MATERIALS HANDLING

September/2018

COVER STORY
Lift truck
technician
training p. 6
BEST PRACTICES

Rack maintenance
and repair p. 10
EQUIPMENT REPORT

MRO vending
machines p. 14
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 9/2018

INSIDE

6 Lift truck technician training:

Behind the scenes
More than just the oil and lube guys, lift truck technicians
must clear multiple hurdles to prove they are proficient at
all skills needed to keep your fleet running. Here’s how they
become so good at what they do.

10 Don’t underestimate
rack maintenance
and repair
14 MRO vending
machines gain
in popularity
Typically overlooked, rack Industrial vending
structure condition should be machines are increasingly
inspected regularly and be being used to stock, track,
repaired rather than hoping dispense and replenish
all is well. MRO inventory. Here’s
how they work.

4 Academic Insights
The changing tide of corporate-university relations 18 T EC HNI C I AN
Demographic shifts pose challenges as well as rich opportunities S PO T L I G HT
for supply chain companies that engage with institutions of
higher education.
mmh.com

Editorial Staff
Michael A. Levans Jeff Berman Peerless Media, LLC
Group Editorial Director Group News Editor Brian Ceraolo
Bob Trebilcock Wendy DelCampo Group Publisher and President
Executive Editor Senior Art Director Kenneth Moyes
Noël P. Bodenburg Polly Chevalier President and CEO
Executive Managing Editor Art Director EH Publishing, Inc.

Josh Bond
Senior Editor

Editorial Office
111 Speen Street, Suite 200 Framingham, MA 01701-2000, Phone: 1-800-375-8015

mmh.com MATER IALS HANDLING MR O / S E P T E M B E R 2018 3

 ACADEMIC INSIGHTS
By Anthony Ross, founding director of the University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Supply Chain Management Institute (UWM
SCMI);and Mark Kosfeld, associate director, UWM SCMI.
The changing tide of corporate-
university relations
Demographic shifts pose challenges as well as rich opportunities for supply
chain companies that engage with institutions of higher education.
U
.S. higher education institutions and corporate
America need closer partnerships today than
ever before. News and government outlets have
noted the fast-changing demographics in the
United States. In particular, Millennials and Generation
X and Y comprise the largest sector of our current and
future working-age population now that many of the Baby
Boomers have retired. For colleges and universities, this
is changing how education curriculum is being designed
and delivered.
For industry, talent identification and selection has
become more challenging. The old paradigm of only in-
teracting with college campuses when your company has
an immediate talent need is increasingly less relevant to
those entering the workforce. We live in the “experience
economy” where current and prospective employees
seek deeper engagement in work and education. There-
fore, large and small companies must re-imagine the
management of their talent pipeline beyond attending
career fairs and interviewing students.
Higher education institutions, meanwhile, must rein-
vent the education process by providing more hands-on
and interdisciplinary learning experiences. The indus-
try-university partnerships formed in the Supply Chain
Management Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Mil-
waukee Lubar School of Business are examples of allianc-
es at the nexus of real-world, relevant student experienc-
es with exposure to many industry sectors.
Collaborative involvement
Every year, thousands of new students arrive on college
campuses, and you should expect that many of them are
not familiar with your company. A traditional starting point
is to contact the career placement office at the university
to connect you with the correct student talent pool. Some
universities have a centralized career placement office for
all majors while other universities have multiple offices
4 Se p t e m b e r 2 0 1 8 / MATE RIAL S HAND LING M R O
Anthony Ross Mark Kosfeld
specific to certain majors. Typically, the top spring grad-
uates begin seeking full-time positions in the fall of their
senior year. So if you’re looking to attract top talent, it’s
best to identify students in the fall for positions that need
to be filled the following spring.
While typically companies engage with universities
through traditional on-site interviews and career fairs,
recruiters and hiring managers must be proactive. The
next level of involvement builds your brand on campus
by getting your company into a classroom or inviting the
students to your facility. Offering to guest lecture lets you
share real-world experiences and stories with students.
Contact the course professor directly, or if you are unsure
which course would be the best fit, contact the dean’s
office. You’ll want to do this at least a month before the
semester starts to secure a date. Consider building rap-
port with professors directly.
Hosting a plant tour is a great way to get students out
of the classroom. Contact the president of the university’s
supply chain or logistics student organization to schedule
a date. Plant tours aren’t typically a fit during class hours,
but many student organizations coordinate site visits
to local facilities. If you don’t have a facility close to the
campus, an office environment can still be interesting for
students if given the chance to shadow someone at your
company during the visit.
Sponsoring a scholarship is a third-level opportunity.
Some scholarships require the student to write a short
essay or provide written answers to questions. Others
give the student a problem the company is facing and ask
the student to describe how it should be addressed. Give
students at least two months to apply, but expect most
applications will be submitted the week of the deadline.
Also, make sure to avoid deadlines that coincide with
finals week. By going through the process to identify your
scholarship winners, you may have also identified strong
candidates for internship or full-time positions.
mmh.com
Creating further engagement opportunities
For an even deeper level of engagement, industry should
be identifying opportunities to collaborate with a universi-
ty on a company project. Depending on the nature of the
project, it may be suitable for undergrads or may require
the more advanced knowledge of a master’s student or
university faculty.
The university can help you identify the resources
necessary for the project. Some projects are conducted
with a class of students and some are conducted outside
the classroom. Projects that can be divided into separate
product lines, regions of the country, suppliers, and then
assigned to teams of students are a good fit. Since each
team has a unique data set, the company will be present-
ed with multiple recommendations from one classroom
engagement.
At the Supply Chain Management Institute, the
types of projects our students complete for our mem-
ber companies are typically either analysis-based or
research-based. Analysis-based projects either result
in cost savings recommendations or a new tool that
the company uses to make better business decisions.
Research-based projects typically result in a paper and
formal presentation to the company executives high-
lighting the key findings from the research study.
Examples of analysis-based projects:
• A logistics strategic forecasting tool for Goodwill that
recommends the number of forklifts, warehouse work-
ers, trucks, trailers and drivers needed over the next five
years.
• An inventory model for Children’s Hospital to deter-
mine how much inventory to have on hand for each SKU
at the warehouse.
• An analysis of truckload, LTL and parcel rates for
orders shipped from Briggs & Stratton’s Mexico distribu-
tion center.
Examples of research-based projects:
• Best practices for the evaluation of Harley David-
son’s service providers.
• The impact the widening of the Panama Canal
will have on break-bulk shippers (for Bentley World
Packaging).
• Best practices for internal orders at Rockwell Auto-
mation.
As U.S. demographics continue to change, higher ed-
ucation institutions and industry must adapt. Tremendous
benefits exist for all parties involved. The Supply Chain
Management Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Mil-
waukee partners with large and small companies at all
levels of engagement described here.

