The MHEDA Journal-Q3, 2022

THE MHEDAJournal IndustryCelebrateLeaders Expand Your Network. Educate Your Associates. Elevate Your Bottom Line. Summer 2022 From the best of the best to insights for emerging leaders and beyond

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5THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 contents Departments Chairman’s Perspective 9 Tom Albero From the Desk of Liz Richards 11 Ask the Board 13 Member Profile 23 Andrews & Hamilton Celebrates 35 Years Women in Industry 29 Kelly Kamlager: A Passion for Learning MHEDA Members Give Back 41 Trupar America Supports Its Community Money Matters 43 Turns Out the Great Resignation May be Followed by the Great Regret Education & Meetings Calendar 56 Leadership Lessons 57 Paying Attention to Leadership Over Management MHEDA Milestones 60 New Members 62 Advertiser Index 64 The Last Word 66 Features 36 45 Do You Have a Culture of Purpose? Or is it Lost in a Silo? 27 By Todd Cohen Reason To Celebrate 30 The 2022 MHEDA Convention was one for the books as attendees gathered to reflect on the past two years and plan for the future. By Lilly Chapa Cybersecurity and Data Management 36 Industry insiders provide tips to mitigate cyberattack risks. By Nicole Nelson DiSC: Sales Rebounded in 2021 45 The MHEDA DiSC study provides some key insights into exactly how the high-profit firms generate better profit Bynumbers.JohnMackay Lessons From an Olympic Mindset 52 Today’s leaders must develop a resilient mindset to improve performance in a fast-paced world. By Elsbeth Russell Five Tips to Creating Effective Company Goals 59 Having effective goals can help guide your team in their day-to-day tasks. By Jeremy Wall Special Section: Recognition Member Milestone Anniversaries 47 Dealers of Distinction 49

The MHEDA Journal is published for Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association 118 S. Main Street, Suite 11 Wauconda, IL 60084 Phone: 847-680-3500 • Fax: 847-362-6989 connect@mheda.org Liz Richards, Chief Executive Officer Jamie Aiwohi, Accounting/Office Manager Kathy Cotter, Director of Programs & Services Susan Freibrun, Education/Meeting Manager Rebecca Hein, Networking Manager & Meeting Planner Anna Marie Kendall, Marketing Manager Renee Murphy, Database and Member Services Support Joanne Piacenza, Membership Coordinator Katie Richards, Membership & Advocacy Manager Lori Zarling, Director of IT and Office AdministrationCoverimage:JULIA GARAN/ISTOCK

MHEDA’s media website includes featured articles, videos, comments and searchable archives for users.

Editorial correspondence should be sent to Liz Richards, CEO, Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association, 118 S. Main Street, Suite 11, Wauconda, IL 60084. 847-680-3500; Fax: 847-362-6989.

©Publishedconnect@mheda.org.Editorialjandreu@thewymancompany.com.Companysubmissionscanbesenttoby:2022MHEDA.Allrightsreserved.

6 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG Q3 2022

The flagship destination for all things MHEDA, including education, networking, membership information, cost-saving programs and more. www.mheda.org/journal

The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the Publishedpublisher. August 2022 Online www.mheda.orgResources

The MHEDA Journal is published quarterly: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Subscription rate is $40 annually. Not-for-profit and charitable organization rate is $40 annually. MHEDA members receive this magazine as part of their dues.

Advertising correspondence and materials should be sent to Jill Andreu, Publisher, The Wyman

The MHEDA Connection MHEDA’s e-newsletter delivers industry news and association updates to your inbox on the 1st and 15th of each month. Social Media MHEDA is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Look for us there and connect with the MHEDA staff, board and fellow members! MHEDA-TV MHEDA’s educational TV platform includes videos about upcoming MHEDA events, material handling business trends and more. Learn more by visiting mheda.org/tv.

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9THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

I’d like to start off by congratulating all the dealers listed in this magazine as winners of the Dealer Recognition Awards. You are the leaders in our industry and every time I read the names of dealerships that receive awards, I try to connect with as many as I can to network and produce ideas to help our dealership get better. Recognizing and cele brating success is the easiest thing to do to make others feel good, and at the same time makes you feel great in return. Why we don’t do this every day we come to work is beyond comprehension, but I’ve developed a personal reminder over the years. I have four poker chips on my desk that help me remember to recognize people in our office for their great work. I start off with four poker chips in my right pocket and move one to my left pocket when I recognize someone. Even though I do this every day, work life gets in the way and some days I end the day with four poker chips still in my right pocket. I am better now, but still could im prove.Inthe spirit of celebrating recognition, I would like to take the time to recognize oth ers while I have the opportunity. First, I would like to start with the MHEDA staff. What an incredible job they did preparing and hosting this year’s convention, which got back to the normal high number of attendees. They were on point every day thinking about po tential problems and solving them prior to anything going wrong. The magic of MHEDA is the MHEDA staff. I have never been part of an association that creates the magic at member events like our MHEDA staff does. Liz, Kathy, Rebecca, Susan, Anna Marie, Ka tie, Lori, Jamie, Joanne, Renee and Cindy (who’s not quite retired yet) all do an incredible job pulling together some of the best networking, educating and elevating our members’ bottom line. You are the best.

Chairman's Perspective

Second, I would like to recognize all the MHEDA MVP and MVS award winners. Both awards require companies to complete the MVP or MVS application that covers key ar eas of business excellence, letters of recommendation, a company effort to give back and documentation of involvement in continuing education. Your commitment and dedication to our industry is greatly appreciated. Last but certainly not least, I want to recognize the incredible Leadership Team and dedicated staff at Alliance for all your hard work. Your efforts in 2021 produced our best year ever and we were all rewarded with an incredible increase to our ESOP share price. Thank you for your hard work and dedication!  Tom 2022AlberoChairman of the Board Alliance Material Handling, Inc.

Passing the Poker Chips

I have four poker chips on my desk that help me remember to recognize people in our office for their great work.

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But wait, there’s more! Be sure to look at the amazing lineup of conferences we have yet to come in 2022. I hope you were able to attend MHEDA’s Emerging Leaders Conference on July 28 (read the inspiring lessons on resiliency from closing speaker Devon Harris, on page 52).

It’s so important for us to recognize who helped us along the way and to be mindful to do the same for others.

The Automation Solutions Conference on September 21 and Parts and Service Management Conference on September 22 will offer a great lineup of talented professionals who will share best practices and words of wisdom on how to strengthen these profit centers. The ever-pop ular Women in Industry Conference will take place on November 2. And if you want a “sneak peek” into Nashville, join MHEDA members for an Executive Idea Exchange on October 12 where members will meet in Nashville to hear from inspiring speakers and exchange ideas on how to grow and improve their organizations. Please check the MHEDA website for updates!

We are excited to plan next year’s program and provide you with the valuable education, networking and entertainment experiences you expect from MHEDA.

As always, I look forward to connecting with you! Please reach out to me anytime. 

This is one of my favorite issues of The MHEDA Journal. Recognizing MHEDA members who are receiving distinction awards and those companies that are celebrating milestone anni versaries serves as a reminder of how hard work and grit pay off. Congratulations to all the companies and their associates for these achievements.

I confess that I knew very little about country music before this visit and the three days spent there resulted in an educational and inspirational experience. It started with a visit to the Grand Ole Opry. Learning the history behind this landmark institution and the incredibly talented performers who made it into the “circle” was so moving. The patriotic pride of Nash ville’s musicians was apparent everywhere. We had the opportunity to meet a well-known celebrity songwriter who is also a major supporter of the Folds of Honor foundation, an orga nization that provides scholarships to children of fallen military. We talked about how MHEDA hired Lt. Colonel Dan Rooney, founder of Folds of Honor as our keynote speaker in 2016. When we said our goodbyes, he replied with “you’re my kind of people.”

Speaking of convention, as I write my column, I have just returned from Nashville along with two MHEDA team members, Susan and Rebecca. MHEDA will be hosting next year’s con vention in Nashville, April 29 – May 3 and the purpose of this visit was to plan the programs for 2023. The hotel is perfectly situated within walking distance of the “Broadway” festivities yet not so close to be disruptive. As our convention services manager said it: Close to the at tractions without the distractions. Perfect.

On a somber note, we were sad to learn of the passing of one of MHEDA’s own, Evelyn McWilliams who was an integral part of our team throughout the 1990s and until her retire ment in 2007. Evelyn loved MHEDA and MHEDA members who knew her will remember her poise, professionalism and award-winning smile. Rest in peace sweet Evelyn.

11THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 From the desk of Liz Richards

It was gratifying to read the Ask the Board comments in this issue and reflect upon some of the key takeaways from this year’s convention. Kevin Brown, who keynoted the conven tion with The Hero Effect presentation was a top one for me. It’s so important for us to rec ognize who helped us along the way and to be mindful to do the same for others. We don’t traditionally publish a response from the member who posed the question to the board but when I read the comments from Mike Ward, it really made my day. I am so proud of our team for the value we delivered.

Liz MHEDARichardsChief Executive Officer “You’re My Kind of People.”

My first takeaway from this year’s con vention was how much effort John Gelsimi no, Liz Richards and the entire MHEDA staff put forth pre-convention. Every detail was buttoned up before the convention start ed and it showed. All events were fantas tic and if there were any problems, nobody noticed because they already had contin gency plans in place if something went wrong. It made me think that we should all take a lesson from this and apply it to our ownAlright,companies.that’s enough credit to Gelsimi no. The second biggest takeaway for me was the presentations by Scott Klososky on Technology Integration of Humanity and Digital Maturity and a focus on data activa tion. As you looked around the room during his sessions, you could just see the looks on others’ faces as they were writing down notes frantically on the topic. We spend too MHEDA Board

Thomas PresidentAlbero,&CEO Alliance Handling,MaterialInc.

“What are one (or more) takeaways you learned at MHEDA’s 2022 Convention and what action steps will you take to implement them?”

“

I am using both of these as daily remind ers on how I can be the leader that I want to be, and my company needs me to be. The first one I use when I meet with fel low employees. As the president of a com pany with a “Grow or Die” purpose, it is my responsibility to promote the “Growth Mindset” each and every day. We chal lenge our employees to find 1% improve ment each day. Our vision is that we all have a responsibility to approach each day with a growth mindset as opposed to a fixedThemindset.second takeaway is more personal and serves as a good reminder that I need to constantly be aware of my presence. I’m a big bald guy with a killer “RBF.” This tends to make me “unapproachable” with those who don’t really know me. Presence is in the eye of the beholder, and I need to remember that the way I show up sends people a signal into how interested I am in them and their game. The main thing I am focusing on here is to Smile. It is so simple, but I fully believe this will improve how I show up and make myself more ap proachable.Itisgreat accountability to ensure that we maximize our investment in the MHE DA Convention.

Nathan PresidentStorey, Storage Solutions

13THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

Mike Ward, President V&H Material Handling, LLC, Harrisburg, Penn. little time on what will be such a big part of the future of our companies. Data is the most precious asset for our companies after people, and making sure we are taking ad vantage of this data and using it in ways to grow our companies at a more profitable rate is huge. I thought we were on the forefront of using data to our advantage and Scott’s presentation made me realize we still have a long way to go, and we need to embrace this journey with passion for the sake of our company.Iappreciate your board question as I al ways try to find a few takeaways when I at tend an event like the convention. This year I have focused in on two: 1. People live up or down to the vision we have for them. – Kevin Brown, “The Hero Effect” 2. Be mindful of how I show up. Todd Cohen, “The Profound Power of Presence”

Ask Your

Michael Vaughan, CFO Thompson & EquipmentJohnson Co., Inc.

Lori PresidentPalmer, REB InternationalSystemsStorage

14 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

A major takeaway that I took from the convention is the significant risk that com panies face relating to cyber threats. It is an ever-changing landscape that requires en gaging the right caliber of talent to evalu ate and implement strategies to mitigate the risks. We are currently evaluating vari ous cybersecurity consulting firms to devel op a risk analysis and then define the ongo ing measures that need to be implemented. This is an ongoing effort as we believe that the environment will only grow in complex ity and risk. The other takeaway relates to the pro gram put on by Todd Cohen and “Everyone is in Sales.” The program was very enlight ening as few “non-sales” employees be lieve that they are responsible for “selling” on a day-to-day basis. Engaging with these employees will help them realize that they have important interactions with customers every day, both internal customers as well as external customers.

The idea that everyone is in sales is not a foreign idea to any of us, but the message is one benefitcanweallfrom.

“

The MHEDA 2022 Convention had incred ible resources and information. It was amaz ing to see all the peers sharing information to grow the industry. We learned, we net worked and most of all we had fun. In my opinion there are two very important take aways.Thefirst one is the cybersecurity threat: it is a challenge to stop today’s hackers. As soon as I got back from the Conven tion, I shared the information about sever al presentations with my team. We hired a professional to make an evaluation of our level of security, as well as the prob able threat points we need to address. It’s important to see that most of the time, threats could be from the lack of training of our own associates. We need to constantly train and refresh them on many hackers’ new techniques. The second is the level of automation of our company: we had a meeting with all department heads, and the idea is to eval uate how many activities are done manu ally in each department that could be au tomated to be competitive, save time and improveFinally,productivity.Ialways like Brian Beaulieu’s economic insight report. He always had the big picture about the future of our industry in a couple of slides. Thanks to all MHEDA staff for this great convention.

