MHEDA WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

MHEDA welcomes new Distributor Member Alpha Forklift Inc. of Overland Park, KS, and new Supplier/Associate Member Molded Fiber Glass Tray Co. of Linesville, PA.

BREAKING NEWS

House of Representatives Passes AHPs

The U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 4281, a bill to create Association Health Plans (AHPs), which are health insurance purchasing pools designed to let small businesses group together to increase their clout in the marketplace and get lower insurance rates. This marks the second time such legislation has been introduced and passed by the House. In June 2003, H.R. 660 passed but was stalled in the Senate. Reps. John Boehner (R-OH), Sam Johnson (R-TX), Max Burns (R-GA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) and Cal Dooley (D-CA) introduced the new bill this spring, and it passed the House on May 13, 2004, by a 252-162 vote. It is expected to face considerable opposition in the Senate.

Several strategies for handling rising insurance premiums were outlined in the Spring issue of The MHEDA Journal which can be viewed by clicking here.

"Robust" Business Conditions Reported

Tax Relief Coalition (TRC) member associations are reporting that their member companies are experiencing "robust" business conditions. These include the Business Roundtable, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Restaurant Association and the wholesaler-distributors who belong to TRC. The overall strength of the economy is detailed in an economic analysis by Marty Regalia, chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A PowerPoint view of the analysis can be read by clicking here.

Unemployment Decrease

Unemployment rates in April declined in all four regions of the U.S., according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The South reported the lowest unemployment rate among the four regions at 5.0% with the West reporting the highest at 5.8%. Compared with March, unemployment rates were lower in 29 states with North Dakota and South Dakota the lowest at 2.7% and 2.8%, respectively.

LIFT TRUCK SPECIFIC SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

INDUSTRY BEAT
(what people are talking about)

Nissan Names Top Service Dealerships (Marengo, IL) • Six dealerships were honored at Nissan Forklift's National Aftermarket Conference as the Gold Award winners in Nissan Forklift's Service Excellence Program (S.E.P.): New England Industrial Truck  • Equipment, Inc. • Forklifts, Inc. • Liftec • M & L Industries • Michigan Industrial Equipment Company. Nissan Forklift will host dinners at the respective dealership locations for all six Gold S.E.P. Award winners. In addition, Nissan Forklift provides special S.E.P. attire for the winning dealership's Service Department.

New England Industrial Truck and Forklifts, Inc. were honored for having the lowest Warranty Return/Rejection nationally. Rick Hurley of Forklifts, Inc. was named National Service Manager of the Year. Steve Kent of M & L Industries was named National Parts Manager of the Year.

Dale Lewis (center) of New England Industrial Truck accepts his company’s ninth consecutive Gold S.E.P. award from Nissan Forklift President Mark Akabori (left) and Vice President of Customer Satisfaction Ralph Petrek.

Steve Kent (center) of M & L Industries accepts his award as 2003 National Parts Manager of the Year from Nissan Forklift President Mark Akabori (right) and Vice President of Customer Satisfaction Ralph Petrek.

Yale Recognizes Dealers of Excellence (Greenville, NC) • Yale Materials Handling Corporation honored 13 dealers, including 10 MHEDA members, with its Dealer of Excellence Award, as well as six Dealers of Merit and 13 Dealers of Value.

Dealers of Excellence include MHEDA members Joe Wilson, Berry Material Handling • Edward Otis, E.D. Farrell Company • Mike Pruitt, Eastern Lift Truck Co.  • Samuel Grooms, Hy-Tek Material Handling • Philip Robinson, Insley-McEntee Equipment Company • Robert Kehley, Key Material Handling Equipment Co.  • Stephen O'Leary, Northland Industrial Truck Company • A.D. "Sandy" MacKinnon, Yale Industrial Trucks-Gulf/Atlantic • Christopher Burns, Yale Industrial Trucks-Pittsburgh • Michael Dougherty, Yale Materials Handling-Dougherty Equipment. Non-MHEDA honorees are Kenneth Bonnell, Black Equipment Company • Clifford T. Anglewicz, Yale Equipment & Services • Gary Fairchild, Yale Materials Handling-Green Bay.