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mmh.com MATER IALS HANDLING MR O / S E P T E M B E R 2018 5

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 COVER STORY

Lift truck technician training:

Behind the
scenes
L
ook out across your facility for a minute. Focus on the
lift trucks. Now, look at a couple of them individually. More than just the
Do you know which one needs some preventive oil and lube guys,
maintenance this week? Or, which one is about to lift truck technicians
need an unexpected repair at the most inopportune time?
must clear multiple
Probably not. That’s why you rely on lift truck technicians—
to keep all trucks up and running as optimally as possible. hurdles to prove they
are proficient at all
But how exactly does that happen? How did these techs skills needed to keep
get in the game in the first place? your fleet running.
Materials Handling MRO wondered the same thing. So,
we talked to four lift truck suppliers about their technician
Here’s how they
training programs to get an idea of how they make it possi- become so good at
ble for your fleet to stay up and running. what they do.
To say the least, lift truck technician training is a big
deal. We talked to four—Crown, Raymond, Toyota and
Yale—but all major suppliers have placed a heavy emphasis
on training. Furthermore, they are all very proud of their BY GARY FORGER,
programs—a fact that came across strongly in interviews. CONTRIBUTING
Training lift truck technicians well has implications EDITOR
not just for the techs themselves but for suppliers and
their customers, too. The first step is to find the right

Critical thinking skills are just as important as knowing the

mechanics, hydraulics and electrical details of lift trucks.