We worked with three of our Senior Leadership Team Members who attended the MHEDA conference to put our thoughts together. After reviewing the takeaways, we noted we had already been doing some of these items, but we needed to im mediately start implementing others. A common topic was people, our team members, former employees, prospective employees, current employees and the fu ture/succession of our team. Whether you are a 60-year-old busi ness or a six-month-old business, your business depends on your team. We all want the best of the best. We need to hire right. Coach, train and mentor. We need to show our appreciation with recognition. Everyone wants to feel accepted, and ev eryone wants the ability to give and re ceive communication. They want our sup port and commitment. With this, we will getInretention.anytype of relationship, there is work expected from both parties along withAppreciationnegotiations.&Recognition – Most em ployees ARE in the middle of the curve, but we all tend to focus on the em ployees who are on both ends of the curve. In speaking to some of our newer employees, they told me that we need to let them become part of the senior lead ership meetings. They have ideas that are newer, and they have a better handle on technology that could save us time as a company. We always focus on meetings for newer team members and meetings for senior team members, but it should be a mix. These are times when they learn from each other. We have always done a personal shout out from the whole team regarding REBi versaries and birthdays. We also started sending cards and gift cards for birthdays. We always celebrate yearly REBiversaries at our holiday party every year. It’s fun to see those in the first 5 years alongside those in the 40-year category. We are working better at recognizing employees for their efforts. Not just the mind-blowing project someone may be working on but the day-to-day tasks that never get recognized but without that em ployee doing that job it would negatively have an impact on the company. It’s easy to shake a salesman’s hand for closing an order. But when was the last time you told your accounts payable team member thankAcceptanceyou? - In the meeting with some of our newer team members we asked them what we were missing, what would they like to add to REB? They volunteered to be our social committee and are work ing to add social activities to our workday. They are planning monthly lunches to help new team members feel more com fortable and a part of the team. This alsoGerardo Padilla, CEO SEIL Rentals SA DE CV

Pete Womack, Vice President of Sales Riekes Equipment

If you ask questions and if you want a truthful answer, be prepared to be able to answer the question or act. Employees want to be heard. We have monthly Lead ership and Senior Leadership meetings along with Process Improvement Meet ings. Our employees are given an oppor tunity to voice at these meetings. All our managers have an open-door policy, and I can be reached anytime of the day or night by any and all employees.

15THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 creates a bond with long term and newer employees. It pulls people out of their of fices and cubicles and has everyone eat ing and socializing together. We also have outdoor activities at lunch and breaks. We have walking groups, corn hole groups, you name it! It’s added laughter to the of fice and finally, you can no longer break the silence with a knife. Communication – When there is none, think the worst. We as a company need to remember to communicate across the board – office, warehouse and all remote locations. Everyone needs to receive the same message. If you don’t deliver com munication to all, don’t expect commu nication back from all. Listen when peo ple talk, and if you don’t understand, ask them what they mean. What are they and what aren’t they saying? Don’t always think your managers are working to com municate with their teams, your manag ers need continued coaching, mentoring and motivation. We all try to randomly have one-on-one meetings every so of ten just to test the overall temperature. While talking and meeting with our employees, we are going to create Town Hall meetings. We will try and do one per quarter and then if one is needed in be tween, there will be a shout out. Current ly, we are trying to find the best venue for the meeting since we have corporate of fices, warehouses and remote employees in different locations. We want to take it out of our offices and cubicles and into a venue where we can have a big screen to bring in our remote team members. Support – What is support? If there is an area someone is having issues with, we are working to coach and better ed ucate the employee with the task – we never criticize. The better we make them, the better the Commitmentcompany.–thisshould be mutual.

At the MHEDA convention in 2022 we listened to numerous speakers on a variety of topics. One of the topics that I found very interesting was the cybersecurity session presented by Mike Foster. Today, it seems like we hear of another company every day affected by a security breach or being held hostage by ransomware. After listening to Mike and returning to the office to evaluate our security, we found that what we were already doing was not enough. To be hon est we were just out of our league. Educa tion of employees in this area is a full-time job and one that cannot be taken lightly. We decided to hire an outside contractor to evaluate our processes and make the nec essary changes. This resulted in everything from new internet service, new hardware and even switching email services. The best part was that after all the improvements, we actually saved money.

We want employees to be committed to us and to our company but what is our commitment to the employee? We con tinue to check in with the individual and with the team to make sure everyone is good. We encourage honesty. Sometimes it’s hard to get that honesty and transpar ency from an employee, especially with me in the beginning. But I work my best to make them trust me and find I must prove my honesty, trust and willingness to act and not react. If there is an issue, we want to know. We then have an op portunity to coach and mentor to resolve the issue and it will make us a stronger team.Retention – After we have worked to hire, train and mentor team members, how do we keep them? Constant conver sations, constant check-ins, and the abil ity to give your employees the “want” to trust that they can be honest with you. Employees want to know how they can grow. We make sure we always try to promote within when we can. Our com pany is mid-size and it gives our team members the ability to know what their options are within their own team for the future. Sometimes someone may want to make a turn that we wouldn’t know about unless we communicate the position that is available to our internal team first. They want to know they are a part of a team. We encourage lunch and learns, team lunches and after-work activities. So many hours a day are spent in the office, people want to laugh and have friends along with doing their jobs.

“ You pick up tips, you build relationships, and you continue to cement your value to each other contactperson-to-personbybetterthananyotherway.

My takeaways from the 2022 conven tion were the following: “Everyone in your company is in sales” and “Building a tal entThestrategy.”ideathat everyone is in sales is not a foreign idea to any of us, but the mes sage is one we can all benefit from – ev ery conversation, whether in person or on the phone, is a selling moment and cre ates a lasting impression. Each time we an swer the phone, the individual on the other line is deciding whether they want to part ner with Riekes or not based on that one interaction, and they are saying yes or no to the entire organization. Never underes timate the influence and impression you may have, regardless of the title you wear Jim PresidentHammond, Valley Trucks,IndustrialInc.

We are grateful for your dedication, commitment, partnership, and industry expertise. We know the amount of determination required to excel at this level, and we are incredibly proud of your accomplishments. Congratulations on being the 2021 Dealer of Excellence Award Winners!

to Our 2021 Dealer of Excellence Award Winners Congratulations Learn more about our 2021 dealers of excellence visit: lindeforklifts.com/doe2021

This Is How We Keep The World Moving

First, let me say how invaluable I’ve al ways found the MHEDA convention. I don’t think I’ve missed one in over a decade. I al ways come back energized.

Speaking of culture, I enjoyed sever al key insights on that from several ses sions, speakers and casual conversa tions. How can we do better? What are our strengths and weaknesses when it comes to creating a better organiza tion and improving the work lives of our people? That’s my most important mis sion, so I always enjoy the deep dive into takeaways from Kevin immediatelyfromuponimpactful.wereSomuchsothatmyreturnconvention,Ibeganreflecting.

This is the second year we brought a wid er variety of people to the convention be cause I wanted more of our employee-own ers to have exposure to the resources and networking that I’ve found so indispensable over the years. Developing people is our top priority because we need to involve them in more than their day-to-day work so that they can think more strategically and make better decisions. MHEDA is a big part of that! The people you meet and the ability to compare notes with our peers has always attracted me to the convention. Conversa tions in the hallway, during meals or over a beer can be the best kind, but it goes deep er than We’rethat.always riveted by the ITR eco nomics session, and Brian Beaulieu deliv ered. We made sure that all our people at tended that session as we plan extensively based on the data and insights ITR brings to the table. You learn to throw out your per ceptions and biases and focus on the hard numbers of the upcoming economic envi ronment.

17THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 on a day-to-day basis. I say it all the time, our fantastic technicians are our greatest salesman when they are out in the field. Speaking of titles, I saw a name plate last week that said “Vice President of First Im pressions” – that young lady gets it. We are discussing this with all employees at review time and when we have quarter ly branch meetings it is part of the con versation.AlexChausovsky spoke about using data to attract top talent and retaining them. Yes, he said money was important in both aspects but there are many ways to attract talent and retain it. Some of his examples include: • Highlighting leadership/manage ment team and talent • Positive culture • Mission/vision/value statements that people align with • The industry you work in • The products you sell • Core values • Being competitive with pay • Opportunities to grow • Be flexible with hours and work from home opportunities • Make sure you do yearly reviews be cause employees appreciate them Riekes strives to be a leader in our in dustry, and we have implemented many of these ideas. Yes, it takes effort to do 230 yearly reviews, but it gets done. We have six core values that we live by: Innovation, Integrity, Performance, People, Collabora tion and Accountability. As far as the mon ey aspect, we are in the process of giv ing annual increases and Duncan Murphy, our president, made it very clear that he did not want to see any of our employees to go backwards because of inflation. That says a lot about Riekes. This is a tough question because to pinpoint a couple of key items is diffi cult. As always, the networking is one of the best takeaways but other than that, I would have to say the economic insight and the focus on cybersecurity were key to me. I know, at our company, we need to address cybersecurity to protect the sen sitive data and to protect against ransom ware. We are now working with our IT de partment to take more secure measures to protect against attacks. Brian Beaulieu always gives us an excit ing and interesting presentation. He helps clear up a lot of what we are seeing in rela tion to inflation and where he sees interest rates going. He also presents relevant mar ket outlooks that aid in our strategic plan ning and helps us to focus on leading indi cators to determine the risks we are facing in our markets. His message is not only in formative but also entertaining.

Thomas R. Duck, Vice President of Sales Florida Forklift Darein ofCEO/ChairmanGandall,theBoard Cisco-Eagle, Inc.

A lot of the best things we learned were about culture. I think we have a great cul ture at Cisco-Eagle, but I’m also willing to learn and grow in better ways. The discussion with Scott Klososky on in tegrating people and technology cut to the heart of not only what we do in our work ing lives, but also rings true for what we do for customers. They are also struggling with digital tools and technology changes, some of those in our solutions suite. Build ing an understanding of how people will interact with and be affected by that tech nology is critical—because it’s coming our way, no matter what we want or think. We had people at both his sessions, and ev eryone learned things we can bring home and use as we build our digital integrations here at the company, and with our custom ers and vendors.

At our heart, we’re a sales organization at Cisco-Eagle. I believe that there are only two jobs at our company: selling or helping people who sell. Both sides of that sentence are extremely valuable and both sides work together. Todd Cohen’s sales culture phi losophy has been a good way for us to de velop our sales teams.

“ These

The MHEDA convention offers an array of learning opportunities such as current business trends, motivational speakers, economic outlooks and more. However, the networking opportunities are price less. There are many benefits from net working such as sharing knowledge, gaining opportunities and simply raising your confidence. I like to take these ben efits and challenge our employees to in vest in themselves and raise their profile by networking within MHEDA and in their everyday life. I ask all of my team members to con sider joining a MHEDA-NET group, attend a MHEDA regional meeting, social occa sion or any other material handling event. But we don’t stop there – they can net work anywhere, so we suggest they talk to someone new. It doesn’t matter if it’s at church, on a plane flight or a little league game. Networking teaches them how to ask questions and to listen. It’s natural for networking to lead to opportunities. The only thing you don’t know is when or how they’ll appear. It might be a referral, a partnership, or a request for your prod uct offerings. It’s critical to seize these op portunities when they arise.

other by person-to-person contact better than any other way. You also get a chance to meet new vendors and people who can help you help your customers. When it comes to implementing what we’ve learned, we will bake it into our stra tegic planning efforts. We always strive to bring ideas to the table that we pick up at MHEDA in those sessions. It’s important for us to always look forward, and the things we learned at the convention helps us think of the future as we plan and operate.

employee culture you get at MHEDA. If I learn nothing else, that’s enough to make the trip and the time worthwhile to me. Of course, I must mention the vendor ex hibit hall and expo. Meeting with our ven dor partners and introducing key players to our people is important to me. Finding time for people who may never have met at all, or who have only met over web confer ences and phone calls is always great. You pick up tips, you build relationships, and you continue to cement your value to each

In short, networking at the MHEDA con vention is a powerful take-away that can raise your profile and help you gain op portunities. If you have not been to one, you are missing out. Sign-up and hope fully we can connect. 17/11/20 4:05 PM

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In addition, the more people network by pushing themselves to talk to people they don’t know, the more their confidence will increase. By attending business conven tions and social events, people become recognizable. This helps to build a rep utation of being a knowledgeable, reli able and supportive person. Also, within a group, it’s possible that there will be peo ple who have been where they are now. This gives them the chance to learn from others’ mistakes and avoid some of the difficulties they encountered.

Darin PresidentBoik, CompanyEquipmentAdvanced

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The greatest takeaway that came from convention for me: Getting to meet and discuss ideas face to face with members of a new MHEDA Net Group (my second) that was put to gether over the last couple of months. This group for MHEDA companies with a dock and door division has now met via web conference. The value I am receiving more than pays for convention. One of the many takeaways that I focused on first came from the presentation by Kevin Brown, “The Hero Effect: Creating a Culture of Heroes at Every Level.” Kevin outlined four important things he learned about heroes: 1. Heroes Help People a. Most people are only willing to be help ful if there is a return on their invest ment. b. Heroes help people with no strings at tached 2. Heroes create an exceptional experience for everyone at work and at home a. Heroes are intentional b. Heroes leave nothing to chance 3. Heroes take 100% responsibility for the life and every circumstance within it a. What can I do with what I have 4. Heroes see life through a lens of optimism a. In the absence of heroes, everyone be comes commodities and compete on Influenceprice is a two-way street. We give very little thought as to whom we allow to influence us. We never forget the voice of influence in our lives. The words “I’m proud of you” are the most powerful words out side of “I love you” and we don’t use those wordsTheseenough.takeaways from Kevin were im pactful. So much so that upon my return from convention, I immediately began re flecting. Near his conclusion, he asked: a. Can you look in the mirror and see the faces that make you better? Self-made is a myth. b. Who looks in the mirror and sees your face? c. Who says they are better because you were there and gave support?

d. You don’t know what people are deal ing with when they enter your space. Focusing on his questions, you begin to evaluate how you are leading currently and how through the lens of others can you im prove as a leader. Self reflection and abili ty to change are key to becoming stronger, more valuable leaders. Kevin pointed out that if you have breath in your body, you have work to do. There is a version of you inside that you need to bring out. This space he described is called now, and the people in it are not at all by accident.

19THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

Greg PresidentBrown, W.W. Cannon, LLC STRONGER THAN than

andFinancingheavywithoutFinancingtheliftingoptionsforyouyourcustomers • Fleet rental structures • New and used equipment financing • Capital and operating leases with bundled cit.com/MHEDAMHEDA@cit.commaintenance “There was something for everyone at convention.the

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I attended the convention searching for specific business solu tions and discovered several choices pertaining to each concern. A plethora of industry-specific resources with products and ser vices will improve my business. My personal mission was accom plished, and we are excited to implement several projects to im prove our marketing and workflow. I greatly appreciate the Board’s responses to my question. Hav ing access to these successful industry insiders has been benefi cial to my business. The Board Members, along with the profes sional MHEDA staff, reaffirms our decision to join MHEDA just last year. It’s been a crazy couple of years but understanding how so many of us are facing similar changes and opportunities has been reassuring. Looking forward to seeing everyone again in Nash ville next year.