Back row (l-r): A.D. "Sandy" MacKinnon, Philip Robinson, Christopher Burns, Edward Otis, Stephen O'Leary, Mike Pruitt, Samuel Grooms, Joe Wilson, Kenneth Bonnell. Seated (l-r): Gary Fairchild, Robert Kehley, Michael Dougherty, Clifford Anglewicz.

MHEDA members named Dealers of Merit are Steven Greenawalt, Alta Lift Truck Services • Kenneth MacDonald, M & G Materials Handling Co. • Duncan Murphy, Riekes Equipment Company  •  Joe Clark, The Lilly Company. Non-MHEDA honorees are Skip Russo, Barclay Brand Ferdon • Wayne Hilliard, Yale Industrial Trucks-Fresno.

MHEDA companies achieving Dealer of Value status are Dave Bratton, Briggs Equipment • Mark Medley, Medley Material Handling Company • Robert Siano, National Lift Truck Service • James Orenga, Ohio Materials Handling • Michael Tynan, Tynan Equipment Co.  •  Greg Gammon, Yale Materials Handling Gammon. Non-MHEDA Dealers of Value are Kevin Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Equipment Co. •  Ken Sharp, H&E Equipment Services • Les Gobler, Hilo Yale Industrial Trucks • James Brennan, The Brennan Industrial Trucks • Bill Urbach, Yale-Pacific • Roger Ketelsleger, Yale/Chase Materials Handling • Steve Gallagher, Yale Materials Handling-Torrance.

Cat Lift Trucks 2004 Dealers of the Year (Houston, TX) • Five of the six Caterpillar lift truck dealers awarded as 2004 Dealers of the Year are MHEDA member companies: Hewitt Equipment Limited, Holt of California, Miami Industrial Trucks, Morrison Industrial Equipment Company and Wiese Planning & Engineering. Also honored was Nebraska Lift Systems.

Operant Forms New Company (Atlanta, GA) • Operant Material Solutions formed Operant Asset Acquisition LLC to "focus on the acquisition of assets—normally lift trucks and related material handling products—that come from defunct dealers or surplus inventory," CEO Jeffrey Welsh explains. In its first matter of business, Operant Asset Acquisition acquired approximately 275 used lift trucks to be resold primarily through Operant's branches in Atlanta and Middlesex, NJ.

Systems Material Handling Adds Gaughan (Olathe, KS) • John Gaughan joined Systems Material Handling Company as manager of business development. Gaughan comes to SMH with more than 16 years of sales and marketing experience.

Global Storage Systems Merges With Sister Company (Buffalo, NY) • Global Storage Systems in Buffalo, NY, merged with its sister company, Pacific Westeel Racking of Burlington, ON, Canada. The new company will be named Pacific Westeel Racking, International. Craig Keenan will serve as vice president of operations at both the Canadian and U.S. offices.

FROM TECHNOLOGICAL TO ALL-ROUND SOLUTIONS

DEALER BUSINESS SYSTEM SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

SALES SUCCESS STORY

Quality Lift Bubbles Over

Watkins Manufacturing is the world’s leading manufacturer of portable spas. Sold under several names through a global network of over 850 dealers and service centers, the company has sold more than 100,000 spas and more than a million aftermarket supplies during the last 25 years. Watkins’ spa sales increase at the rate of 8% a year.

A 20-year customer of Quality Lift Trucks (Chula Vista, CA), Watkins moved into a 110,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility to keep up with the demand. Watkins processes more than 2,000 orders per day, receiving either crated parts or full pallet loads from the incoming inspection area during the first shift. The second shift pulls the material needed for the next day’s production. Two production lines handle all of the production demands.