6 Se p t e m b e r 2 0 1 8 / M AT E R I A L S H A N D L I N G M R O mmh.com
people with promising skills that can
be developed. But it’s not easy (see the
box on page 8). The next big challenge
is to build a career path for techs that
recognizes their mechanical, electrical
and hydraulic, and soft skills.
Interviews made it clear that lift truck
suppliers spend big bucks to make all
of this happen. No company would say
exactly how much it spends annually,
but it’s a significant commitment by all
to employ training staffs at the corporate
and dealer level. There’s also the matter
of developing and managing training pro-
grams across the country, even globally.
“Many people don’t realize the
investment needed to support a top-
tier training initiative,” says Evelyn
Velasquez-Cuevas, Yale’s director of
training.
Or as Tom Lego, Toyota’s national
manager of customer service and train- Throughout the years, lift truck
technicians have been critical to
ing, says: “Lift truck techs need to be keeping fleets up and running.
more than the oil and lube guy.”
But lift truck suppliers don’t all go
about training the same way. Different
models are at play to get highly trained
techs out on your facility floor. focused on developing high compe- real equipment. Raymond, for one, is
Crown, for instance, has 18 regional tency levels and critical thinking skills,” starting to explore virtual reality as an
training centers globally. In North he adds. instruction tool.
America, Toyota and Yale make exten- Justin Moore, Crown’s general “People learn in different ways,” Lego
sive use of centralized training centers manager of service training, says says. “Some are visual learners while
in Columbus, Ind., and Charlotte, training maximizes the value of techs others are auditory and tactile learners.
N.C., respectively. All suppliers we to customers and safety. We have to build our program to appeal
spoke with do some training at individ- to all learning styles. You can teach the-
ual dealerships, too. Nuts and bolts of training ory, but you need hands-on, too.”
At Raymond, tech training is known programs Or as Velasquez-Cuevas says, “we
as its Technical Development Program, Clearly, the days of traditional class- deliver effective training by modeling
explains Mike Ballas, technician devel- room training are long gone. Sure, the environment that techs will be work-
opment project lead. Its focus is on some class work is done using tradi- ing in. Eight hours of Powerpoint is not
standardized training and continuous tional printed materials. But, that work how people learn.”
improvement of technician skills. is overshadowed by videos, animation Clearly, all four suppliers we talked
“We train to have a positive impact and interactive e-learning programs, to prefer a corporate-wide standardized
on service levels,” says Ballas. “We are not to mention hands-on training on approach to training and demonstration

mmh.com M AT E R I A L S H A N D L I N G M R O / S E P T E M B E R 2018 7
 C OVE R S TO RY

A combination of hands-on and

electronic instruction guide the
training process.

training intensity throughout the year.

of skills to instructors. That said, each
company has its own approach to teach-
ing. Here are some of the more philo-
sophical highlights from each.
Raymond prefers Socratic question-
ing to maximize critical thinking skills so
techs ask the right questions up front.
Yale emphasizes that training is a
journey with multiple opportunities
to improve techs’ responsiveness and
flexibility.
Crown talks about building the con-
fidence of its technicians, both new and
experienced, in meeting new challenges.
Toyota sees its foundation for suc-
cess as making technicians a partner
to help customers.
Program structures
Building those programs requires corpo-
rate as well as dealer staff. One supplier
has as many as 20 instructors on the cor-
porate staff and another 70 at dealerships
around the country. In at least one case,
technicians spend a week a year at a non-
dealer training location. Others prefer to
localize the training at dealerships.
Crown and Yale offer a sense of
At Crown’s Atlanta regional cen-
ter, says Moore, one regional service
trainer and two service training
instructors are on staff. Class size is
limited to 12. When all eight of the
U.S. regional training centers are com-
bined for the scheduled 46 weeks of
the year, it results in 2,300 to 2,400
seats of training.
Yale’s Velasquez-Cuevas says corpo-
rate staff annually receives nearly 100
requests from its 38 dealers for three to
five days of training.
So how do suppliers train instructors
up to meet such demand?
A train-the-trainer model is popular.
In this scenario, corporate trainers train
instructors who are located at specific
dealerships. Sometimes, they meet
face-to-face annually while others are
less frequent.
There also has to be a constant
stream of communication between the
corporate training lead and instructors

Behind the scenes: Lift truck technician training

An open letter from Evelyn Velasquez-Cuevas, Yale’s director of training

F or all the discussion about technical labor shortages, the collective corporate
and educational community has been slow to react. Ironic, that in a world charac-
terized by faster delivery, increased automation and greater complexity, the skilled
labor it requires is in critically short supply.
We can solve this as an industry. Addressing a problem of this magnitude requires
all hands on deck, and it needs to happen now. Education and business communities
cannot wait for the other to take action. We all must work to find candidates earlier
than ever, and supply the training and mentorship to support them.
As an industry, we need to market technician roles as the critical, desirable
career paths they are. Likewise, high schools and vocational schools must provide
technician programs with tracks designed for industries in need of their graduates.
Such a solution sets everyone up for success.

