With the speed at which the technology that supports warehouse and distribution centers has advanced, how can you know what your facility will look like in 20, 10 or even 5 years from now? That was the dilemma facing the owners of Sheetz, a chain of service station convenience stores with more than 470 locations … Read more
For the third consecutive month, truck tonnage posted gains in April, increasing 1.5% over the previous month, according to a report issued May 20 by the American Trucking Association. That follows a 0.6% gain in March. The ATA’s seasonally-adjusted index (SA) of truck tonnage rose to 129.1, which is just 1.9% below the all-time high … Read more
A forklift battery manufacturer in Europe has developed a new type of lithium iron phosphate battery that theoretically, at least, never needs replacing. The new battery was unveiled by BYD Europe at CeMAT, the materials handling trade show that was held this month in Hamburg, Germany. It requires significantly less time and energy to charge … Read more
Here’s a special sneak peek at some of what you will find this week on the Bahrns blog: Summer’s here and so are the hot weather and longer daylight hours which can wreak havoc on your lawn. We’ll tell you what the University of Illinois Extension Service is recommending to keep your lawn in top … Read more
Sales of material handling equipment is expected to grow steadily in the coming years thanks to increased demand from developing economics and a resurgence in global manufacturing, according to a new report from a leading industry watchdog. As many countries ramp up their industrialization, logistics and materials handling processes are increasingly being outsourced to Asia-Pacific, … Read more
Just a few years ago, in the early 2000s, it seemed like everybody was talking about radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and how it was going to change the face of retail, manufacturing and many other industries. Now, more than a decade later, RFID is widely used in an enormous amount of applications, but has … Read more
Jason Dorsey, a forklift mechanic from Charlotte, North Carolina, is the first person to be awarded the master technician certification from UniCarriers Americas. Dorsey, who also was the first certified journeyman through the educational institute, has been a forklift mechanic for the past decade at Western Carolina Forklift. He completed the four year masters program … Read more
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has created a new social media platform where its members can engage, network, share knowledge and collaborate with other “mech-heads”around the world. Call it “Facebook for Engineers”. Just like Facebook, ASME’s new website allows users to create personal profiles, share links, post photos and schematical drawings, and comment on … Read more
Simple robots — such as the six-axis arm robotics used in automobile assembly lines and elsewhere — have been a common part of the workplace landscape since at least the 1970s. But ever since their first introduction, robots have always been viewed with suspicion by their human co-workers who fear they might one day be … Read more
Imagine a warehouse or distribution center that was fully automated. Robots, conveyors, computers and other machines run every aspect of the operation. Because there were no human workers, the facility could be run at maximum capacity for 24 hours per day. There would be no such thing as weekends or holidays. There wouldn’t even be … Read more