20 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG



We have incorporated leadership training and culture training into our organization and the value it has provided is immeasurable, how ever Kevin’s presentation provided me with a different way to selfevaluate and a desire to share this with other leaders within our or ganization.Igreatly

appreciate the time and feedback from each board member. Everyone seemed to have different highlights and take aways and that there was something for everyone at the con vention. The common thread was that the convention was in formative, interactive, thought provoking and the networking opportunities were outstanding. The socializing was second to none, as well. The convention in Orlando was the first MHEDA Convention I have attended. I found it valuable to reconnect with past re lationships, which have grown distant during the pandemic. It was naturally a terrific opportunity to generate new supplier con tacts. It was beneficial to get to know many small business own ers like myself and get their perspective on how they are manag ing this changing industry. Big or small, we all seemed to share common issues of employee retention, compensation, recruiting, incentives, business controls, marketing, ROI, lead time impacts, cost escalation, cybersecurity and process optimization. Another common thread was the uncertain outlook for the economy while being excited in realizing the vast opportunities that exist with in our industry.

A Message from Mike Ward V&HPresidentMaterial Handling, LLC

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As Bernie was building his career, he was also growing his family, including three sons, John, Jim, and Joe, and one daughter, Alice. After 30 years with Republic, including moves to Miami, Atlanta, Buffalo and Bing hamton, New York, Bernie and Cathy moved to Canton, Ohio, where Bernie retired. But that wasn’t the end of Bernie’s story.

Member Profile Andrews & Hamilton Co. Celebrates 35 Years

By Lindsey Quick Bernie Andrews had already retired from a successful career before he founded An drews & Hamilton in April 1987. Bernie’s work ethic had been formed at an early age: Family legend has it that his mom changed his birth certificate at the age of 12 in order to allow him to go to a summer work camp in “BernieVermont.has been working ever since,” said John Andrews, Bernie’s son, and gen eral manager at Andrews & Hamilton. Bernie graduated from Villanova Uni versity with a degree in civil engineering and moved with his wife, Cathy, to Young town, Ohio, to begin his career with Repub lic Steel, a leading supplier of Special Bar Quality (SBQ) steel bars, a highly engineered product used in axles, drive shafts, suspen sion rods and other components of automo biles, off-highway vehicles and industrial equipment. Bernie worked in various divi sions across Republic, from reinforcing bars and joists to corrugated steel pipe, and end ing with the storage products division.

For some, beginning work at an early age and working a full career as an adult would have been enough. But Bernie wasn’t quite ready to call it quits. He had connected with

Through good times and bad, this family business has weathered the storm and continues to come out on top

23THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

Bill Hamilton, owner of the WA Hamilton Company in Belts ville, Maryland, and in April 1987, the two discussed the idea of Bernie relocating to Maryland to work for the compa ny. In the midst of these discussions, however, a distributor in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced their plans to go out of business. As a result, Bernie and Bill changed course and decided to start Andrews & Hamilton. The new plan would be that one of Bill’s sons would work at Andrews & Hamil ton in North Carolina and another would go to work at WA Hamilton in Maryland. However, plans changed again after Bill Hamilton’s untimely death in September 1987. The Andrews family pivoted once again. Bernie’s sons John and Jim joined the company, opened the installation arm of the business, and have been key drivers of the busi ness ever since. Over time, the two transitioned into sales, with John continuing to have a hand in the operations side. Their sister, Alice Lynch, started with the company short ly thereafter and also played a vital role in the early years. Bernie’s wife Cathy joined the company as the accountant, and John said Cathy regularly joked that accounting wasn’t much different than narcotics control in the hospital where she had been a registered nurse prior to joining Andrews & Hamilton.“In1987, we started with a small cargo van, a dock plate and a pallet jack in a small 1,500-square-foot warehouse near the airport,” John said. “Our projects in 1987 were small er and required more internal resources to accomplish.” As the company began to grow, they were able to learn from past mistakes. “With experience, we were able to foresee the pit falls that made us struggle in the beginning,” said John. “We grew slowly over the years and were fortunate to weather some of the turbulent times in the economy.”

24 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

“The shear stubborn determination and hard work of our founders, Bernie and Cathy Andrews,” he said. “We moved to Raleigh not knowing a single person. Through my par ents’ ability to build relationships and put customers first, we’ve had the good fortune to work with many successful companies and their people in our market. They have thanked us with repeat business and referrals to their friends, neighbors and coworkers.” The foundation built by Bernie and Cathy has led to a strong business that continues to grow. “In the beginning it was just the fami ly, with Mom, Dad, my brother, Jim, my sister, Alice, and me,” John said. “Today we are close to 20 total employees and 60,000 square feet of warehouse space. Everyone working to gether and doing their part to provide solu tions that help our customers succeed.”

“That’s not likely to change, whether it is in ternet-based or catalog-based.” John believes customers need the experience, advice and knowledge that a local distributor provides.

As for Bernie, after beginning his working life at the age of 12 and working a full career, followed by founding a successful business celebrating 35 years in business, it’s hard to believe he’ll be able to fully step away, es pecially when that business was founded on changing plans. When asked what he plans to do in his retirement, his reply left opportu nity for another pivot. “That’s the problem, what would I do?” he said. About the Author Lindsey Quick is a writer and communica tions professional based in Eagan, Minn. She spends her free time planning road trips to help her escape Minnesota winters. 

25THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

A true test for any organization is how they handle tough times. Throughout mul tiple downtowns, Andrews & Hamilton found ways to persevere by pivoting strat egy in order to meet customer needs.

“Andrewsprojects.&Hamilton has always provid ed contractors, small and large businesses, and the State of North Carolina with quality lockers, shelving, pallet rack, and other in dustrial storage equipment as well as layout, and installation services,” John said. “We provide turnkey solutions including plan ning, sales, delivery and installation with the ability to perform all of these internally.”

Today, Bernie and his two sons, John and Jim, are still active in the business.

According to John, the company has and always will be focused on what’s right for the customer. “We’ve had the pleasure of serving some of our customers for many years – we have repeat customers and customers who have been referred to us,” he said. “We’ve made mistakes, but we will always do what’s right for the customer and look for opportuni ties to better serve our customers.” This focus on the customer was core to Bernie’s way of doing business and was a priority for Andrews & Hamilton from the beginning. “He is a great listener and is al ways trying to give the customer not just what will work, but what will work best for their project,” John said of his father. “Ber nie is very analytical and will work tireless ly to find a solution. Whether it is a drawing or pricing, he wants to make sure every thing meets the needs of the customer.”

“There have been many times when the going was difficult, from the tech bust in 2000 to the great recession in 2008,” John said. “We had to change our focus from new products to used products that were lower cost and readily available. This change in strategy helped our customers who were not as affected by the downturn complete projects within their budgets.”

When asked what has led Andrews & Hamilton to its success, John didn’t hesi tate on his answer.

The company’s employees are also very important to the business. When Andrews & Hamilton started 35 years ago, it was Bernie, his two sons, John and Jim, his daughter, Alice, and Bernie’s wife, Cathy. As the company expanded, the employ ee base grew beyond the Andrews fami ly, even though everyone felt like an exten sion of the family. When the pandemic hit and forced the business to lose some of its staff, it hit the Andrews family hard. “The pandemic was very difficult,” John said. “Just before the pandemic, the aver age length of service was more than 10 years. We lost some long-time employees during that time that I wish we still had.” Today, the company employs approxi mately 20 people, some with more than 20 and 25 years of service who started with the company right out of high school or col lege. “We would not be here without the dedication of our employees,” John said.

In the early days, materials for most of the company’s larger projects were shipped directly to the jobsite and the team assem bled the projects onsite. “The growth of the company and the advantages of having our own large facility and equipment meant we were able to preassemble lockers in our building and transport them to the job site,” he said. “This protects both Andrews & Hamilton and the contractor from addi tional risks associated with personnel of varying skill levels on a particular construc tion site.” John said the company was also able to provide better project management and have more control over on-time deliv ery of products and equipment to industrial equipment

Bernie’s wife, Cathy, is retired, and Ber nie has said he plans to retire soon. Bernie and Cathy built the company from the be ginning, and Bernie is incredibly proud of what they’ve accomplished. “We’ve prov en that with proper management and hard work, you can succeed,” he said. As they celebrate 35 years, John believes their key to future success is their local ad vantage.“Thecatalog houses that sprang up and dominated the mailboxes of many business es could never provide the customized ser vices that a local distributor can,” said John.

Established in 1997, Culver Companies have continued to provide leading edge installations, service, and value to our clients through partnership, innovation, and flexibility. We provide in-house design, custom fabrication capabilities, nationwide installation teams, and 7+ acres of new & used inventory. We are grateful for all of our associates & clients who have been a part of Culver’s journey and success. Whether you’re building a new warehouse, or modifying your existing one, call us for your material handling needs. Sincerely, John Culver Corporate Office: 1606 S. 1st Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003 Material Storage: 117 W. Forest Grove Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85041 Fabrication Facility: 516 W. West Road, Phoenix, AZ 85041 Mailing Address: 2487 S. Gilbert Road, Suite 106-268, Gilbert, AZ 85295 Website: www.culvereq.com | Phone: (480) 855-0088 Your Material Handling Specialists Culver Equipment, LLC | Culver Installations, Inc.

“ We are responsible for bringing down the silo by acknowledging how people’s contributions have a purpose.

Or is it Lost in a Silo?

What’s missing from this tired and worn out narrative? A focus and commitment to foster individual purpose. Purpose drives behavior, morale, employee and customer retention. Purpose equals profits. People leave their jobs because they feel no purpose – no connection to the heart of the company. They don’t see a connection between what they do and the actual im pact of their work and contribution. Are you creating a company where people make the connection between what they do and how it creates a business? This culture is no lon ger optional because the costs of turnover are far higher than the costs of creating an environment that destroys silos. People want to know their purpose be cause “no one wakes up and is proud to be overhead.” Unfortunately, the silo pre vents individual purpose and value from being understood in this context because it can be challenging to see beyond the silo walls.The employee’s responsibility is to fig ure out their value proposition by asking others, “what is it you think I do?” It is a high-integrity move to make yourself vul nerable to ask others how they see your value and purpose. Leadership is responsi ble for hard-wiring the organization to al low for this kind of engagement across the silos, which accelerates the development of a sales and purpose culture.

If you are skeptical, just run the num bers. If you still don’t see it, you are risking your most valuable asset – your people and chances are pretty good that your compet itors do get it and are running past you.

The answer isn’t your title because that doesn’t explain what you do. What you do means in simple terms, “why should I en gageWeyou?”are responsible for bringing down the silo by acknowledging how people’s contributions have a purpose. This narra tive conveys meaning and value by show ing them they have made a difference.

When that bridge is built for people by people, we give them a strong sense of purpose, and in parallel, we create a sales culture. It’s pretty simple. Take the time to tell someone that what they did was help ful and profitable, and they will repeat that behavior over and over again. Then you have the destruction of silos, higher em ployee engagement and retention, and more sales.

SISSOUPITCH/STOCK.ADOBE.COM You Have a Culture of Purpose?

Do

About the Author Todd Cohen, CSP, has been inspiring and motivating audiences for over 12 years, teaching them to sell themselves to achieve goals and incredible success. You can learn more about Todd at toddcohen.com. 

By Todd Cohen, CSP Corporate culture is often defined by the silos where people work and toil, not by how people matter. Silos isolate and keep people from engaging and collaborating, and they thwart an understanding of in dividual value and purpose because silos prevent the bigger picture from being re vealed. Silos kill sales, wreck morale and provide false security.

27THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

heli@heliforkliftamerica.com LI-ION470-328-1943FORKLIFT

29THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 Women in Industry

By Lindsey Quick As someone who is naturally curious about how things work, Kelly Kamlager’s career in industrial marketing isn’t that sur prising. Kamlager got her start in fall pro tection and then steel manufacturing for material handling structures. Twenty years later, she’s confident in her place. “I didn’t envision getting into this space,” Kamlager said. “Yet after – gasp! – 20 years, it is a satisfying home.” Today Kamlager is the senior director of marketing at RIOS Intelligent Machines, a leader of full-stack AI-powered robot ic workcells for automation. “Our solutions help factories transform labor-intensive op erations into smart factories of the future, powered by AI and robotics,” Kamlager said. The work happening at RIOS gener ates a lot of excitement in Kamlager. “It’s thrilling to be in one of the fastest growing segments of the industry creating dramat ic shifts for customers to accelerate their businesses,” she said.

“Automation and Robots-as-a-Service, or RaaS, help organizations scale quickly and rapidly gain the benefits of AI-powered ro

A Passion for Learning

A constantly evolving industry with endless opportunities for growth has kept Kelly Kamlager of RIOS Intelligent Machines coming back for more botics to meet throughput and operation al goals for organizations of all sizes,” Ka mlager said. Part of the excitement for Kamlager is hav ing a bird’s eye view into how the work gets done. “I find it so energizing to walk a shop floor and see the process in action,” she said. After going through the COVID pandemic, Ka mlager said it’s more apparent than ever how important this industry is. “Manufacturers and supply chain operators are a key pillar of the economy,” Kamlager said. “We all learned through the pandemic how next-day ship ping was not simply a luxury, but an integral part of transporting goods.” Kamlager stressed how important relationships are in this indus try as well. “Relationships transcend time,” she said. “MHEDA is a great example of how a group can intentionally gather for the better acceleration of an entire industry.” Throughout her career, relationships have made a difference for Kamlager, es pecially in the form of mentors. “I’ve had several meaningful mentors who have or ganically developed throughout my career,” she said. While her mentors have provided feedback and have been influential, what makes them exceptional is how they have provided insight on how Kamlager can dis cover her path on her own. “The genuine interest, positive affirmations and sound feedback are well-timed and much appre ciated as my career continues,” she added. While Kamlager has had many female mentors throughout her career, she says that men have played a valuable role as well. What she’s most valued from all of her mentors was that each shared a common piece of advice about the importance of seeing life as a whole. “I have several key champions and supporters, both men and women, who continue to provide sound ca reer support,” said Kamlager. “That support is more than simply helping me build just a better job – it leans into how the career supports a greater life overall, and that my career is simply a portion of that life.” For women coming into the industry, Kamlager encourages them to do what they can to fast-track their personal knowl edge. “Find a base of knowledgeable, expe rienced individuals who you can lean into and ask a million questions,” she said. By expanding their understanding, those who are new to the industry will also increase their ability to introduce innovative think ing in their conversations. Kamlager also recommends aiming high without fear of failure. “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes,” she said. “And most importantly: simply don’t give up.”  Save the Date!

The next Women in Industry Conference will be held Nov. 2 in Rosemont, Illinois.

