ABB, providers of power and automation technologies, and Baldor Electric Company, a North American supplier of industrial motors, have agreed that ABB will acquire Baldor in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.2 billion, including $1.1 billion of net debt.

Datalogic will coordinate a research project funded by the European Commission entitled SELECT (Smart and Efficient Location, Identification and Cooperation Techniques). The project focuses on designing an automatic wireless system for identifying and detecting objects in real time within the supply chain.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has completed construction of a commercial production verification plant for lithium-ion secondary batteries at its Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works. The plant has a production capacity of 66 MWh (megawatt hours) of batteries a year, which is equivalent to 400,000 medium-size cells. Going forward MHI will verify various technologies as it aims for an early startup of full-scale commercial production.

Sealed Air has received the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain of custody certification and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) chain of custody certification. This allows Sealed Air to label its raw paper materials as responsibly sourced according to the leading FSC and SFI standards

Oakton Community College of Des Plaines, Ill., awarded this year’s $1,000 William Frick & Company RFID Technology Scholarship to sophomore Vincent Sutcliffe of Niles, Ill. “Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a still a young, emerging technology that is rapidly evolving,” said Jeffrey Brandt, president of William Frick & Company, producer of RFID tags and other custom identification products.

Housekeeping is among the most neglected aspects of lift truck maintenance. Think about it. If operators are running over debris, they’re not only damaging tires, but they’re not doing themselves or the products they’re transporting much good either. If you’re looking for opportunities to cut costs, walk the floors of your plant or warehouse.

Managing returns is one of the hardest parts of forging a service supply chain. A maximum return on your investment requires appropriate corporate attention and organizational excellence.

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CHEP Parent Brambles to Buy IFCO
Brambles Limited, the parent company of CHEP, announced the planned acquisition of IFCO SYSTEMS, NV, providers of reusable plastic containers (RPCs) in 23 countries, and of pallet management services in the U.S. Once approved by regulatory authorities, the transaction will enhance Brambles’ pooling solutions, creating an entity with sales revenue of approximately $5 billion.

Lift Truck OEMs Build Skill and Heart
Leading lift truck brands recently announced advances in hiring, training and investing employee time and talent:

Distributor Hikes Productivity 300%
KeHE Distributors, U.S. distributors of natural and specialty food products, worked with Intelligrated, a North American-owned automated material handling solutions provider, and system integrator Automation Dynamics to achieve 300% distribution center productivity gains.