The theme of this year’s HK/Dematic Material Handling and Logistics Conference, held in Park City, UT, September 19-22, was “Supply Chain Reset.” However, “reset” could just as easily have been referring to HK Systems itself, thanks to its acquisition by Dematic Corp. This marriage is a reset in that it represents the globalization of a heretofore North American material handling systems provider. HK will now be known as Dematic.

According to the International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA), The Miner Safety and Health Act, a bill before the House of Representatives, includes OSHA reform that will affect over 135 million employees - not just those in the mining industry.

According to a market forecast for Material Handling Equipment Manufacturing (MHEM) from Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA), industrial production increased significantly in the first half of 2010 even though factory operating rates (utilization) remained very low by historical comparison.

The Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) reports that overall industry orders (bookings) for the first six months of 2010 increased 19.6% compared to the same period in 2009, with total orders of $3.46 billion. CEMA estimates industry billed sales (shipments) of $3.09 billion in the same period.

I never thought material handling and logistics were rocket science until I met an astronaut. I didn’t have to go far to do that. He was in the same room I was earlier this week, listening to a presentation on batteries for industrial vehicles. It was at HK Systems’ – I mean, Dematic’s – Material Handling and Logistics Conference held in Park City Utah, that I met Jerry Linenger. He was the lone American on a 5-month mission aboard the Russian Space Station Mir in 1997. It was bad enough being away from his wife and family all that time, but a fire aboard the space station required him to not only think strategically, but also to think about the prospect that he might never see his family again.

That’s right. For a culture of safety to catch on, don’t prioritize it. Value it. Safety must become part of an employee’s—and a company’s—value system. Here’s the difference: A priority is something that changes due to outside influences and demands. A value is something that outside influences can’t change.

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