8 Se p t e m b e r 2 0 1 8 / MATE RIAL S HAND LING M R O mmh.com

 COVER STORY
at all levels. All lift truck companies
introduce new models on a regular
basis and update those that are already
in the field.
Keeping that communication flowing
requires the lead to meet with engineer-
ing and product people as well as others
to know what has changed, communi-
cating that to trainers and technicians.
That, of course, requires updates to
training materials. Printed materials as
well as webinars, podcasts and face-to-
face meetings are used.
The heart of lift truck tech training
is for the newbies. Each supplier has
its own path that differs in terms of
how content is grouped, organized and
sequenced. Needless to say, all cover
mechanics, hydraulics and electrical.
Timelines differ, too, but hands-on
demonstrated proficiency is common to
all programs.
For instance, Raymond breaks train-
ing down to three phases, says Ballas. A
technical primer provides the foundation
knowledge. Scheduled maintenance
issues follows. The third phase is trou-
bleshooting and repair. There are more
than 90 modules in total, Ballas adds.
Crown uses a five-week onboard-
ing program for all new technicians,
which includes safe work, planned
maintenance, troubleshooting foun-
dation and customer communication.
This is in addition to the 40 hours
of training a year for all Crown tech-
nicians at a regional training center,
which is completed individually with
hands-on equipment.
As was said earlier, all require
hands-on training. Typically, a student
performs a skill under the watchful
eye of an instructor who then decides
on the level of proficiency. If it is
mmh.com
lacking, the student Next is the silver
repeats until stan- Companies level. Here, a tech
dards are met. mentioned in begins to specialize
Not all of training this article by truck model. After
is confined to the about five years, is the
truck itself. Develop- • Crown Equipment gold level—a deeper
ment of soft skills in • The Raymond dive on all of previous
the technician is a top Corporation proficiencies. About
priority these days. • Toyota Material 10% of techs, says Lego,
“Customer relation- Handling achieve the platinum
ships are as important • Yale Materials Handling level. This requires an
as maintaining the Corporation annual re-certification.
truck,” says Ballas. “All of those who
Then there’s the question of how reach the platinum level are eligible to
techs are recognized for their level of be considered to compete in an annual
overall proficiency. That differs widely skills challenge to be named the top
by supplier. tech of the year,” continues Lego. “We
Toyota, for instance, divides it into want to celebrate not only those who
several segments. To begin, the intent is have achieved that level but recognize
to train the tech to do proper preventive the best of the best.”
maintenance (PM) and routine servicing When it comes to the big picture
of trucks. The next level is called bronze of these training programs, Lego puts
and goes beyond PM to include trouble- it best. “Training lift truck techs is
shooting and repairs. Lego says Toyota about life-long learning. The more
expects half of its new techs to be at this they learn, the more they can help
level at the end of two years. customers.”
Some technicians are visual learners while others are auditory or tactile learners.
Training programs accommodate all learning styles.
M AT E R I A L S H A N D L I N G M R O / S E P T E M B E R 2018 9
 BEST PRACTICES

ON’T
D UNDERESTIMATE

RACK
MAINTENANCE
& REPAIR
Typically overlooked, rack structure condition
should be inspected regularly and be repaired
rather than hoping all is well.

I t’s easy to underestimate the importance of rack

maintenance.
To begin, the structure looks sturdy. It’s carrying
all that weight from the pallet loads stored in it. And as
we all know, racks do take a long time to wear out.
The two most common causes of rack
damage are lift truck impacts and the
abuse of day-to-day use.

“The common mistake is one of the most dangerous
mistakes: If the rack is not falling down, there is no
danger,” says Dave Onorato, vice president of sales for
Mac Rak. He tells the story of a plant manager who
gave a good kick to a rack column that brought down
the entire structure.
Additionally, “uprights and beams form a framework
that holds pallets with loads of product; to the casual
observer, these systems don’t look overly complex.”
That’s what the rack experts themselves —
Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI)—have to say
about underestimating rack damage and its impact on
safety in the facility.
Potential losses from rack failure include injury