As senior director of marketing, Kamlager connects knowledge and insight to accel erate growth for the company and custom ers alike. “I’m passionate about this industry and the environments in which customers operate,” Kamlager said. She believes auto mation is the path forward, and RIOS is an organization positioned to help other orga nizations capitalize on this technology.

By Lilly Chapa

The high energy carried into Monday morning, where convention chair John Gelsimino welcomed members and intro duced the morning’s speaker, Kevin Brown, who inspired attendees by discussing how to create a culture of heroes at every level in an

Almost 600 members of MHEDA repre senting more than 200 companies from around the world gathered in Orlando, FL in April to network, learn, give back and cel ebrate making it through another unprece dented year. Balmy weather at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort was the perfect back drop for opening activities, including a golf tournament and unforgettable Opening Party at Mango’s, complete with live enter tainment and a packed dance floor.

The 2022 MHEDA Convention was one for the books as attendees gathered to reflect on the past two years and plan for the future

30 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

CelebrateFeature Reason to

Afternoon sessions focused on the im portance of cybersecurity and the growth women in the material handling indus try, as well as workshops on the DiSC re port and automation technician certifica tions. Throughout the day members also saw the latest and greatest products and services offered by exhibitors.

The employee-centric education con tinued after lunch on Monday, when Alex Chausovsky detailed best practices for building a talent strategy to attract, hire and retain outstanding workers. He peeled back the curtain on recruitment and the importance of partnerships and alliances and pointed out key elements that make an organization attractive to top talent.

31THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 organization. Companies can find success through creating an environment where people are inspired to be the best version of themselves and delivering a worldclass performance to the people you serve, Brown said.

Tuesday offered more insight and ac tivities for attendees. The morning kicked off with a Women in Industry breakfast, where members mingled and put together care bags for Orlando nonprofit One Heart for Women and Children. Scott Klososky captivated with his keynote presentation on the technology integration of humani ty, and how organizations should balance digital transformation and the human side of operations. Throughout the day, at tendees had the option of choosing from several excellent presentations, includ ing delving into data with Klososky, build ing a sales culture within an organization, best practices for engaging with employ ees, and using compassion in leadership.

Members were pleased with the return of Brian Beaulieu and his economic insights, in which he emphasized the ever-expanding market but cautioned of a small dip in 2024 and a more substan tial recession in 2030. The day rounded out with a Give Back event in which participants packed over 400 snack bags for the Boys and Girls Club of Orlando and listened to MHEDA member and author John Wieland discuss his new book. The 2022 Convention closed as it opened: with a party! Members met up and mingled during a delicious dinner and live band, dis cussing what they learned and the changes they anticipated mak ing upon their return home. Attendees agreed: this was the best Convention yet, in large part thanks to the efforts of the MHEDA staff and Convention Chair John Gelsimino. Hats off to them and ev eryone who made the event a success. 

32 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG Mark your calendar for the 2023 convention! April 29-May 3, 2023 Grand Hyatt Nashville WAREHOUSE DESIGN & INTEGRATION 833.258.3279 | www.GoSRSI.com | info@GoSRSI.com Industrial Storage Rack & Shelving Conveyor Systems Picking High-SpeedSolutionsSortation Systems RAFT - Cutting Edge AS/RS Goods-to-Person Operations Software Solutions - WES, WCS, WMS Customized Solutions for Your Needs: Optimize Order Fulfillment Automated Storage & Retrieval WarehouseSolutions ManagementMaximizeSoftware Storage Space

BEST OF THE BEST CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2021 TOP PERFORMING DEALERS SUMMIT AWARD Cromer Material Handling Hugg & Hall Equipment Co. Wolter, Inc. of Wisconsin PLATINUM AWARD Atlantic Forklift Services Industrial Lift Truck Lift Power, Inc. Lift Truck Center, Inc. Louisiana Lift & Equipment Morrison Industrial Equipment Co. Mullen Industrial Handling Corporation Mobilift of Burlington Valley Industrial Trucks, Inc. W.D. Matthews Machinery Co. DIAMOND AWARD Associated Supply Company, Inc. Best Line Equipment Co. Brandt Material Handling Doosan Material Handling Solutions - Atlanta Doosan Material Handling Solutions - Los Angeles Elite Material Handling FMH Material Handling Solutions Forklifts of Minnesota, Inc. Wolter, Inc. of Illinois John J. Connell Co. Mid Columbia Forklift, Inc. Reliable Forklift Sales www.DoosanLift.com

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Dataand Management

It is also imperative that materials handling companies update their applications when vendors release security updates as their firewalls and other infrastructure devices need security updates, too.

“Most companies fail to stay current on their updates because it can be a time-consuming task,” Foster said. “Updating never ends as there are new patches all the time.”

36 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

CybersecurityFeature

“For added caution and better protection, they should assume that bad actors have already infiltrated their network, and attackers may be quietly dwelling in one or more systems,” Foster cautioned. “I hes itate to share that because it sounds like I am spreading fear, uncer tainty and doubt, but they have heard about business associates and other companies experiencing successful attacks.” Foster succinctly hypothesized the ill effects of a successful attack on other companies involving ransomware with one simple state ment: “It stops them from being able to function.” In the event of a cyberattack, Foster pointed out that the materials handling organization will not only be unable to deliver its intend ed products and services, but the organization will continue to pay workers that cannot be productive. In addition, recovery will likely be expensive. “Despite the fact that insurance may cover part of the cost, there is a good chance that the claim cannot make up for missed opportu nities or late orders, nor protect against damage to reputation,” Fos terFurthermore,said. if insurance is utilized, the insurance policy may not be renewed and another insurer may be difficult to attain.

In a nutshell, calamity is constantly lurking from the ever-evolving world of cybercrime. Not only can cyberattacks affect individual or ganizations, but the governments under which they stand.

By Nicole Nelson Michael Foster certainly doesn’t want anyone to panic, but he can not emphasize enough the importance of taking appropriate, protec tive steps to avoid the growing threat of cyberattacks. Widely recognized for his broad range of high-level technologi cal expertise, The Foster Institute IT Best Practices and Cybersecurity Specialist advises organizations in the material handling industry to approach cybersecurity as if they are already under constant attack.

Industry insiders provide tips to mitigate cyberattack risks

“Especially with the war in Ukraine, the U.S. government is warn ing that there is a heightened threat to all U.S. organizations,” Foster stated. “Good cyber hygiene helps protect our country.”

To better protect all against cyber-related vulnerabilities, Foster first recommended ensuring the fortification of company data. “One cybersecurity best practice for organizations in the material handling industry is to practice restoring their data from their back ups,” Foster said, noting that 50 percent of organizations discov er they cannot restore operations if they lose all of their files dur ing an Anotherattack.best practice is to stay current on all critical security up dates from their operating systems, including Microsoft and Apple. When software or hardware updates are made available, use these to not only patch vulnerabilities but also provide new functionality that may benefit your business.

Additionally, IT professionals are sometimes hesitant to install updates because the update might break existing network infra structure.

“We frequently see organizations spend a tremendous amount of money on cybersecurity products they don’t need,” Foster said. “Some products are helpful, but it is essential to take care of the basicsEssentially,first.” all organizations should be using a two-step log in process called multifactor authentication. Encrypting hard drives on laptops can also help protect an organization from experiencing a data breach if the computer is lost or stolen.

“If a vendor gets taken out, that interruption to their supply chain could be devastating,” Foster said. “If a customer wires money to a fake account to pay an invoice, and if the charge is large enough, the customer might not be able to afford to pay the invoice again and the MHEDA member might lose a signifi cant amount of income.” Similarly, if customer or employee information is lost, the MHEDA member may face lawsuits, if not irreparable damage to their reputation.

Foster reminded materials handling organizations to consider the connections of remote workers, which adds a whole new lev el of risk through the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). While VPNs are designed to keep data private, it only works effective ly when both ends of a VPN connection are properly secured. Un fortunately, most organizations do not have both sides protected. “Unless IT knows how to configure the VPN properly, having the VPN makes it easier – not more difficult – for an attacker to break into networks,” Foster cautioned.

Foster noted that there are strategies to make the updating process safer and quicker. “One obvious help is to uninstall all applications that are not essential for workers,” Foster suggested. “If the application isn’t installed, it is unnecessary to update it.” One way attackers infiltrate systems is to take over user ac counts by stealing passwords or taking control of the user’s session. The attackers then have all the privileges as the user.

In a nutshell, Foster said cyberattacks should be mitigated at all costs. Surprisingly enough, most mitigation methods require no monetary charge. “With the exception of retaining the services of a certified cyber security advisor, most organizations have already purchased every thing they need to protect themselves,” Foster said. That said, Foster said such features must be enabled and config ured correctly. Even though the protection is budget-friendly, most of it comes with the cost of time for IT professionals – whether inhouse employees or outsourced IT companies.

With so many cybersecurity controls, Foster said that it makes sense to glean a certified cybersecurity professional’s advice based upon each organization’s situation. This includes vendor connections.

37THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 SERGEYTOROPOV/STOCK.ADOBE.COM

“Why would an IT pro want to do something that could cause problems on the network?” Foster said. “Because up dates are one of the best ways to protect yourself.”

“Most IT professionals are so overwhelmed that they are reac tive and don’t have time to be proactive,” Foster explained. “Have compassion for your IT pros. Visit with them and find out what you can do to help them be more aggressive in cybersecurity if there is room for improvement.”

Foster suggested educating system users to make them aware of actions that are risky or helpful in terms of security. However, as a buyer beware, he cautioned the development of a false sense of security upon the implementation of organizational training. “Training cannot replace protections that must be in place to protect systems if a user makes a mistake,” Foster said. “It is vital to protect against the

To limit the attackers’ rights when they compromise an ac count, it is essential to limit user rights to the least access they need to accomplish their work without interruption. “By de fault, operating systems give users significantly more power than they need, and the added privileges make it easier for at tackers to compromise systems,” Foster explained. “IT profes sionals must intentionally lower the rights and permissions to be only what the users need to help thwart attackers.”

Foster recommended focusing attention on the fundamentals.

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hundreds of ways an attacker can compromise a system with no user involvement.”AnoopKanthan, CEO of omniX labs, said the best avenue is to take a well-rounded, universal approach.

About the Author With more than 30 years of experience writing and editing across all trades, Atlanta-based Nicole Nelson especially enjoys penning ar ticles relevant to the current business and political climate. 

In addition to improving data hygiene, material handling compa nies must also be mindful of internal systems, processes and access. Kanthan said material handling companies need to think long and hard about which systems access is necessary for a role in the organi zation and is adamant material handling companies implement good access procedures when both on boarding and off boarding staff. Kanthan suggested utilizing the principle of least privilege, mean ing granting only the absolute necessary level of systems access for the employee to fulfil their role. In protecting technology assets, he estimated 90-plus percent ef fectiveness in terms of protection by immediately applying patches, firmware and software updates as soon as they are released. In addi tion, he advocated for using the Cloud to avert potential risk. “It is probably time to get rid of that server sitting under your desk and migrate your system to the Cloud,” Kanthan advised. “Cloud pro viders have hundreds of analysts thinking about security 24/7 and are likely doing a much better job that you ever could.” He recommends you complete your Cloud migration by implementing protective cyber security measures. While Kanthan said that cybersecurity and other information secu rity threats will continue to evolve and become ever more sophisticat ed, he suggests that a cybersecurity mindset begins at home.

“While information security technology solutions and approaches are available from a point-to-point or asset-to-asset perspective, it re ally is about tackling this in a more holistic way,” said Kanthan, the cofounder of the machine learning platform, with applications across multiple industries including logistics, for computer vision applica tions. “That doesn’t necessarily mean spending huge amounts of cap ital though, as much of this is about good policies, standards, and pro cedures for your organization.” In addition to personally identifiable information, payment card industry data (PCI) and their equivalents where applicable, Kanthan highly recommended system and organization control compliance. “It approaches this challenge from an across-all-parts-of-the-busi ness perspective and allows you to follow a well-trodden path to managing it well as an ongoing concern rather than just a point in time, ‘pass the exam’ mentality”, Kanthan explained. “You will be able to also layer in technology-based solutions in a digestible way to in clude spending proportionately as you scale in size and complexity.”

38 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

• Meeting the requirements of PCI not only helps protect your business from credit card theft, but also from at tacks like ransomware and viruses.

Kanthan also suggested material handling companies approach the mitigation process by identifying top-down influences in terms of risk factors.“Starting with the highest risks is a great way leg into it and not get overwhelmed by the acronyms and jargon,” Kanthan advised. “Start with the basics like credit card information storage and contact de tails of your customers.”

Tips From the Top • Most material handling companies will need to perform an annual PCI (Payment Credit Industry) audit. While smaller operations often fall into a self-audit category, it is oftentimes advisable to hire a reputable third party to properly conduct the audit to ensure the PCI Data Secu rity Standard requirements are met.

• One budget-friendly way to get started on a journey to cyber hygiene is to check with your current insurance provider as many carriers offer a cybersecurity module or provide checklists and toolkits for disaster recovery and business continuity. Others offer hands-on simula tions and annual check-ins.

• Another idea is to check for reputable free courses, such as those previously offered by digital security provider ESET via its free, comprehensive Cybersecurity Aware ness Training.

“This is more of a cultural adjustment and a ‘way of being’ for the organization,” Kanthan said. “If your leadership team instills a cyber security mindset – just like it probably already is doing for workers’ physical safety at your locations – then you are well on your way.”

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Trupar is also involved in Breast Cancer Awareness Month every Oc tober. Years ago, they purchased a pink colored golf cart that they do nated to the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Every year, dur ing the breast cancer awareness parade, the foundation uses that golf cart during the parade.

Trupar America Supports its Community

Trupar America has a 40-year long track record of excellent service to their customers and partners. Whether Trupar is working on a small job or with a Fortune 500 company, they deliver. Trupar is a family-owned business, and they have a vested interest when it involves giving back.

“You have not lived today until you have done something for some one who can never repay you,” says Tom Connell, president of Trupar America.Trupar America became a MHEDA Member in February 2022 and they hit the ground running when it comes to engaging with MHEDA mem bers. Be sure to say hi to the Trupar team at the next MHEDA event!

Each year around the holidays, Trupar employees collect coats to do nate. Employees ask friends, family and neighbors to get involved and each year they collect hundreds of coats. Trupar also acts as the inventory and storage facility for Washington Mission, so when coats are being col lected, people all over the county bring their clothing to Trupar.



Throughout the year, Trupar America employees donate their time and personal resources to help a variety of organizations impact their com munity.Trupar America is in Washington County, PA and one organization they work closely with is Washington Mission. Washington Mission helps the homeless community by providing clothes, food and other necessities.

