June - Modern Materials Handling

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usiness segment, but not the rightto use the FKI name. Therefore, whileproducts will retain familiar brandnames, like the Crisplant brand loopsorter, they will now carry the Intelligratedcompany name. As far asproducts and services are concerned,the company will continue to manufactureand support Alvey brand palletizers,Real Time Solution fulfillmentsystems, as well as other equipmenttraditionally offered by Intelligratedand FKI Logistex.While Intelligrated has beenstrong in the warehousing and distributionsegment of the industry, FKIwill enhance the company portfolio ofproducts with its high-speed sortation,conveyor systems, palletizing,paperless pick products, automatedstorage and retrieval systems (AS/RS),controls, order fulfillment systems,RFID implementation, EDS integration,baggage handling systems,warehouse control systems, and totalmaterials handling automation.“In the past, Intelligrated and FKIwere sometimes competitors,” saysCole. “As a result of the acquisition,we can now offer our customers abroader suite of software solutionsand even more sophisticated materialshandling systems than we could asstand-alone companies.”“We can now offer our customers a broader suiteof software solutions and even more sophisticatedGeographic reachThe combined business creates an industryleader in automated materialshandling systems and services, withthe capability of providing a full rangeof mechanical and software solutionsto customers around the world.Intelligrated purchased FKI operationsin North and South America,however, according to McCarthy, “Weare not limited to the Americas. Thecompany’s true focus is on the Americas,Canada and Mexico. By addingoperations through this acquisition,we further enhance our capabilitiesto do business anywhere in the worldand will look to do business beyondthose reaches with very strategicpartners.”WELCOME to the era of social networking. Become a fan of ModernMaterials Handling’s Facebook page. And don’t forget, you can follow uson Twitter at twitter.com/modernmhmagmaterials handling systems than we could as stand-alonecompanies.”—Christopher Cole, CEO and co-founder of IntelligratedDID YOU KNOW…Customer benefitsFor customers, the news is all good.“Our customers will benefit first of allbecause we are an operating companyin the materials handling business,not a financial holding company,”says Cole. “Our management team iscompletely engaged in the materialshandling industry; we grew up in it;we’re part of it; and that’s our focus.”FKI’s Ackerman welcomes thechange. “We’re now owned by acompany that wants to be in our business,”he says. “That leads to investment,which will in turn help to moveus forward in the industry.”For current customers, Cole says,“The center focus of our platform hasalways been customer service, andthat won’t change. Customers getthe best today from each companyand the best of the best as we mergetogether into the future.”Cole added that the companiesrespect the possible concerns of endusers who have millions of dollarsinvested in products and relationships,and says there is no reason forconcern. He says Intelligrated and FKIhave a mutual goal of creating a seamlesstransition, blending the two organizationswithout so much as a hiccup.“Every message we’ve put out there isfocused totally on the customer. Wedon’t anticipate any disruptions or anyinadvertent changes to what customershave come to expect.”“It’s very important for people toknow that the contracts that are inplace will be fulfilled, no questionsasked,” says Ackerman. “In the future,we will bring the strongest elementstogether to offer the best materialshandling solutions.”“When products do change, theywill be enhanced for the end users’benefit and customers will be offeredthe option of buying new andimproved or staying with what theyalready own. We clearly recognizethe massive investment customershave made in our products, and we’rehere to protect those investments,”explains Cole.Associate benefitsAnother key factor highlighted by theteam is the opportunity for growthamong the company’s associates.“We’ve been able to provide a lot ofpersonal growth opportunities for ourassociates,” Cole says. “We’ve beena strong player, one that has demonstratedgrowth in an industry that’s experiencingflatness, and we anticipatemore personal growth opportunitiesand responsibilities for our associates.”Don’t forget about the suppliers.The team believes that suppliers nowhave an opportunity to come togetherand help Intelligrated grow evenfurther by putting the best technologyin front of customers. “Overall,” Coleadds, “we have a great opportunity toenhance shareholder value and give agreat return to the people who haveinvested in our company.”10 J UNE 2009 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com