BY GARY FORGER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

10 SE P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 / MATE RIAL S HANDLING MR O mmh.com

or loss of life, loss of inventory, business inter-
ruption, cleanup and replacement expenses, and
costly litigation. Clearly, there are serious conse-
quences to rack failure.
Several areas exist where damaged rack could be a
problem. And, any of them could be out of the line of
sight of most people looking right at the rack. The list
includes crushed or sheared frames, bent columns,
broken components as well as damaged footplates
and anchors, to name just a few trouble areas.
The problem is that damage to racks occurs as
a matter of course. And, not every time the racks
are damaged is a noted event. Unfortunately, rack
damage is cumulative, and the tipping point is
invisible, says Onorato.
The two most common causes of damage are lift
truck impacts and the abuse of the rack in day-to-
day use.
Accidental impacts by lift trucks are a common
cause of damage. So are poor lift truck drivers. In
addition, the wrong truck often operates in some
aisles while other aisles were originally poorly
designed.
Then, there’s the matter of day-to-day use beyond
lift trucks. In the interest of higher productivity, work-
ers can inadvertently cause damage. For example,
overloading is a problem. Furthermore, as the prod-
ucts stored change, there are often adjustments to
how the rack is used, often causing its own damage.
All of that said, what can you do to ensure your
rack structures are safe and capable of delivering top
efficiency for your operation? Quite a bit actually.
But doing that requires discipline and adherence to
industry-recommended procedures.
Start with an inspection
Talk to anyone about rack damage and two words
come up every time: preventive and proactive.
In other words, it is best not to wait for a crisis
to conduct at least an inspection. The objective
always is to retain safety factors and design capac-
mmh.com
ity, both of which are impacted by damage.
This comes across loud and clear from the RMI
and its members. In its FAQs, RMI says this: “The
storage rack system owner should establish and
implement a program of regularly scheduled storage
rack system inspections. The inspections should be
performed by a qualified person familiar with storage
rack design and installation requirements retained or
employed by the storage rack system owner.”
RMI goes on to recommend periodic inspections
for any damage. “As a minimum, inspections should
be performed at least annually. In a blog earlier this
year, RMI suggested that annual inspections were an
outstanding New Year’s resolution. Tongue in cheek
aside, it’s not a bad starting point, actually.
However, an annual inspection may not be enough.
A lift truck collision or seismic event warrants immedi-
ate review, says RMI. Other triggers include increased
product velocity as well as higher activity and traffic
levels.
It is also worth noting that the expected function
of rack structures often changes as a company’s
business changes. However, most rack structures are
designed specifically for an application that includes
a unique configuration and capacity. If that changes,
it is not uncommon for the rack to suffer damage
that may be entirely undetected.
There is also the matter of changes in building
codes. While the rack may have been installed prior
to current codes and grandfathered into compliance,
that changes if the rack is reconfigured. If changes
have occurred, an inspection is warranted.
Four other factors should be considered when
determining inspection frequency. RMI says these are:
1. Product value. The less expensive the
product stored in an area, the more likely the rack
will be damaged.
2. Aisle clearances. The narrower the aisles,
the more likely materials handling equipment will
impact the rack.
3. Transfer aisles. Rack rows with transfer
M AT E R I A L S H A N D L I N G M R O / S e p t e m b e r 2018 11
 BEST PRACTICES

Common rack damage that requires attention

Frame not plumb

Improper
Overloaded frame splice
beams

Frame not straight

Severe
column damage Broken/torn
components

Horizontal
and diagonal
strut damage
Overloaded frames

Missing/improper
beam connectors

Anchor damage
Severe
Footplate damage column damage