Members Give Back

41THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

Another way they help is by helping set up a Thanksgiving Dinner. Employees meet at the Washington Mission Community Center to clean cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner for the community.

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Employers across the U.S. have been dealing with a historic shift in labor thanks to the pandemic. We know it as the Great Resignation, and the pundits have been falling over themselves to explain to us why employers are at fault. Now it looks like the Great Resignation may be followed by the Great Regret. There’s no doubt employers have a lot to learn from the unprecedented rate of job turnover. Researchers at the consulting firm McKinsey, for example, say that em ployees are tired, and many are grieving.

43THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 Money Matters

By Gene Marks

“They want a renewed and revised sense of purpose in their work,” write its authors. “They want social and interpersonal con nections with their colleagues and manag ers. They want to feel a sense of shared identity. They want meaningful – though not necessarily in-person – interactions, not just transactions.” Unfortunately, some of us are not sympathetic enough to these needs. So our employees leave. Research firm Gartner says this week that more than 70% of information tech nology workers are looking to change jobs this year and urges employers to adopt a more “human-centric” work model that in cludes better working hours, more produc tive meetings and greater flexibility to re duce this turnover.

NUTHAWUT/STOCK.ADOBE.COM Turns out the Great Resignation

Yes, there’s lots of turnover and people changing jobs – but maybe the problem isn’t all with the employer.

Then there’s the “low pay, a lack of op portunities for advancement and feeling disrespected at work”, which are the top reasons why Americans quit their jobs last year according to Pew Research in a new study. The study also found “those who quit and are now employed elsewhere are more likely than not to say their current job has better pay, more opportunities for ad vancement and more work-life balance and flexibility”.Butarethey? Are all these workers leav ing their jobs for new jobs finding that the new jobs are that much better than their old jobs? That their new employers are that much better than their existing em ployers? Or is it possible that Joe is tak ing a new job that’s replacing Susan, who left that job for the same reason that Joe is leaving his job? Yes, there’s lots of turnover and lots of people changing jobs. But given the fact that most are likely just swapping these jobs, maybe the problem isn’t all with the employer. Perhaps employees are being a bit naive too. may be followed by the Great Regret

can be

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That theory has been given cre dence by another study released by the job search site the Muse. Its study of more than 2,500 workers found that almost three-quarters of them (72%) experienced either “surprise or regret” that the new po sition or new company they quit their job for turned out to be “very different” from what they were led to believe. Nearly half (48%) of these workers said they would try to get their old job back thanks to a phe nomenon that the Muse is calling “shift shock”.“They’ll join a new company thinking it’s their dream job and then there’s a reality check,” the company’s CEO, Kathryn Min shew told FOX Business. “It’s this really damaging phenomenon where people are brand new in our role, and they suddenly realize it’s not at all as advertised.” It’s a cliche but ask anyone who’s been in the workforce for a number of years and they’ll tell you that the grass is often the same color at the new job (and the coffee is just as bad).

Much of this confusion is being driv en by Gen Z, those generally born af ter 1995 who make up more than a quar ter of the workforce. According to a recent study by career counseling provider Zety, those workers report that the factors that are most appealing in a new job include, of course, a good benefits package (67%). But just as important to them is a company with “values that match their own” (62%), that has a purpose for being that “goes be yond merely making a profit” (61%), offers “plentiful career development and progres sion opportunities” (59%) and has a “strong brand reputation” (49%). All of these are worthy goals. But right now how many businesses, particularly smaller firms, really offer this? The reality is that unless you’re working for a global giant like Amazon or Google – who, as we all know, have their own drawbacks – most businesses will struggle to meet all these demands. Working for a small business can be rewarding, fun and more flexible than at a larger organization. But in the end, we’re just a Let’sbusiness.admitthat our products and servic es may be vital to the economy, but they’re not that exciting. Our brands are not very well known. Our advancement opportuni ties are usually limited. We’re offering a job with a paycheck at (hopefully) a nice place to work with (hopefully) nice owners and (hopefully) a good group of fellow work ers. It’s quite likely that what we’re offer ing isn’t too far different from what a work er is getting at their current job. Maybe we as employers aren’t transpar ent enough about this. Or maybe employ ees are a little delusional about what to ex pect from a new employer. Regardless, if this reality isn’t discussed, upfront, then it could lead to unhappiness and regret a few months down the line. And that’s going to be costly both for the worker and their em ployer. About the Author Gene Marks is the founder and president of the Marks Group, a small business con sulting firm based in Bala Cynwyd, Penn. Gene writes weekly for a number of publi cations, and you can read his columns here: www.genemarks.com/blog. 

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In 2021 the typical firm generated sales of $43 million in revenue. On that sales base, it produced a pre-tax profit of $2.97 million, which equates to a profit margin of 6.9%. Stated somewhat differently, every $1.00 of sales resulted in nearly 7¢ of profit.

Typical Versus High Profit

Interestingly, the high-profit firms almost never truly excelled at any one of the CPVs. Instead, they were able to manage the col lection of profit drivers just a little bit better than the typical company in the industry. This small delta in performance was enough to generate dramatically higher profit. The MHEDA DiSC study provides some key insights into exactly how the highprofit firms generate better profit numbers. It focuses intently on the key profit drivers – growth, gross margin, expenses, invento ry turnover and accounts receivable collec tions. The report provides a roadmap for any firm wanting to improve its financial per formance.

THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

Statistical Comparisons (DiSC): Sales Rebounded in 2021

DistributorForecast

Why is it that one of every four material handling distributors makes two times more than the rest of the industry? Perhaps they have a great, well-trained sales team exe cuting a brilliant market plan. Or have they found a market niche that the other three of four distributors haven’t focused on yet? 2021 was outstanding profitability per formance for industrial truck distributors. As an industry, MHEDA members realized suc cess like they have not seen in decades.

The term “Typical Firm” in the report means the firm that is most representa tive of the industry. This typical firm is the one with financial performance in the ex act middle of the results for all participating MHEDA distributors. That is, on any given measure, half of the firms performed bet ter than the typical firm and half performed worse. It is the best measure of industry performance on the profit drivers.

By John Mackay

In contrast to the typical firm, the “High Profit Firm” generated a profit margin of 11.1%. This means that even if the highprofit firm had produced the same sales vol ume as the typical firm, it would have gen erated more profit for reinvestment in the company. Higher profit along with high er asset productivity ultimately resulted in higher return on equity to the owners of the business.

The MHEDA DiSC report provides con crete benchmarks to understand how high ly successful material handling distributors managed the details of their business just a little better, resulting in a better return on assets (ROA). Thriving distributors achieved their success by managing what the DiSC report calls the Critical Profit Variables (CPVs), see Exhibit 1. Those key CPVs are the decisive benchmarks that separate suc cessful companies from other distributors in the industry.

45 PONGSAK/STOCK.ADOBE.COM Industry

Operating expenses. Payroll is always the largest operating expense factor a dis tributor faces, which means that controlling payroll is essential to controlling expenses.

At first glance, some of the differences in the CPVs between typical and high-profit may appear to be so small that they don’t even deserve management attention. In fact, it is these small differences that com bine to produce major changes in return on investment. This means that the typical firm doesn’t have to dramatically improve per formance on the CPVs, but simply do a little better across the board. There is a multipli er impact when performance is better in a few areas, even if “better” is relatively small. From a management perspective, it is not even necessary to do a little better ev erywhere. However, being “good on every thing” is not necessary to generate a high level of profitability. What is important is to be good on what counts.

Gross margin. Price pressures never go away. Yet, somehow the distributors were able to earn a 33.5% gross margin, high er gross margin than the industry has seen in at least two decades. That is significant. High profit distributors earned 1 percent age point higher margins.

Exhibit 1 The Critical Profit Variables Typical High Profit Performance Results Net Sales $43,000,000 $26,200,000 Profit (pre-tax)Margin 6.9% 11.1% Return on Assets 13.8% 30.0% The Critical Profit Variables Sales Change 11.1% 12.3% Gross Margin 33.5% 34.8% Payroll Expense 16.5% 16.4% ExpensesNon-Payroll 10.2% 9.4% Sales EmployeePer $352,265 $433,455 TurnoverInventory 4.3 5.8 PeriodCollectionAverage 38.7 Days 38.3 Days

46 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

Managing the CPVs In trying to move from typical to highprofit, the key is to understand the Criti cal Profit Variables with greater precision.

To facilitate that understanding, the CPV re sults for the typical firm and high-profit firm in the industry are summarized in Exhibit 1.

It is important to emphasize once again that the CPVs that are the most important benchmarks to enhancing profit results are sales growth, gross margin, operating ex penses (both payroll expenses and nonpayroll expenses), and inventory turnover. Each factor needs to be planned carefully to ensure adequate profits. Sales growth. Sales rebounded signifi cantly in 2021. Customers, understandably, had post-pandemic pent up demand. When it was all said and done, sales climbed 11.1% for the year. Somehow, the high profit distributors achieve a sales gain of 12.3%.

About the Author John Mackay is President of Mackay Re search Group, a survey research organi zation that specializes in profitability and compensation research for trade associa tions, including the MHEDA DiSC study. 

Even with sales greatly improved, distribu tors were able to maintain their payroll ex penses at 16% of revenue, the same level it has been at for the last 5 years. High-profit distributors also sustained 16% payroll ex penses. Detailed benchmarks on employee productivity can be found in the DiSC report. Inventory turnover. Bottom-line profit is not the only way to improve ROA. Asset Turnover is also a contributing factor. Asset Turnover measures how efficiently distribu tors are using the assets they have invest ed in. Inventory, in particular, is an impor tant contributing factor for improving ROA. Inventory is important because it is ap proximately one-fourth of the total invest ment that a distributor has in the business and it is controllable, that is there is some thing that can be done to control or reduce this investment. Once again, more bench marks on asset productivity are profiled in the DiSC report. Moving Forward The high-profit firms produce great re sults virtually every year. They also reflect the fact that there are no industry barri ers to success. The key to improved perfor mance is to develop a specific plan for each of the CPVs and combine them in a posi tive way. If one of four distributors in the in dustry can earn 20% - 30% ROA, it should be a reasonable goal for the other three of four distributors in the same industry. Ul timately that is why MHEDA conducts the DiSC survey, to establish realistic, attainable profitability goals and determine the critical benchmarks for achieving those goals.

While there are other factors that could be examined in evaluating performance, these are the ones that really drive performance.

47THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022ELENVD/STOCK.ADOBE.COM High Five! MHEDA is proud to celebrate member companies that reached a five-year milestone anniversary in 2022. Congratulations, and here’s to many more years of success! Distributor members are listed in blue and Supplier/Associate members are listed in white 115 Years HamiltonEquipto Caster & Mfg. Co. Modern Equipment Company, Inc. (MECO-OMAHA) 110 Years Ralphs-Pugh Co., Inc. 105 Years CLARK Material Handling Company 100 Years The Raymond Corporation Tri Lite, Inc. 80 Years Ridg-U-Rak, Inc. 75 Years Autoquip Corporation Cardinal Carryor, Inc. Hytrol Conveyor Co., Inc. Jefferds Corporation Magline, Inc. 70 Years Southern States ToyotaLift 65 Years Cranston Material Handling Equipment NationalCorp Lift Companies Stellana 60 Years Eaheart Industrial Service, Inc. Folding Guard Lift Parts Service LLC REB Storage Systems International Tennsco LLC Wolter Inc. (Headquarters) 55 Years Brach Eichler LLC Certified Handling Systems M & G Materials Handling Company Toyota Lift Northwest Toyota Material Handling Ohio, Inc. Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. 50 Years All Lift Service Company Bell Forklift, Inc. Burns Industrial Equipment DACO Corporation Daifuku/Wynright McGee Storage & Handling Professional Materials Hdlg. Co., Inc. Tri-Boro Storage Products Yale Industrial Trucks Ontario Limited 45 Years Adaptec Solutions C&C Lift Truck, Inc. Fraza IndustrialForkliftsBattery & Charger, Inc. Lift Solutions Inc. Liftec, Inc. PA Industrial Equipment, Inc. United Industrial Service, Inc. 40 Years Easy Lift Equipment Co Hawkeye Material Handling Hupp RussellToyotaLiftEquipment, Inc. Task Forklifts USA Inc The Ousset Agency, Inc. USSI 35 Years Andrews & Hamilton Co. Inc Caster Concepts, Inc. Caster Connection, Inc. Cosme Inc. DACS, HawkerInc. LiftTruck Parts & Service, Inc. Sunbelt Material Handling 30 Years 3D Storage Systems Limited Advanced Handling Equipment LTD B&H Industrial Service, Inc. Coastal Equipment Corp. Conveyor & Storage Solutions - C&SS G&J Industrial Inc dba Union Machinery Toyota Tsusho Corporation De Mexico 25 Years Culver Equipment, LLC Material Handling Resources Toyota Material Handling N. CA TrinDocs Wecon Systems Ltd. 20 Years Concept Ltd. DC Velocity Magazine Frontier Forklifts and Service, Inc. Tri-Lift NC, Inc. Ziglift Material Handling 15 Years BPD Storage Solutions Elevex, GuardianInc.Material Handling, Inc. Owner Resource Group ServiceMax Inc. SilMan Industries 10 Years HarborGemOneCapital Leasing, Inc. Material Handling Installation Group 5 Years Berken Solutions

48 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG A Level Flooring Solution for AGVs & AMRs © 2022 Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products, LLC® All rights reserved. Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products, LLC, the Cornerstone logo, the 10-year warranty logo, ResinDek, and The Panel of Experts are trademarks of Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products, LLC®. 513.772.5560info@resindek.com|resindek.com • Flat, Level Surface • Extensively Tested with Robotics for: • Coefficient of Friction • Wear Resistance • Light Reflectivity • 10-Year Product Warranty We are a custom manufacturer of portable, stackable, racking for business and industry. We work through a network of material handling dealers & distributors. No order is too large or too small for us; we welcome all inquiries. Custom designs can be built to the users specifications. Faster delivery is available on selective sizes of 2,000 & 4,000 lb capacity rack designs. Contact us today for more information. 800-939-DYNA (3962) www.sales@Dyna-Rack.comdyna-rack.comMadeintheUSA Stack Racks • Pallet Frames Nestable Racks - Safe & secure stacking up to 5 units high - Utilize vertical storage space - Knock down or nests when empty - Rugged design prevents product damage - Standard and custom designs available Dyna_Rack.indd 1 2/21/22 1:56 PM

MHEDA is pleased to recognize members who have been selected by their suppliers and manufacturers as Deal ers of Distinction, a designation that ranks these companies among the best in the world. MHEDA offers service partner programs, publications, education and networking opportunities that help these distributors become the dealers of choice within the industry. Below are this year’s Dealers of Distinction, as chosen by manufacturers and suppliers. MHEDA members are in blue Congratulations!

