Major trade shows like ProMat are where we, as materials handling professionals, expect to find the latest and greatest in innovative solutions to bring back to our customers. While attending ProMat last week, I was definitely not disappointed. There were over 700 exhibitors and 80 educational seminars packed into just four days. Needless to say, there was much to see and do! This year’s show really seemed to have a common theme–energy efficiency.

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Out with the old and in with the new is a common phrase and common practice for most people in today’s world. For example if your toaster stops working, what are you going to do? Chances are you will probably just throw it away and buy a new toaster… out with the old, in with the new. However, if your car is having a problem, more than likely you aren’t going to just throw it away and get a new one. It’s too expensive for that. In most cases, you find out what the problem is and have it fixed.

I would like to teach you how you can treat your conveyor system more like your car and less like your toaster.

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As an officer in the U.S. Air Force, I was responsible for the phase inspection of our bomber aircraft. The team took the aircraft down for inspection, repairs, and preventative maintenance of safety-of-flight and mission-critical items. Our maintenance group commander, a colonel, constantly challenged our quality assurance (QA) pass rates on phase inspections. The goal was 96 percent, and on average, the unit hit that mark.

“Not good enough,” the colonel kept saying month after month.

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For most companies, warehouse efficiency has become a matter of survival versus the profitability goals of a few years ago. Thus, most companies are looking for even more ways to make their day-to-day processes more efficient.

Depending on the SKU’s mix, efficiencies in the picking process are as unique as the stars; but regardless of how efficiently items are picked, each individual order still needs to be packaged and marked for transit before shipment, making efficient packaging methods very important.

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Many material handling projects today include high tech “wizardry” such as robots, Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS), or Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV). These types of equipment all have their place and serve their function well; however, we can’t lose sight of the basic, less heralded, building blocks of a great system. One of these building blocks is a mezzanine.