Missing/insufficient
row spacers
Source: Mac Rak

aisles are more prone to damage. Getting the repair right

4. Previous damage. Areas that have been damaged
in the past are more likely to be damaged again.
That said, RMI recommends the inspection
schedule and inspection results be documented and
retained.
To help with the process, RMI has published a “Guide-
line for the assessment and repair or replacement of
damaged rack.”
As John Krummell explains, the guidelines cover the sub-
ject from rack repair principles and options to repair assess-

12 Se p t e m b e r 2 0 1 8 / M AT E R I A L S H A N D L I N G M R O mmh.com
 BEST PRACTICES
ment, engineering and installation.
Krummell is CEO of Advance Storage
Products and was a key contributor to
the development of the guidelines.
He explains that the guidelines
are the outgrowth of the rack indus-
try’s effort to be more proactive and
to raise awareness of the dangers of
rack damage.
A point he emphasizes is the
importance of approaching rack dam-
age in terms of the entire structure. This improperly “repaired” frame is out of and locking mechanisms: Look for
“Look at the system not just the com- square and both the column and beams
are bent.
ponent when doing a repair,” Krum-
mell says. He continues, “this is not just a repair. You have
to know that the engineering is right—that the repaired
rack is configured properly.” That means an experienced
rack design engineer must be part of the inspection and
repair process.
Sal Fateen, CEO of Seizmic, is one of those engineers.
He developed a general physical inspection
procedure for this article.
The first step, he says, is to obtain a Companies
layout and elevation view of the rack. One mentioned in
must be created if it doesn’t already exist. this article
Also important is a review of any permits
originally issued for the racks, including • Advance Storage
loads and profiles.
Products
“The inspection of rack is two-fold. First
• Mac Rak
is to determine if there is any damage, and
• Rack Manufacturers
if so, define a method of repair or replace-
Institute
ment based on the level of damage,” says
• Seizmic
Fateen. “Second is to verify that the actual
loads on the rack match what the rack was
designed for and that the design followed appropriate
codes when the rack was initially installed.”
He recommends inspecting seven key elements:
1. Columns: Check for plumbness and impact dam-
age. Corner dents are more critical than in the face or
side of the column.
2. Base plates and anchors: Must be connected
to the column without any break in welds. Anchors
require proper installation to the concrete slab and the
mmh.com
nut properly torqued.
3. Frame bracing: Note any
shears, bends, buckles or loose/miss-
ing bracing.
4. Row spacers/structural
frame ties: Inspect floor location,
quantity and type.
5. Beams: Check for dents
deeper than 0.25 inches and their
location.
6. Beam to column connectors
damage to the tabs, studs, bolts or
any other connector to columns.
7. Accessories such as wire decks and cross
bars: Inspect for general condition.
Fateen adds that “any repairs that will be proposed will
need approval of a design professional, either from the
manufacturer, supplier or an independent engineer.”
Or as the RMI guideline says, “without proper engi-
neering oversight, there is no proof or
assurance that the repair is sound and will
yield a safe operating system.”
There are two common repair
approaches. One is replacement of dam-
aged components with new ones from the
original manufacturer. “When products
from different manufacturers are mixed,
appropriate testing must be performed to
validate the capacity of the mixed compo-
nents,” says the RMI guidelines.
Another option is a pre-engineered rack
repair kit that typically is bolted into the
existing rack structure to replace the dam-
aged components. The rack design engineer overseeing
the inspection and repair process designs the kit to meet
building codes.
When all is said and done, rack repair is serious busi-
ness that should not be an afterthought. Nor should
Joe do it because he’s a good welder. Instead, the right
response is adherence to strict guidelines and profes-
sional engineering to ensure safe and efficient operation
into the future.
M AT E R I A L S H A N D L I N G M R O / S E P T E M B E R 2018 13
 E QUIPMENT