ARCADY/STOCK.ADOBE.COM

49THE

JOURNAL • Q3 2022

The Lilly Company, Birmingham Thompson & Johnson Equipment Company - Albany Thompson & Johnson Equipment Company - East Syracuse Tri-Lift Industries, Charlotte SS StarliftLift Equipment Company Valley Industrial Trucks

Alta Material HandlingNew England North Berry Material Handling Bohl BumsEquipmentIndustrial Equipment - Pittsburgh Deep South Equipment - Legacy Deep South Equipment - OK Eastern Lift Truck - Baltimore/DC/DE Fairchild Equipment - WI South Gregory Poole - Carolinas Gregory Poole -Virginia LiftOne - North LiftOne - South LiftOne - West Medley Material Handling - East MH Equipment - Great Plains MH Equipment - Illinois MH Equipment - Indianapolis MH Equipment - Iowa MH Equipment - Kentuckiana MH Equipment - Ohio South Papé - Central Washington Papé - Eugene Papé - Portland Papé - Seattle Papé - Southern CA – South KION North America

MHEDA Suppliers Announce Dealers of Distinction

East Penn Manufacturing Co. Dealers Advanced Battery Services American Battery Apex Industrial Battery Battery Power Systems, Inc. Beal Industrial Products, Inc. Carolina Industrial Products Conley D.C. Solutions Inc. East Penn Canada Electric Battery Co. Electro Mechanical Service, Inc. Energy Products Enerya S. A. de C.V. Industrial Battery of Pittsburgh Industrial Battery Products Johnson Battery Co. Motive Energy Inc Omni Industrial Battery Remis Power Systems Santee Industrial Products, Inc. Star TexasTamIndustrial Energy Tri-City Industrial Power Tri-Star Power Waddell Power

Ardent Industrial Equipment

Forklifts of Minnesota Material Handling, Inc., Dalton Ogden Forklifts Tri-Lift Industries, Greensboro Dealers of Excellence

ForkliftsElevex of Toledo IPW MatthaiLiftechsMaterial Handling RiGo Lift Total Warehouse Anaheim Inc. Tri-Lift, Inc. Vitan Equipment MHEDA

B&H Industrial Service Big River Equipment Company Buffalo Lift Trucks Electro Mechanical Services LTD Erie Industrial Trucks Forklifts of Des Moines Holly Material Handling JM Equipment Company Lift Parts Service Lift Truck Sales & Service Materials Handling Equipment Material Handling, Inc., Nashville MS Equipment Sales National Lift of Arkansas National Lift Truck

PICOSTUDIO/STOCK.ADOBE.COM

CLARK Material Handling DealerCompanyofthe Year Forklifts of Minnesota New Dealer of the Year Conger Industries, Inc. Dealers of Excellence Advantage Delta Materials Handling Erie Industrial Trucks

DealersHysterof Distinction

Dealers of Merit Lift Parts Service Total Warehouse Nevada Inc. Dealers of Excellence

50 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas (Houston) Dealers of Excellence Darr Equipment Company (North) Equipment Depot Illinois Equipment Depot Kentucky Equipment Depot Ohio Fallsway Equipment Co. Fraza, Inc. G&W Equipment, Inc. Holt of MaquinasCaliforniaDiesel, S.A. de C.V. (Madisa) Miami Industrial Trucks Morrison Industrial Equipment Prime Material Handling Prolift, Inc. Quinn Lift, Inc. Ring Power Lift Trucks The Bailey Company Toromont Material Handling Quebec Towlift, Inc. Tracsa S.A.P.I de C.V. Wiese USA, Inc. (Central) Wiese USA, Inc. (South) Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas (Marengo) Dealers of Excellence CFE Equipment Corporation EquipmentDyna-Lift Depot Wisconsin J.M. Equipment Company Lift M&LSolutionsIndustries, LLC Material Handling Supply Ogden Forklifts Select Equipment Sales Sunbelt Material Handling DealersYale of Excellence Alta Material HandlingEastern Michigan Alta Material HandlingNew England Central Alta Material HandlingWestern Michigan Berry Material Handling Black Equipment - North Burns Equipment Pittsburgh Eastern Lift Truck - Baltimore/DC/DE Eastern Lift Truck - Philadelphia/ South FairchildNJEquipment - WI North Gregory Poole - Carolinas Insley – McEntee LiftOne – North LiftOne – West M & G Material Handling Medley Material Handling – West MH Equipment – Iowa MH Equipment – Ohio North Papé – Southern CA – North Riekes Equipment – Legacy Wheeler Material Handling – Carolinas Wheeler Material HandlingTennessee Note: This list includes the submissions received as of July 1. Marking 40 Years of Manufacturing Battery Electric, Materials Handling Equipment. Find out more about our range of pedestrian stackers designed for the American market at taskforklifts.com taskforklifts.com | +1 (972) 522 - 7610 Grand Prairie, Texas 40 years manufacturingof FORKLIFTS USA INC

51THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT toyotaliftnorthwest.com Our commitment to providing you with the absolute best in service and parts support is why Toyota Material Handling has recognized us for excellence! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you. For all your workbench needs. Most Popular Hand Crank Adjust Electric Adjust Packaging Benches 1proline.com PH: 800 739 9067 COSTSBATTERYYOURREDUCE Boost Your Bottom Line • Fully automated industrial battery regeneration • Improves and sustains longer run times • Detailed battery/cell performance reports Flight Systems Industrial Products · 800-333-1194 · shop.fsip.biz Book an Onsite Trial

The Olympics thing started when I was about 15. I started running track and train ing seriously, and in 1979, a year before the Moscow Olympic games, ABC’s ‘Wide World of Sports’ had a series called ‘Road to Moscow.’ In it, they highlighted athletes from around the world, telling their stories – sporting stories and life stories outside of sports. When you think of Olympic athletes, you think of these super-human beings. What stood out in my mind from that series

Keep On Pushing: Lessons From an Olympic Mindset

By Elsbeth Russell

Harris, a speaker at the 2022 Emerg ing Leaders Conference, sat down with the MHEDA Journal to share a bit about his background, philosophy of goal setting for up-and-coming leaders and how he’s feel ing about the new generation.

Today’s leaders must develop a resilient mindset to improve performance in a fast-paced world MHEDA Journal: How did you get your start on the Jamaican Bobsled Team? Was that a goal of yours or an unexpectedHarris:opportunity?

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I grew up in a rough neighbor hood in Kingston, a place called Olympic Gardens, which sounds like a fitting place for a future Olympian to have been brought up in. But, yeah, it was tough and gritty. I think in today’s world, when people see someone like me who is noted for sport, coming from a background like that, the as sumption is that, ‘Oh, I’ve always seen sports as my way out,’ but it was not. I wanted to be a soldier and that was in fluenced by stories from my grandmother, who I spent my early years with. She’d tell me these amazing stories that kind of stuck with me and impressed upon me – inspired me to want to be a soldier, first of all – but impressed upon me this idea that you could go after goals that were seemingly impossi ble or difficult.

As a three-time Olympian with Jamaica’s original bobsled team, Devon Harris did not start out with aspirations to become a pro fessional athlete. Instead, Harris had a goal of being a military officer in the Army. These two pathways proved to have one important thing in common, though – they both required a mindset of achievement and resilience that Harris says is key for young leaders to develop.

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So, as I grew older I realized I could actu ally become an officer in the army. I saw that as the quickest way out of the ghetto com bined with the fact that I genuinely wanted to be in the army. So that was my way.

You know, although I could not describe a bobsled to you, all I knew was it was a winter sport first, and that it was danger ous. But now the Colonel told me to go to the team trials, and my mindset shifted from, ‘I would never do that,’ to ‘Oh my God, I have to make this team. How am I gonna make it?’ I had no clue because I didn’t think I was

So, when you couple that with this kind of mindset that I developed from those sto ries that my grandmother told me it was like, ‘Oh my God, I think I could become an Olym pian as well.’ So if you fast forward, I’m 21 years old, I’m a newly minted Army officer. I remem ber walking one day and having this in tense conversation with myself: ‘You have to achieve your big dreams. What are you gon na do with the rest of your life?’ (Which I kind of smile at now because I don’t know how many 21-year-olds have those kinds of conversations, but anyway…) I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, the Olympics.’ It was ‘87 and the Olympics were coming up in 1988 in Seoul, Korea. The winter Olympics were never on theSoradar.now I’m running five miles a day try ing to get fit. I was a middle distance runner – I ran 800 and 1500 meters. So I did the only thing I knew how to do and just went to go run. So I would go do these runs hop ing that maybe I could get fit. I had no oth er plan about how I was going to get to the Olympic games. Then right about that time, two Americans who lived in Jamaica came up with the idea to start the team. They weren’t able to get guys on the summer team to do it so they came to the Army, looking for athletes. My Colonel discovered me. I ran this race and they were like, ‘Oh my God, he’s fit!’ So my Colonel told me to go to the team trials. Honestly, not so much because he thought I was this amazing athlete. You know, the fact that I ran well in that cross-country race obviously caught his eye, but there was a philosophy in the Army that said officers must always participate and he had a bunch of enlisted men going. So he thought he’d send this young fit officer to the team trials as well, to make up numbers.

By the way, when I first heard that Ja maica was gonna have a bobsled team, I thought it was a ridiculous idea and I re member saying nobody could ever get me to go on one of those things.

53THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022 was how average and ordinary they were – but they had this extraordinary dream and an equally strong desire to make those dreams come true.

– I was what I would describe as ‘army fit.’ You know, I could walk 100 miles with 50 pounds on my back and a rifle in my hand.

DH: The army was my primary focus. The idea of going to the Olympics was – I’ve started to describe it as my side hustle. It wasn’t the thing that I felt was gonna get me out of the ghettos. Being an army officer was. But then I became an Olympian and that definitely changed the trajectory of my life. Not just the fact that I was an Olympian but everything that goes along with it. The ob stacles and, most importantly, the mindset and the exposure that I got from it. So when I was standing there in Olympic Gardens kind of looking out and dreaming, you know, ‘Man, if I could become an Army officer… My God, I could not ask for more.’ And then I became an Army officer and then I became an Olympian and I started to travel a little bit more and I started to see other things in the world that I could never have imagined seeing from my vantage point in the hood. And I’m like, ‘Oh, so all of this is all there too. I did not know.’ So it went from ‘My God. If I could just do that, I couldn’t ask for more’ to like, ‘Well, this is cool, you know, I want some of that.’ So one thing led to an other and here we are.

So that’s a thing that I held onto anyway, that gave me the confidence that, ‘You know, what? I actually do know a little bit more than they do. I’m better trained.’ And then you know, it’s just like, how do you learn to swim? You kinda have to jump in the water.

I didn’t think I was sports fit. I hadn’t done any intense sports training for almost two years because of joining the army. But anyway, I went to the team trials and I tried my hardest. I think they liked my smile. That’s probably why they selected me. No, I just tried hard. I really tried hard. There was one test that was called a push test – it’s a push test with a make-shift sled on wheels. And although I didn’t know any thing about bobsledding I just intuitively knew that this had to be the most important test out of all of the others. I ended up with the two fastest pushes – faster than even the fastest sprinter. So I guess that, coupled with that smile, they go, ‘Yeah, he has to be on the team.’ So that’s how I ended up on the team. The short story, the short version.

MJ: What was it like to become a teammate and leader in your 20s? DH: I was in training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and the motto there is ‘Serve to lead.’ … As I matched up the steps to officially become an officer the mot to ‘Serve to lead’ just hit me at that moment. Everything that I’m gonna do from this point on is not going to be training anymore. There’s not gonna be an instructor there giv ing me quick feedback and it’s real. I think leading to that moment, I really wondered how am I going to do this, right? I’m 12 days shy of my 21st birthday, and I’m gon na be leading men who, many of them were in the Army before me and are older than I am. I thought, ‘Oh, well, you know, I’m better trained than them.’ And by that, I mean, I did the training in Jamaica and then I’d just done this stuff in England. I’m like, ‘Whoa, this is so much better. So, so far superior.’

MJ: What has life been like since be coming a three-time Olympian? How did that experience shape your trajectory in life?

I kind of grew into it and, you know, be ing on the bobsled team, when I think of

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MJ: Your book is called Goals: How to Set and Achieve Them. What would you say is the biggest mistake that leaders make when it comes to goalsetting?DH:It’s probably perfection. And I’m speaking as a reformed perfectionist. From my own experience, it is one of the great est motivators out there. Man, this thing will get you to work hard, right? Cause you want it, right? And you’ll go to any length and do everything to get it. But what I real ized is that you can never be truly perfect. The challenge with the perfectionist men tality is that it’ll still not be enough. I of ten say in my speeches, you could move a mountain and perfection will go, ‘Well, it wasn’t tall enough. You didn’t move it far enough.’Excellence might say you are not good enough at this moment, but that was ev erything you had. Right? And so at the end of the night, when you put your head on the pillow, if you know, in your heart that, in that moment, that was everything you had, you can live to fight another day.

About the Author Elsbeth W. Russell is an award-win ning writer with a passion for helping build communities of all types.  Devon Harris was a speaker at the 2022 Emerging Leaders Conference. He moves audiences to greatness by giving passionate and practical guidance to push beyond limiting beliefs, embrace the visionary discipline of an athlete and internalize the tactics of a trained military officer to achieve any goal.

“ What stood out in my mind was how average and ordinary they were – but they had this extraordinary dream and an equally strong desire to make those dreams come true.

MJ: Do you feel like there are specif ic opportunities – or on the flip side, challenges – that young people specifically have when they’re on a leader shipDH:path? You know, perhaps the whole idea of diversity, equity and inclusion. We’re just living in a world that’s very different from the one I lived in and things tend to be more binary. Then it was like – forgive the pun – black or white, and now you have all these different shades as it relates to all the social connections and interconnections. That obviously spills over into the busi ness world as well, right? Because peo ple tend to want to separate business from how we live as a society, which does not necessarily work because it’s human be ings occupying both spaces. And that’s go ing to be the biggest opportunity and big gest challenge in my opinion. Just finding a way to create space for everyone.

