Materials
handling technology supplier and systems integrator combines efforts with
Italian company to create a new company.
Staff
-- Modern Materials Handling, 9/17/2009
Diamond Phoenix, a full
service material handling technology supplier and systems integrator, has
combined efforts with Italian company System Logistics to create a new, dynamic
and fast growing company in the material handling industry.
System Logistics is a
global leader in providing integrated systems for pallet and case picking
operations, with solutions that include automated storage and case picking,
laser guided vehicles, system vehicle loops (SVL), and complete WMS software
solutions for automated warehousing. Diamond Phoenix is one of the world’s
leaders in supplying solutions for automating order picking and storage across a
wide range of industries, with systems for automating order picking, unit
sortation, case sortation, automated pallet handling and many other areas of
warehousing and distribution.
By teaming with System
Logistics, Diamond Phoenix will offer even more solutions, backed by the
creative talents of a global engineering team.
In addition, both
companies also provide highly innovative technology solutions for storage and
order picking. Diamond Phoenix will immediately offer the patented Modula line
of vertical lift modules (VLMs) to its clients, as well as continuing to offer
its patented SMARTdepot multi-bay VLM. This greatly enhances the ability to add
value through an ever growing range of innovative technologies.
System Logistics, with
headquarters in Modena, Italy, has been in operation for 30 years. Its
dedication to creating value through creative design and technological
innovation is one of the many reasons their acquisition of Diamond Phoenix will
ensure the continued growth of both. “We are happy to now be a part of a company
with such amazing capabilities. I really think we are well positioned to bring
our customers material handling systems unmatched in the industry,” states Tom
Coyne, president and CEO of Diamond Phoenix.
The merging of the two
companies brings 90 years of combined material handling experience. “The US
logistics market is an important investment for System Logistics. Diamond
Phoenix and System Logistics will now work together to deliver a wide range of
solutions from single bay vertical lift modules, each picking with carousels,
voice picking, to huge distribution centers utilizing AS/RS and automated case
picking,” said Mauro Pelliciari, General Manager of System Logistics.
The
transaction combines Diamond Phoenix systems design and implementation
capabilities with the global reach and additional technologies of System
Logistics. The combined companies will have a unique blend of complementary
capabilities to bring the best of system design and implementation to the world
market. Both companies have common values focused on customer care, innovation
and reliability with familiar, large company customer references
New Book
Takes Lean Step by Step
by Chris
Chiappinelli, MA Editorial Staff
Lonnie
Wilson, 20-year veteran of oil & gas giant Chevron and the long-time proprietor
of El Paso, TX-based Quality Consultants, this month published How to
Implement Lean Manufacturing, a guide to achieving the sought-after
efficiencies of the popular discipline.
Publisher
McGraw-Hill pitches the title as a guide to “proven solutions for implementing
lean manufacturing in an enterprise environment, covering the engineering and
production aspects as well as the business culture concerns.”
The book
is said to lay out specific sequences of activities that lean aspirants should
follow, and draws much of its authority from the case studies that Wilson
details. In addition to a rash of other techniques, How to Implement Lean
Manufacturing reportedly details how to assess your own “leanness”; how to
create and implement lean techniques in the production setting; how to set up
pull-based demand systems; and how to set up cell-based manufacturing.
In a
recent interview with the El Paso Times, Wilson explained the industry’s
nagging inability to truly effect lean structures and processes:
“To change to
a system of lean manufacturing, you have to make huge cultural changes in your
business,” Wilson was quoted as saying. “Instead of treating problems as
something to avoid, you seek out problems, you seek out change in your business.
It's all about changing things, and businesses do not like to change.”
The book is
available from Amazon or directly from McGraw-Hill
Economy has bottomed, recovery not
yet in sight
The economy has
probably bottomed, but the turnaround is at least nine months in the future.
By Bob
Trebilcock, Executive Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/15/2009
PARK CITY, Utah - The
economy has probably bottomed, but the turnaround is at least nine months in the
future.
That was the view
presented by Douglas Holtz-Eakin Tuesday at the Material Handling & Logistics
Conference, sponsored by HK Systems in Park City, Utah, one year after the
collapse of the U.S. banking system.
“The economy is showing
signs of hitting bottom,” said Holtz-Eakin, an economist, former director of the
Congressional Budget Office and former chief economic policy adviser to John
McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. “But I expect that growth in the second
half of 2009 will be flat, and I don’t see a return to growth until the second
half of 2010.”
That is gloomier than the
analysis from many other economists, but Holtz-Eakin believes the American
consumer is still too short of cash to begin spending again.
“Households have lost $14
trillion in wealth,” Holtz-Eakin explained. “Since so many are boomers who are
going to retire over the next 10 years, I see nothing but pressures for them to
keep saving, not spending.”
What might turn the
economy around? Holtz-Eakin outlined three scenarios.
1) Government spending is
one possible solution, but that carries a risk of government becoming an even
larger percentage of the economy.
2) Business begins to
spend again on capital projects to improve operations.
3) America changes its
role in the global economy from a net importer to a net exporter.
The challenge to either of
those last two scenarios, according to Holtz-Eakin, is that there are no
government policies presently in place to promote business growth or a pro-trade
agenda.
“I’ve
given you a pessimistic view of the economy,” Holtz-Eakin concluded. “But I’m
not a pessimist. Ultimately, Americans are pragmatic and we solve our problems.
I believe we will get out of this." |
design & install a high density bulk order selection system for a
leading wholesale distributor. The system involves a narrow aisle
design to be serviced by guided order selection equipment. The system
is designed around Steel Kings SK2000 roll formed product and includes
heavy duty wire decking and carton flow. 
impact doors to a leader manufacturer with in the paper and packing
industry. These doors will comprise of Albany’s UltraFast product and
will service various size openings up to 16 feet high and 14 feet wide
Nelson
Equipment and Diamond Phoenix have partnered to provide intellectual
integration and automation services for a customer providing small item
order processing. The system as being designed will be implemented in
the 1st quarter of 2010 and fully operational. The initial
system will store 16,000 items with the flexibility to expand as needed.