MRO
vending
machines
gain in popularity
A
worker stands in front of a vending
machine, swipes a card, keys in a spe-
cific product ID code on a keypad, and
then waits patiently for the machine to go
through a series of motions and dispense the item.
Industrial vending He reaches down to grab the item, which isn’t a
machines are bag of potato chips or a candy bar, but a pair of
leather gloves. Donning the gloves as he walks back
increasingly being
to his workstation, he’s ready to get back to work.
used to stock,
This scenario is playing out across more factory floors these
track, dispense days as companies look to rein in costs while creating more
and replenish MRO “accountability” for maintenance, repair and operations (MRO)
product inventory. Rather than just stocking shelves and allow-
inventory. Here’s
ing employees to retrieve and manage their use of tools, fittings,
how it works. personal protective equipment (PPE), and other commonly used
MRO goods, companies are using vending machines to stock,
dispense and track these items.
The machines can be set up to require swipe or “code” access
BY BRIDGET McCREA, to obtain the MRO goods, and they can be configured to restrict
EDITOR AT LARGE access to certain products only accessible to authorized users
of the consumables and supplies. Gaining in popularity, the
machines are currently being used by about 24% of companies,
according to Peerless Research Group’s MRO Study earlier this

14 Se p t e m b e r 2 0 1 8 / M AT E R I A L S H A N D L I N G M R O mmh.com
The interest in MRO vending machines is being driven by the need
for accountability—or, knowing who has what tool or item at what
time, how it’s being used, the point at which it is returned, and when
it’s going to be available for the next person.
year. An additional 38% of respondents plan to explore the use
of vending machines for their cleaning supplies, lightbulbs,
nuts, bolts, screws, oils, lubricants and other MRO products
over the next two years.
Charles DeBerry, director of services for America at Ken-
nametal, says the growing interest in MRO vending machines
is largely being driven by the need for accountability—or,
knowing who has what tool or item at what time, how it’s
being used, the point at which it is returned, and when it’s
going to be available for the next person. Using the machines’
sophisticated software, supervisors can then generate reports
that can be reviewed to ensure the materials are issued to the
mmh.com
right workers and for the appropriate purposes.
“When people know they have to be more accountable for
what supplies or tools they take out of the storeroom, they’re
going to be a bit more careful about making sure they only take an
item when it’s really needed,” says DeBerry. Kennametal’s Tool-
BOSS, for example, helps companies improve MRO inventory
control; downsize existing, centralized tool crib operations; reduce
the amount of time it takes for machine operators to locate
required tools; and capture, compare and trend tooling costs asso-
ciated with the part produced. Such data helps identify problem
areas and opportunities for continuous-improvement efforts.
“When most people hear the term vending machine they
MATER IALS HANDLING MR O / S e p t e m b e r 2018 15
 EQUIP M E NT
Industrial vending machines give users
free access to the items they want and
need, and all without the need for a
middleman.
think about potato chips and candy
bars—the coil-type machines we’ve
all seen in the break room or the car
dealership,” DeBerry explains. “Those
machines have their place, of course,
but ToolBOSS is designed with drawers
and is highly configurable—from the
smallest items (e.g., screws and fasten-
ers) all the way up to very large tools.”
Reducing errors, improving
productivity
One of the most fundamental keys to
running an efficient and cost-effective
plant is having the right tool in the
right place at the right time. While the
cost of a milling or turning insert may
range from a few dollars to a significant
investment, not having that tool available
when needed can shut down an entire
production line or more, resulting in
missed delivery dates and lost profits.
“Vending can help reduce the inven-
tory requirement at the plant because
managers gain direct visibility to what
they have on hand,” says DeBerry, who
sees the machines’ reporting feature
as being particularly valuable in the
16 Se p t e m b e r 2 0 1 8 / MATE RIAL S HANDLING MR O
MRO space, where missing goods and
stock-outs are fairly common. When
an employee needs a specific lubricant
to get a machine back up and running,
for example, there’s no time to scour
the plant, chasing down the last person
who used it.”
And when control levels and account-
ability go up, says DeBerry, MRO spend
goes down. Saved time and improved
productivity are added bonuses. For
example, when employees don’t have to
walk over to the main MRO store to pick
up the parts or supplies they need—and
when they instead just use a vending
machine at the point of use—they can
get back to work faster.
“In the past, someone may have
had to shut down a machine, taken
that 10-minute walk, gotten hung up
at the coffee station,
and then talked to a
few friends along the Companies
route,” DeBerry says. mentioned
“Because they can this article
withstand pretty harsh
• Kennametal
work environments,
• SecuraStock
vending machines can
be positioned closer
to the users, thus eliminating those
non-productive minutes or hours.”
They’ve come a long way
Industrial vending machines have
improved significantly over the last 10
years thanks to advancements in tech-
nology and their applicability in the
manufacturing and distribution envi-
ronments. The fact that supervisors and
managers want better control of their
MRO inventory and spend is driving
demand for the units, as is the desire to
know “who took what item and at what
time,” says Leonard Bashkin, president
of SecuraStock, maker of the CribTrack.
“People want to be able to control
access to the products, and both the
end user and the distributor that’s
stocking the machine want advanced
reporting capabilities on the machines’
inventory,” says Bashkin, noting that in
many cases it’s the product distributors
that place and stock the machines at
the customer site. And while the ear-
liest vending machines weren’t very
well suited for MRO inventory (i.e.,
most were designed to dispense food
and beverages), new iterations of the
machines can handle a much wider
range of products.
“Every one of our machines is
made to be able to dispense any prod-
uct—from hard hats to oxygen tanks
to batteries to bolts,” says Bashkin.
“And you can put all of those items
into the same machine, store bulk or
packaged goods, and then dispense
them however you want
to.” In the interest of saving
time and improving worker
in productivity, the machines
do their jobs in less than
15 seconds, are made with
shatterproof glass, and can
manage 200+ SKUs.
Bashkin says CribTrack
machines offer a reduced cost of own-
ership equal to five times less mea-
sured as total cost to buy and support
machine vending a certain number of a
SKU, and that the company is working
to whittle down that cost even further.
“We make the vending machine to be so
ubiquitous that it becomes a no-brainer,
and so that it’s not expensive or arduous
to maintain,” says Bashkin. “For most
machines that industrial distributors
acquire on behalf of their customers,
that cost is then passed onto the end
users—in some cases without them
even realizing it, so the less they have
to bundle into the product price, the
better it is for customers who consume
that product.”
mmh.com
 EQ UIP M ENT