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MJ: It can be difficult for many young people to navigate the beginning of their careers in today’s environment – the pandemic, remote work, and an unprecedented job landscape. How can people, especially those early in their careers, navigate these challenges and make the most of today’s work environment?DH: It is indeed a strange new world. But it’s a strange new world for everyone. It’s not just them. Granted you might be start ing out. I read something a long time ago: A truly great person is the one who finds a way to surmount their particular challeng es. So you can go, ‘Well, it was easy for you, you know, everybody was in the office every day.’ Yeah. But that brings its own unique set of challenges as well, right? So I think success principles are universal now. You just apply them to different scenarios. You still need to open your ears and listen and ask Peoplequestions.definitely have an advantage that I wouldn’t have had back then. It’s called the internet. There’s so much more infor mation out there that I could not have had access to as I was starting my journey. It’s just so much easier to connect and to reach out to people as well, to ask those ques tions.So even if you’re not sitting at a table having a meal and listening to these con versations, you can hear a word, ‘Oh, con ference sponsorship? Google, what does that mean?’ So it comes back down to, again, personal leadership. It’s not fun at the moment, but in the long run you’ll reap the benefits for sure.

leadership there’s something I speak about these days: personal leadership first before you can actually lead others. I think back on my life, and I think I dem onstrated a high level of personal leader ship. Taking responsibility and wanting to grow and learn and do your best and be your best. And I think that kind of mindset also helped me in terms of trying to lead my soldiers because of the way I thought. And being on the bobsled team… Well, what were the things I could control? You know, how much I could learn about the sport and how hard I could work, how much effort I could put in during the workouts and so on and so forth. But yeah, it was an alien world. Not just bobsledding, but everything that came with it. Like I’d been sitting at a table and they were talking about corporate sponsor ships and all of that language sounded so freaking foreign to me. But you know, my ears are wide open. I’m just listening be cause I can’t add anything to the conversa tion. I deferred a lot and just asked ques tions and now I can actually use those words in a sentence.

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MHEDAThirdVert-3-22.indd 1 2/15/22 4:14 PM 2022 August 17 Winning the War for Talent (Webinar Series) 25 Toxic Employees and The Behavior You Tolerate (Webinar Series) September 07 2022 MHEDA Master Manager Program (10-Week Course) 21 Automation Solutions Conference – Rosemont, IL 22 Parts & Service Management Conference – Rosemont, IL October 12 MHEDA’s Executive Idea Exchange – Nashville, TN 19 Winning the War for Talent (Webinar Series) November 2 Women in Industry Conference –Rosemont, IL 2 Supply Chain Issues Update (Webinar Series) December 14 Winning the War for Talent (Webinar Series) *All webinars will be recorded and available Wanton-demand.affordable training for your employees? MHEDA can help! MHEDA’s Learning Management System is a members-only resource designed to provide a modern way to enhance your professional career development and track your learning progress. Enjoy affordable access to industry and business training in one convenient location. For more information, please

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Have you ever stopped to pay attention to the difference between leadership and management? One isn’t better than the other neces sarily, but they definitely take you down different paths. Management is all about the right here, right now – managing processes and peo ple and staying in the status quo. Leadership, however, is about looking into the future and mapping out new ways to thrive for yourself and your team. Let’s take a look at five ways you can drive a leadership mentality.

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Paying Attention to Leadership Over Management Five Strategies for Success Neen James presented at MHEDA’s Emerging Leaders Conference about communicating ideas and articulating value with more impact.

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Collaborate versus delegate. Delegate is when you are just telling people what to do. Collaboration, on the other hand, is bridging gaps between people – it’s reaching out for insights, ideas and new perspectives from other people. Can you reach out to other people in your organization, across departments or even outside your own company to find new, mutually beneficial ways to problem-solve, build momentum and grow? It’s a power ful connection when you can. Be strategic versus tactical. It’s easy to get caught up in the tactical part of tackling your daily to-do lists. Leadership think ers take it to the next step. They look to the future goals and ask bigger questions so they can help craft new and better paths to success. Design over process. Start today to question the design of how things have always been done. Look for the opportunities where you can design new growth or rethink old processes, improve skills, fuel innovation and encourage positive change.

By Neen James

Ownership versus routine. It’s easy to fall into routines. They are fast tracks, however, to mediocrity. Instead, encourage your team members to take ownership of their projects. Of the pro cesses. Of their time. Their decisions. Their careers. Their choices. When you take ownership, you sharpen your focus on the things that are the most important, and when that happens in an organi zation, everyone gets better. Amazing things can happen if you shift your mindset from man ager to leader, embrace these strategies and take action to bring them to fruition. About the Author Neen James is an Executive Strategist and the author of Folding Time™ and Attention Pays™. She offers her clients powerful strate gies for prioritizing focus on what matters most — so we can all pay more attention, create more significant moments, and increase pro ductivity at work and home. 

Listen over talk. Communication is a powerful tool for both man agers and leaders. The difference? Leaders give as much atten tion as they get, and sometimes more. They listen to both what is said, and what is unsaid. I find sometimes the biggest answers lie in that in-between! They listen, learn and then use that insight to challenge processes and improve systems.

58 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG Time TIREchangetoREPLACEMENTMADEEASY Trelleborg has developed an innovation for premium industrial tires that lets you know when your tires need replacing through a simple visual reference. We call this innovation Pit Stop Line Choosing Pit Stop Line from Trelleborg means always replacing tires at the right time ensuring that you keep your forklifts working and get full value for money. Maximum Value, Maximum Uptime. www.trelleborg.com/wheels/us MAXIMUMVALUE REDUCEDIMPACT MADESERVICEEASYMAXIMUMUPTIME ENHANCEDSAFETY TP_XXX_TB_PSL_Half_Page_US.indd 1 07/02/2022 15:46 WWW.TVH.COM Find the parts you need with help from TVH. Our vast research library covers 75 years of material handling, industrial and construction equipment in over 35,000 volumes of information and counting. No matter the make or model, TVH is available to assist you with your most difficult parts questions.YEARS

1. Keep your company vision in mind. Your company vision is the north star in which your entire organization should be moving towards on a regular basis. A vision is a long-term goal. This isn’t necessarily 20 years out (who knows where we will be then) but we like to think of the vision as 3 to 5 yearsTheout.vision should be connected to what motivated your company to be started in the first place. If your goals are not in line with GoalsCompanyEffectiveCreatingfor

In being realistic, consider the resources –both physical and non-tangible – you have and what your employees can give in terms of time, effort, and skills. Keep in mind that while determination is essential in achieving goals, you and your employees will also need time to recuperate. Account for this time ac cordingly when you’re trying to set deadlines for tasks or distributing work to your team.

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4. Make sure your goals are measurable. In creating your goals, you need to get as specific as possible, particularly in terms of how you’re going to measure your progress. Avoid being vague. Instead of “improve cus tomer service,” you may want to go for some thing along the lines of “achieve a score of at least 80% on our quarterly customer ser viceThesurvey.”latter goal gives you a way to check your progress and a score that can strive to achieve. In so doing, you and your team will know exactly what to look for and be instant ly aware when you’ve achieved your goal. As the old adage goes: if you cannot measure it you cannot manage it.

5 Tips

Creating effective company goals is a chal lenge that many business owners face. Hav ing such goals can help guide your team in their day-to-day tasks. It helps align every one, and it keeps you driven and motivated to achieve each and every goal. It is through these goals that you can take constant steps closer to your company vision. That is why it is necessary for you to know exactly what you want to achieve not only in the long run but in the short-term as well. That said, com pany goals can be pitfalls to your company if they lack certain characteristics.

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This bleeds into the next tip because you can create a plan and compare your actual progress toward achievement based on where you thought you would be at this point. When you have meetings and discussions on prog ress you should be able to determine if you are on track or off track based on the time line you have set for yourself and adjust your workload accordingly.

2. Challenging, but realistic. A good goal is one that drives you to be better and to achieve more. Even if you’re tempted to keep the goals small and achievable, there’s value in challenging yourself and your employees.

5. Re-evaluate regularly. Your goals must adapt and adjust to your growth. As such, the final tip to creating an effective goal is to reevaluate regularly. One important note, this does not mean if you are off track that you change your goal, change your strategy to achieve it. You should set goals regularly, but never more than a few at a time (we preach no more than three at a time). Does it still apply to your continued on page 64

achieving this vision, then why would you make that a goal in the first place?

When you’ve given all your effort to achieve a seemingly challenging goal, you and your team can feel the satisfaction that will keep you going for the next goal and the one after and so on. It also keeps your team engaged and motivated because the reward is proportionate with the work that was put in to achieve the goals. That being said, effective goals must be re alistic. It should not be too easy as to make your employees feel like they cannot achieve more. Alternatively, your goals should also not be too challenging as to discourage your team even before the battle starts.

By keeping this vision in mind, you can create goals that make the journey more manage able and, at the same time, more achievable. Your company goals help you visualize the path to getting there, which helps in keeping you and your team on the right track.

Ineffective goals can be harmful to you and your team. For instance, impossible and unrealistic goals can demotivate you pre cisely because it doesn’t seem like some thing you can achieve, which can, in turn, negatively impact you and your team’s con fidence. While the right business manage ment training can help you avoid this and give you more tips on creating effective goals, you may not have the time or financ es to invest in it. We’d still recommend looking into such options like our course, but for the meantime, here are five tips you can use to create effec tive company goals.

3. Set a deadline. “A Goal Is A Dream With A Deadline” – Napoleon Hill. Setting the dead line, when this must be completed (not when you’ll begin) is essential. By setting a deadline you have a metric of measurement to deter mine and manage your progress.

By Jeremy Wall

Evelyn McWilliams, 80, of Libertyville, IL, died on June 19 at her home in the care of her family. She was the beloved wife of John for 60 years; loving mother of John McWilliams (Tom Gorz), the late Kirsten McWilliams (Mike Brown) and Justine (Dan) Sennott; devoted grandmother of Will, Andy, Daniel, and Teddy. Evelyn will be remembered as a kind-hearted, hard-working, straight-talking woman who enjoyed being outside on a beau tiful day and loved celebrating the Fourth of July in Libertyville. She earned both her Bachelor’s Degree from Lake Forest College and Master’s Degree from Webster University while a married mother of three, working full-time. She looked forward to visit ing new cities as much as a good stay-cation of going to movies, the Chicago Botanic Gar den, Art Institute of Chica go, and her own backyard patio. She devoted her life to her family and taught her children that they were children of God who were be stowed with blessings and be loved by her. She taught her grand children the same, often over an extra serving of Culver’s ice cream. Evelyn understood that gratitude was the key to happi ness. She will be dearly missed and very lovingly remembered.

MHEDA Women in Industry Giving Back

MHEDA established a scholarship fund to further the awareness and recognition of the material handling industry within the academic community. Each year, it is awarded to worthy students enrolled in an industrial distribution or related curriculum.

MHS Lift Sending Two Camden Sisters to Rowan University Through Fourth-Annual Scholarship MHS Lift, a national provider of warehous ing and distribution solutions, announced that two Camden residents are the 2022 recipients of the company’s MHS Lift Schol arship Fund, a full scholarship to Rowan University. Sisters Emani Baines, 23, and Essence Holman, 19, will both start at Rowan in the fall.

The $5,000 MHEDA Honor Scholarships have been awarded to Abigail Johnson of Auburn, AL and Maiah Fallone of Roch ester, NY.

Trav Tacker has been named Hytrol Con veyor Company, Inc.’s Director of Par cel Business Development. In his new role, Tacker is responsible for Parcel Busi ness Development within Hytrol’s Integra tion Partner network and parcel end users.

Over 75 women in the material handling in dustry came together during the 2022 MHE DA annual convention to make a difference in the lives of women and children in Or lando. During the women in industry break fast, attendees came together with the One Heart for Women and Children organi zation to pack hygiene and food bags. Over 1,000 women and children in need received these hand packed bags within 24 hours af ter the event.

New Hires and Promotions Feel-Good News

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MHEDA Milestones

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Carolina Handling has promoted Justin Benson to Vice President of its Intralogistics Solutions Group where he oversees sales of all technologies and equipment for optimizing operations within warehous es, distributions centers and manufactur ing facilities, including engineering con sulting, Raymond automated products and Raymond Corporation’s proprietary iWARE HOUSE telematics system.

Alexander Leitner has taken on the newly created position of Senior Vice President for Innovation and Technology at TGW Logistics Group. The experienced manager will be responsible for the warehouse auto mation specialist’s innovation strategy, re porting to CEO Harald Schröpf.

Many of you knew Evelyn, who was a loyal and dedicated team member at MHEDA for many years until her retirement in 2007. She was an enormous help to so many of us; she loved MHE DA, its members and her coworkers. This loss hit our MHEDA family hard. Please keep Evelyn and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

In Memoriam

MHEDA Honors Scholarship Awards

nVenia, LLC, a market leading packag ing solutions company within the Duravant family, is pleased to announce the appoint ment of Paul Ferrandino as the Senior Vice President of Sales for nVenia. In this role, Ferrandino will be responsible for evolving nVenia’s capabilities in the devel opment of Key Accounts and promote sell ing of the complete nVenia portfolio across all served end markets.

Hytrol Conveyor Company, Inc.’s Ajit Baridun has been promoted to Director of Business Development for Key Accounts for the company. Baridun has five years of experience in the material handling in dustry. His previous titles included project manager, program manager and manager of project execution.

Carolina Handling Receives Best Service Performance Award from

Coinciding with National Forklift Safety Day, Yale Materials Han dling Corporation just released original training videos as part of the new Yale Operator Training Program. The new videos help high-intensity warehouses take control of their lift truck operator training, using enhanced adult learning techniques to support en gagement and comprehension.

On the

Locus Robotics Named as Manhattan Associates as “Robotics Al Tech Partner of the Year” Locus Robotics announced that it has been named as the winner of the Robotics Al Tech Partner of the Year award by Manhattan Associates. The awards were presented at Momentum 2022, Manhattan Associates’ annual event, held on May 2325 in Florida.

KION North America Announces the Opening of its Brand-New Aftermarket Distribution and Training Center

The Storage Solutions Inc. Board of Direc tors has officially approved the acquisi tion of California-based SNC Solutions (SNC). The purchase will give Storage Solu tions additional resources and capabilities to grow its business along the West Coast, given SNC’s expertise in the market and special requirements in that region.