Jungheinrich’s ETX-Kombi lift truck serves dual purpose of pallet storage and order picking in narrow aisles.

The production warehouse racking system has more than 700 pick locations and the forklifts are kept busy stocking and replenishing the warehouse. Approximately 85% of the production items are stored in the racking system, while others are stored on the floor.

Quality's President Dennis Hines and Sales Manager Jim Turbyfill helped Watkins create an efficient storage and retrieval system in the production warehouse, utilizing a man-up order picking/stacking forklift that allows the operator to ride along with the forks to accurately store pallet loads and easily fill production orders.

Turbyfill and Hines knew that the Jungheinrich ETX-Kombi AC lift truck would be perfect for Watkins' needs. The trucks also come in handy for daily cycle counts. Every night, operators physically count each item in the warehouse. Without the man-up feature, each operator would have to pull the parts from storage, count them, and then re-store them. Now the operator simply elevates himself to the desired level and counts the parts.

The ability of the trucks to pick up and store pallets or crated parts from either side of the truck also allows flexibility in the design of the narrow aisle system, resulting in better use of the overall storage cube. This one truck gave Watkins the ability to receive orders in the morning and put full pallets up, and then order pick in the afternoon for their own shipments to send out to their dealers around the world.

PHOTO: MHEDA à Paris? Mais non. C’est Chicago. In 1964, MHEDA members gathered to discuss domestic and international business.
To view a larger image of this photograph, please click here.

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CASTERS FOR EVERY APPLICATION

MHEDA EDUCATION

Opportunity Management Tele-Seminar & Webcast • Join MHEDA June 28 for a unique 60-minute tele-seminar and Webcast, "How to Use an Opportunity Management System to Increase Sales," featuring Joe Ellers. This program will talk about managing opportunities with a company management system, and a live software demonstration will be part of this program. This sales training seminar is free to MHEDA Members. For more information or to register online click here.

MHEDA NEWS

Reserve Your Copies Now! • The July 2004 issue of The MHEDA Journal will celebrate MHEDA’s 50th Anniversary with a special commemorative, keepsake edition. We will highlight Fifty Years of change as we look at MHEDA’s history and the histories of individual member companies. We will also showcase the products and services offered by member distributors noting how far we’ve come (and, in some cases, how things have stayed the same).

As part of your regular MHEDA membership, you receive a pre-determined number of copies of the magazine. If you wish to receive extra copies of the July issue, beyond what is normally mailed to you, please let us know so we can print enough copies for you and your colleagues. Reserve your extra copies of the Journal by June 18 by clicking here to order, or call the MHEDA office at 847-680-3500. There will be a cost of $5.00 per magazine.

MHEDA-NET Looking for HR Personnel • A few more HR employees are needed to start a new MHEDA-NET group. This is a real opportunity for members to learn from other members in the area of human resources. MHEDA-NET will help HR specialists build better companies and lasting industry relationships. The group will set its own agenda and schedule to meet via teleconference on a regular basis. To join, contact Evelyn McWilliams at emcwilliams@mheda.org or 847-680-3500.

Currently there are 62 members in MHEDA-NET groups and new members are joining every week. Do yourself a favor and take advantage of one of the best services offered by MHEDA. There is no cost to belong to a MHEDA-NET group. Click here for more information. MHEDA-NET Is Members Learning From Other Members!

Link Your Company to MHEDA's Home Page • MHEDA has put together a special package for companies who reserve ad space in the 2005 MHEDA Membership Directory. Directory advertisers will receive yearlong product exposure in print and on the Internet for as little as $875. Each month, four directory advertisers will display their company logos on MHEDA's home page with a link to send visitors directly to the company's Web site. Logos will be displayed based on the date on which Insertion Orders are received. This offer applies only to MHEDA members and is not available to non-members. Call or e-mail Evelyn McWilliams to get the best option for your dollar. If you prefer, complete the Insertion Order Form and fax to MHEDA 847-362-6989.