Keeping them honest

Like many other corners of the business
world, MRO management improves
when data, metrics and analytics enter
the picture. Put a vending machine and
its advanced software platform on the
manufacturing floor, for example, and it
won’t take long for the benefits to start
adding up. “The software that resides in
these machines is quite powerful,” says
DeBerry, “and enables functions like the
kitting of parts for certain applications.”
Let’s say a machine operator needs
a certain package of parts to run a new
job. After swiping his card through
the vending machine, he keys in a job
number, and then stands by for a few
seconds as five different drawers light
up. He grabs the five parts out of the
drawers, goes back to his workstation,
and starts on the job.
The software also generates reports
that can be automatically emailed to (or
retrieved on demand by) the appropriate
supervisor or manager. If a certain MRO
product hits a minimum or maximum
level, for example, the supervisor can
address the issue without having to phys-
ically see the inventory. Finally, the vend-
ing machines provide a secure inventory
environment for the goods, which can’t
be simply “picked off” a shelf. “Because
you can’t force the drawers open,” says
DeBerry, “access can easily be restricted
to specific users.”
MRO management improves
when data, metrics and
analytics enter the picture.
to make good purchasing decisions.
An MRO manager at an automo-
tive plant, for instance, may want to
see one report by floor and another
by department—with the associated
employee and product IDs—to deter-
mine usage and purchase require-
ments. Another manager may want the
same data organized according to work
order or the day of the week. These
and other reports are all obtainable
on-demand from the machines,” says
Bashkin, “with just a couple of clicks.”
CLASSIFIEDS
MATERIALS HANDLING
For classified advertising, or for more information,
contact: Susan Sammons, susans@caseyreps.com
847-223-5225, Ext. 14
Introduces
“Team-Up”
Safety
Much like their consumer-focused
cousins—which dispense food, bev-
erages and other items in various set-
tings—industrial vending machines give
users free access to the items they want
and need, and all without the need for
a middleman. This, in turn, helps to
improve operational efficiencies while
allowing employees to focus on more
important tasks. “They provide control,
but are also easy and flexible to use,”
says DeBerry, “while only giving access
to the people who need it.”
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mmh.com MATER IALS HANDLING MR O / S E P T E M B E R 2018 17

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TECHNICIAN SPOTLIGHT |
MHMRO: How did you get into the
materials handling industry, and what
do you like about it?
Ruiz: As a kid I would take things apart and
Daniel Ruiz put them back together or make things
out of spare parts in the garage. I joined
Beumer Corp., the Air Force out of high school and was a
manufacturer crew chief on C-130s. I gained most of my
and integrator mechanical background there. After that, I
became a commercial electrician and did a
of intralogistics
project with Siemens and Dematic. I joined
systems
Dematic in 2005. Then SKI Logistics offered
me a job as a commissioning engineer and
TITLE: then as electrical installation supervisor. I
Customer support engineer joined Beumer in 2010.
I like the diversity of being able to work
LOCATION: in different locations. The atmosphere
New Jersey is always changing. I don’t like doing
the same thing every day. Right now I’m
TERRITORY:
doing an installation, but next week I’ll
North America
be preparing for an installation and then
DUTIES: doing some on-site service work.
Remote support; on-site
support and service; MHMRO: What skills are most
installations and commis- important for someone in your position
sioning; upgrades and
modernization to be successful?
Ruiz: You need to be friendly and work
well with customers, and you need to
make them feel like they’re part of our
family. You have to have a lot of determi-
nation, too. Whether you’re completing a
project or performing service, you have to
get a lot of work done in a certain window,
so you have to be able to stay focused and
get everything done fast, efficiently and
correctly. It helps to be detail-oriented.
For example, last year we were working
on a shipping sorter expansion. I had left
for the day and was working on daily site
reports when the customer called the sup-
port hotline and was routed to me. Nor-
mally we can connect to the PLC remotely,
but for some reason I couldn’t. The PLC
looked like it had died, and we thought for
a moment we might need to replace it. I
went back to the site, got online with my
laptop and tried an overall reset. It worked.
18 SE P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 / MATE RIAL S HAND LING M R O
MHMRO: How do you stay up to speed
with all the innovation?
Ruiz: We do a lot of training with Allen
Bradley and Siemens. The office hosts
two-week classes with people from around
the world. Or, I might go to Germany for
training on the new Siemens programmable
logic controller (PLC). One time I was the
only materials handling guy in the class,
and I saw a lot of Department of Defense
people who use the same PLC on munitions
elevators on ships. It was interesting to see
how widely these technologies are used.
You have to cram a lot of information in
your head and become a jack-of-all-trades.
Then it depends on what customers want,
what equipment they specify, so you have
to learn it and support them. Other cus-
tomers don’t know what they want so we’ll
work with what is most familiar.
MHMRO: What tools and technologies
help you solve problems, and how have
they changed over the years?
Ruiz: Remote connections have changed
quite a bit. It used to be connecting locally
with a DB9 port on a laptop, and most lap-
tops don’t even have those ports anymore.
It used to be a dial-up modem, and now
it’s a virtual server, where one server has
every piece of materials handling equip-
ment and it’s split up virtually.
I’m not the expert on any of it. I’m more
like the tip of the spear for supporting
a customer. I know who to contact and
whether they can help remotely. I can con-
nect those experts to the customer’s site or
to my computer remotely, since sometimes
I have a better remote connection than the
experts do. That also avoids VPN tunnels
that can slow you down.
I never thought I’d be doing this, con-
necting remotely and working more with
computers. I don’t think anyone can keep
turning wrenches their whole life, so you
have to look long-term at how to sustain
your career. I think it’s exciting.
mmh.com
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