DATA COLLECTIONThe bar code turns 35 years old1974: PRESIDENTGERALD FORD was inthe White House; JohnRutherford amid energycrisis protesters won theIndy 500; “The Godfather,Part II” receivedthe Best Picture Oscar,the Oakland A’s beat theDodgers in the WorldSeries, and on June 3,the Universal ProductCode bar code symbolwas born.The 35th anniversary of the UniversalProduct Code (UPC) was recentlycelebrated by GS1 US (www.gs1us.org), the developer and administratorof the UPC for more than 200,000businesses in the United States.One of the world’s best-knownsymbols, the UPC comprises a row of59 machine-readable black and whitebars and 12 human-readable digits.Both the bars and the digits conveythe same information: the identity of aspecific product and its manufacturer.Originally developed to help supermarketsspeed up checkout, thefirst live use of a UPC took place ina Marsh Supermarkets store in Troy,Ohio, on June 26, 1974, when a cashierscanned a package of Wrigley’sgum. It ushered in extraordinaryeconomic and productivity gains forshoppers, retailers and manufacturers,with estimated annual cost savingsof $17 billion in thegrocery sector alone.Replacing individualprice-labeling with theUPC resulted in faster,more accurate checkouts,saving consumerstime and money. Shelveswere replenished morequickly, and stores wereable to increase thefrequency and varietyof sales incentives. Italso simplified productreturns and rebates.The UPC was quickly adopted byother industries looking to capturethe benefits. Today, UPCs arescanned more than 10 billion timesa day in applications spanning morethan 25 industries, including consumerpackaged goods, apparel,hardware, food services, healthcare,logistics, government and high-tech.“The UPC made the modern retailstore possible,” says Rodney McMullen,vice chairman of The KrogerCo., which operates more than 4,000stores under different banners ornames. “It allows us to carry tens ofthousands of items in a given storeand move shoppers through quicklywhile offering them many differentways to save money.”Integral to the UPC’s success is itsflexibility—usable on myriad surfaces—andthe foresight of the peopleINNOVATIONS IN PRODUCT IDENTIFICATIONThe UPC’s success has inspired the creation of new ways to identify products for thebenefit of consumers and industry:• The newest bar code, GS1 DataBar, can be found increasingly on coupons and looseproduce. On Jan. 1, 2010, its “sunrise date,” supermarkets will begin scanning andprocessing the GS1 DataBar, which can be configured in different formats to fit a smallerspace or carry additional information, such as “best before” or expiration dates, or lotnumbers.• GS1 Data Matrix, a bar code that resembles a random-patterned checkerboard, holdslarge amounts of data in a relatively small space as compared to traditional linear barcodes,and is becoming increasingly popular for a wide range of applications includingaerospace, pharmaceutical and medical-device manufacturing.• The Electronic Product Code (EPC) carries information similar to that within a barcode, but is read by RFID technology without a direct sight line, rather than beingscanned. The EPC also can carry and transmit additional information. In the retail environment,EPC can enable a checkout process that is nearly instantaneous.UPC timeline1974: First live scan of a UPC bar code;numbering system administered byUniform Product Code Council (UPCC)1978: Two-person office in Dayton, Ohio,was established to assign UPC prefixes tocompanies1980: 10,000th UPC Company Prefixissued1983: UPCC adds Electronic DataInterchange standard to its portfolio1984: Name shortened to Uniform CodeCouncil (UCC)1985: Introduction of UPCs for use oncoupons1989: Introduction of first standard forshipping containers1992: 100,000th UPC Company Prefixissued1997: 200,000th UPC Company Prefixissued1998: Introduction of global datasynchronization and UCCnet Data Pool2001: First UConnect Conference is held2002: Acquisition of RosettaNet2003: Formation of EPCglobal2003: Appointed Manager of UnitedNations Standard Products and ServicesCode (UNSPSC)2003: 300,000th UPC Company Prefixissued2005: GS1 US is created when UCCand EAN combine standards groups toform GS1; as part of GS1 family, GS1 USsupports adoption and implementationof GS1 standards and provides services tosubscribers2005: UCCnet combines with Transora toform 1SYNC Data Pool2008: Formation of GS1 Healthcare US2009: GS1 US-supported FMI ProductRecall Portal goes liveThe Future…2010: Sunrise dates for GS1 DataBar onloose produce and coupons in U.S. retailand GS1 Global Location Numbers in U.S.healthcare2012: Sunrise date for GS1 Global TradeItem Numbers in U.S. healthcarewho designed it with the capacityto identify millions of unique items.Although the range of its use was notenvisioned in 1974, when supermarketscarried a fraction of the inventorythey carry today, the UPC accommodatesthe creation each year ofmmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / JUNE 2009 11
Page 1 and 2: PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBU
Page 3 and 4: CONVEYABLESBREAKING NEWS YOU SHOULD
Page 5 and 6: VOL. 64, NO. 6®PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTI
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Page 21 and 22: economic stormHow satisfied are you
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Page 25 and 26: Want to savetime and money onINDUST
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Page 47 and 48: Executive Offices225 Wyman StreetWa

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