by a person, making material handling tasks much easier. Operating and maintaining hoists correctly is necessary to prevent injury to workers. Toward that end, MHI’s Hoist Manufacturers Institute (HMI) has recently updated two documents to help MHI members and other hoist owners, users and maintenance staff operate and maintain hoists safely.
Technology and Innovation
  
The 8th Annual Innovation Awards recognize MODEX 2020 exhibitor products contributing to the advancement of our industry across three categories: Best New Innovation, Best Innovation of an Existing Product and Best IT Innovation.
If you have rugged devices, and I mean truly rugged devices – devices you can drop a brick on or drive through a dust storm without even a flicker on the screen – they could be reaching a ripe old age of five or even seven years and still be going strong. It’s tempting to keep using them, but with technology developing so fast, it may be time for an upgrade.
When the Doors are Open
Berner International Corporation
Berner Industrial Air Curtains: Maintain temperatures, keep out flying insects, protect perishables, de-stratify the air. Made in U.S.A., we make it easy to reliably give your customer an energy saving solution for the Shipping & Receiving doors.  Berner air curtains are engineered to perform, built to last, and are simple to install, operate, & maintain.
Learn More
Advertisement
Although supply chain, and supply chain management in particular, has historically been a male dominated field, disparities in gender and race are slowly starting to creep closed.
A recent WSJ article discussed the findings of a recent Gartner report on this issue. That report indicates that the number of women who hold top corporate supply chain roles has increased to 17%, up from 11% in 2019, which is the largest proportion jump this survey has seen since its inception in 2016.
   
Mezzanine Safeti-Gates, Inc.
      
Lean Factory America, LLC
   
University of Wisconsin-Platteville Online
UW-Platteville Online®
Earn a 100% online master’s degree in Integrated Supply Chain Management. Round out your degree based on career aspirations and earn graduate credit with professional credentials. 
Learn more today!
Advertisement
Manufacturing
  
The global COVID-19 pandemic has forced firms with global supply chains to reevaluate their models for resiliency and agility in the post COVID economy. Over the past three decades, companies emphasizing cost efficiency outsourced their manufacturing to countries that had lower labor rates – resulting in longer, more brittle supply chains. In this video, learn how COVID-19 exposed these weaknesses and how firms are seeking to balance cost efficiency with the risk of offshoring.
   
Stanbury Electrical Engineering LLC
      
Tennant Company
   
Supply Chain Trends
  
Cybersecurity is currently one of the top challenges facing supply chain and business leaders, yet many don’t realize how vulnerable their current supply chains are and what they need to do to create a strong strategy for cybersecurity. The Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) recently released a white paper on this topic, “Managing Cyber Risks In Global Supply Chains: The Four Fundamentals.” It provides supply chain leaders with strategic ideas, best practices, examples, and a fundamental management framework to reduce cybersecurity risk.
COVID-19 has had an extreme impact on global economies and has caused a quick shift in customer demand for many products and services. Supply chains have been driven to adapt to this disruption in both supply and demand. A new BCI report uncovers valuable insights by looking at levels of pre-pandemic planning; the impact on supply versus demand; how sourcing and inventory management are changing; the growing use of digitization; and how logistics outsourcing is changing.
Workforce
MHI and College Industry Council on Material Handling Education (CICMHE) are pleased to share research completed in part from funding by the MHI Spark Grant Program – Biomechanical assessment of two back-support exoskeletons in symmetric and asymmetric repetitive lifting with moderate postural demands.