PartnershipsMove & Acquisitions Awards & Recognition

SRSI Announces Integrator Relationship With Dematic SRSI (Slate River Systems, Inc.) and Dematic signed an integrator relationship agreement. SRSI will now be a certified in tegrator of all Dematic equipment. SRSI is known for its strong customer relationships and quality of work, and with the experi ence of industry experts at Dematic, looks to further grow its offerings.

MHEDA Milestones

MHS Lift Named Top Workplace by The Philadelphia Inquirer for Third Year in A Row MHS Lift, Inc., an award-winning, nation ally recognized material handling equipment company, has been named one of the 2022 Top Workplaces in the greater Philadel phia area by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Boston Business Journal Names Locus Robotics to 2022 Fast 50 List for Second Year in a Row Locus Robotics has been named to Bos ton Business Journal’s 2022 Fast 50 list for the second year in a row. Locus was of ficially ranked as the third ranked compa ny at the event held in Boston on Thursday, May 19, clarifying the positions of honorees that were announced previously.

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Charlotte, NC-based Carolina Handling has partnered with Wake Technical Com munity College and five other material handling equipment dealers to offer a new Forklift Diploma Program that will begin this fall at North Carolina’s largest community col lege in Raleigh.

KION North America is proud to announce the opening of its brand-new Aftermarket Distribution and Training Center in Summerville, South Carolina. This new location, just 5 miles from KION North America’s production facility, triples the warehouse space for highdemand spare parts.

Storage Solutions Announces the Acquisition of SNC Solutions

TGW wins VDI’s Logistics Innovation Award With this award, the Association of German Engineers (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, VDI) honors companies’ outstanding achieve ments in terms of logistics innovation. TGW received the renowned Innovation Award for the self-learning picking robot Rovolu tion and its digital twin.

MHEDA Releases a New Podcast on Robotics and Automation In the latest episode of the MHEDA Talks podcast, Host Shari Alter gott, Chief Experience Officer of The CX Edge talks with AJ Meyer, CEO of Pickle Robot Co about the benefits of robotics and automa tion in material handling.

CarolinaRaymondHandling has been recognized for Best Service Performance in 2021 among all dealers in The Raymond Corpo ration network. The company received the award during the recent Raymond Summit held in Las Colinas, TX.

This & That Yale Releases Updated Videos as Part of New Operator Training Program

Carolina Handling Partners with Wake Tech on New Forklift Diploma Program

ABB Inc. Jay Price, Director Channel Sales 1250 Brown Road Auburn Hills, MI 48326 Robotics317-797-5728and Automation

Hive Quick Response Steve Ross, President 940 Centre Circle Ste 2004 Altamonte Springs, FL 32714 Technologywww.hiveqr.com407-550-7548based company Sponsor: MHEDA

Sponsor:www.handlingtechnologies.com866-518-8108MHEDA

The following companies have applied for membership with MHEDA. We extend a warm welcome and look forward to seeing them at future MHEDA activities.

Devin Ahern 9856 S Orange Avenue Orlando, FL

62 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

Sponsor:Hytrol,Primarywww.impactautomation.net410-910-6644Line:MHS,Roach,Omni,IntraloxMHEDA

INC./STOCK.ADOBE.COMBUTTONSWEB

Southeast Handling Systems

Structurack Inc. Gilles Ducharme, President 237 Boulevard Industrial Ste Chateauguay,170 QC J6J 4Z2

Fresno Rack and Shelving Ron Walterman, President 711 N. Armstrong Ave Fresno, CA

Primarywww.fresnorack.com559-275-722593727Line:Hannibal,

Sponsor:Dunn MHEDA Zion Solutions Group Jim Shaw, Sponsor:SystemsPrimarywww.thezsg.comWatkinsville,Ste2061ChuckCo-FounderPresident,Frank,Co-FounderExperimentStationRd301-#445GA30677Line:EngineeredMHEDA

Sponsor:equipmentPrimarywww.weinstallrack.com33178Line:WarehouseMHEDA

Sponsor:Primarywww.structurack.com450-692-1110CanadaLine:EtalexRackingMHEDA Warehouse Equipment and Supply Inc. Linsy Di Pietro, Owner 11435 Rocket Blvd Ste #108 Orlando, FL Primarywww.wesracks.com321-250-703232824Line:Pallet Racking

Sponsor:SMOPrimarywww.sfmvictoria.com361-576-353577901Line:Tailift,Snorkel,CatalogMHEDA

Sponsor: MHEDA Yale Industrial Trucks Ontario Limited Brian DeCunha, VP Sales 340 Hanlan Woodbridge,RoadONL4L 3P6 Canada Primarywww.yaleforklifts.com905-851-6620Line:Yale,Nilfisk, Taylor

Mid Florida Material Handling

Nucor, Western Pacific, Mallard Sponsor: MHEDA Technologies,Handling Inc. Scott Fowler, President 411 University Ridge Ste B-8 Greenville, SC 29601

Sponsor:www.allstatesrack.com305-603-851633178MHEDA

Gregory Ramos, Manager 9018 NW 105th Way Medley, FL

Steve Thorne, Vice President 572 Trollingwood-Hawfields Road Mebane, NC

Industrial Vehicle America Corp Southern Field Maintenance Derek Zarosky, General Manager 2004 S Laurent Street Victoria, TX

Rack Installers Greg Ramos, President 9018 NW 105 Way Medley, FL

SUPPLIER/ASSOCIATEMANUFACTURER123Forklift David Teifer, CEO 121 W Trade St Ste 2100 Charlotte, NC Digitalwww.123forklift.com704-293-316328202MarketingAgency for forklift eliftruck.com,Sponsor:dealersArtArellano,Inc.

Impact Automation Chris Lambert, Dir Business Operations 9305 Gerwig Lane Ste T Columbia, MD 21046

Doosan

INTEGRATORSDISTRIBUTORS/ All States Rack Corp. Gregory Ramos, President 9018 NW 105th Way Medley, FL

Sponsor:www.cipilot.com336-444-002627041JohnGaughan Facility Supplies

L.A. Lift Services Edward LaTourette, President 4368 Bandini Blvd Vernon, CA Primarywww.laliftservices.com323-262-911190058Line:JLG,Skyjack, Blue Sponsor:Giant MHEDA

Sponsor:www.facsupplies.com305-400-851533178MHEDA

Sponsor:WirecraftersKomatsu,Primarywww.midfloridamaterial407-859-875032824handling.comLine:Interlake-Mecalux,PanelBuilt,Cogan,MHEDA

Sponsor: MHEDA Aurora Payments Sean Broderick 1095 W Rio Salado Pkwy Tempe, AZ Sponsor:Payment443-866-178685281processingMHEDA Axilz Inc. Saad Fazal, President 3314 Cambourne Crescent Mississauga ON L5N 5P7 Canada Provideshttps://axilz.com647-533-7167professional engineering Sponsor:services MHEDA Forklift-Simulator, Inc. Michael Sponsor:trainingVirtualwww.forklift-simulator.com412-726-3507Coraopolis,104ChairmanTomana,oftheBoardSnellDrivePA15108realityforkliftsimulatortechnologyMHEDA

Sponsor:Primarywww.shslift.com336-578-100027302Line:DoosanDennisBarker,

Carson Industries Duane Wilson, CEO PO Box 1221 Pilot Mtn, NC

Sponsor:Globalwww.traffictech.com514-343-2601FreightForwarderCosmeInc.

24-volt live roller conveyor. Installa ti on is easy and opera ti on is quiet with 40 motors running on a single power supply. Choose a product that brings versa ti lity and convenience together; choose Hytrol.

63THE MHEDA JOURNAL • Q3 2022

Jeremy was a speaker at the 2022 Emerging Leaders Conference.

Aerial Lift Parts Flight Systems Industrial Products 51 Gamber Johnson 39 TVH 58 Automation SRSI (Slate River Systems Inc.) 32 United Material Handling, Inc. 54 WIPOTEC-OCS Inc 63 Batteries East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc 67 EnerSys 42 Hawker 35 Stryten Energy 7 Sunlight Batteries USA, Inc 21 Toyota Lift Northwest 51 Battery Chargers Flight Systems Industrial Products 51 Stryten Energy 7 Sunlight Batteries USA, Inc 21 TVH 58 Business Management Software Stryten Energy 7 Cantilever Racks Culver Equipment, LLC 26 Carts Dyna Rack 48 Consulting & Professional Services Coastal Kapital LLC 38 Controls Flight Systems Industrial Products 51 Conveyors Hytrol Conveyor Co., Inc 56 Ryson International, Inc 56 SRSI (Slate River Systems, Inc.) 32 Dealers Bell Forklift, Inc 12 Dock Equipment BrinkAlert 40 Gamber Johnson 39 Equipment Leasing CIT 20 Coastal Kapital LLC 38 Financial Services Coastal Kapital LLC 38 Flooring Cornerstone Specialty Wood Products, LLC 48 Forklifts Bell Forklift, Inc. 12 CLARK Material Handling Company 22 Doosan Industrial Vehicle America Corp 33 HeliAmerica 28 Sunlight Batteries USA, Inc 21 Task Forklifts 50 TVH 58 United Material Handling, Inc. 54

Toyota Lift Northwest 51 Lift Trucks Sunlight Batteries USA, Inc 21 Toyota Lift Northwest 51 Material Handling 3D Storage Systems Limited...... ......4 BrinkAlert 40 Culver Equipment, LLC 26 KION North America Corporation 16 Nashville Wire Products 4 Sunlight Batteries USA, Inc 21 Task Forklifts 50 TVH 58 United Material Handling, Inc 54 WireCrafters LLC 40 Mezzanines Culver Equipment, LLC 26 Mobile Gamber Johnson 39 Nestable Racks Dyna Rack 48 Packaging WIPOTEC-OCS Inc 63 Pallet Rack Repair Worldwide Material Handling 3 Plant/Facility Equipment Gamber Johnson 39 Portable Racks Dyna Rack 48 Protective GuardingPartition Guard Rails WireCrafters LLC 40 Racking Systems 3D Storage Systems Limited 4 Culver Equipment, LLC 26 Rack Builders, Inc 18 Ridg-U-Rak, Inc 10 Steel King Industries Inc 19 Tri-Boro Storage Products 2 United Material Handling, Inc. 54 Rental Services Toyota Lift Northwest 51 Replacement Parts Flight Systems Industrial Products 51 TVH 58 Rollers 3D Storage Systems Limited 4 Safety Solutions BrinkAlert 40 WireCrafters LLC 40 WIPOTEC-OCS Inc 63 Worldwide Material Handling 3 Shelving Nashville Wire Products 8 Software Chunker Back Cover Sorting Systems SRSI (Slate River Systems, Inc.) 32 Stack Racks Dyna Rack 48 Steel Rack Decking DACS, Inc 44 Nashville Wire Products 8 Steel Shelving Borroughs Corporation 6 Storage Racks 3D Storage Systems Limited 4 Dyna Rack 48 Nashville Wire Products 8 Storage Systems 3D Storage Systems Limited 4 Culver Equipment, LLC 26 Husky Rack & Wire 21 SRSI (Slate River Systems, Inc.) 32 United Material Handling, Inc. 54 Systems Integration Services WIPOTEC-OCS Inc 63 Tires & Wheels Trelleborg Wheel Systems 58 TVH 58 Warehousing Systems BrinkAlert 40 Chunker Back Cover Gamber Johnson 39 SRSI (Slate River Systems, Inc.) 32 Toyota Lift Northwest 51 United Material Handling, Inc. 54 WIPOTEC-OCS Inc 63 Wire Products Nashville Wire Products 8 WireCrafters LLC 40 Worldwide Material Handling 3 Work Benches Pro-Line 51 Working Capital & Loan Products Coastal Kapital LLC 38

About the Author Jeremy Wall is the Co-Founder and Chief Exec utive Officer at GoalMakers, and the program fa cilitator for MHEDA’s Master Manager Program.



Advertiser Index current situation? Are you in a position where you can achieve more? Are your goals still in line with the company vision?

These are some of the questions you can ask when you feel that your goals have ei ther been achieved or not achieved with in the timeline you have set. This helps in making sure that you can keep creating new and relevant goals that bring you closer to realizing your vision. Creating goals requires you to be aware of where your company is currently at in terms of your vision and how your team is doing in terms of their performance. As such, the final, and perhaps most impor tant, tip to creating effective goals is to be knowledgeable about the ins and outs of your company so that you can strive to achieve outcomes that can improve your overall performance. continued from page 59

Guarding Products WireCrafters LLC 40 Hydraulic and Electrical Component Controls Flight Systems Industrial Products 51 Integrated Warehouse Solutions BrinkAlert 40 SRSI (Slate River Systems, Inc.) 32 Stryten Energy 7

64 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

The next MHEDA Master Manager Program begins September 7. To register, please go mheda.org/master.to

We’re making the battery business better, smarter and more advanced. Join us. Experienced — Leverage our global, technological expertise to better serve your customers Forward-Thinking — Anticipate your customers’ needs with Glocal, Sunlight’s Cloud Smart Battery Remote Monitoring System Quality Products & Service — Serve your customers with lead and lithium-ion products and accessories that span all industries Advanced U.S. Assembly Line — Get immediate order fulfillment with our new plant in North Carolina POWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH A GLOBAL ENERGY STORAGE COMPANY FIND OUT MORE OF THE BENEFITS OF BECOMING A SUNLIGHT DEALER. Call 336.579.5109 or visit systems-sunlight.com/usa.

FREEDOMZ/STOCK.ADOBE.COM and others will have the proverbial “soft landing” – i.e., no recession, just slowing growth. “There is so much uncertainty.” We are hearing some version of this quite frequently from business leaders. We understand. There are an abnormally high number of disparate economic datapoints and risk factors muddying the waters. That being said, it is our job to identify the relative certainties in this 1.cycle:Interest rates will rise in response to the inflationary threat.

The Last Word

It is getting scarier out there in the economy. We have a bear market, multi-decade highs in inflation, recent decline in Real Personal Income (including transfer payments) and a tick-down in the first-quarter US Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP). On top of that, the Federal Reserve is tightening monetary policy. With all this, it’s no surprise that talk of recession is splashed across the business news nearly every day, and confidence is waning among both consumers and Howbusinesses.concerned should you be? Some prudence on the back side of the business cycle is always a good idea, but here is what you really need to know: Are we headed for Great Recession 2.0? We are not. Consumers and businesses are starting this period of business cycle softening in very strong fiscal shape. The situation is nearly the opposite of the period immediately prior to the Great Recession. So what should you do? Focus on your margins and know your markets. We are calling for relatively flat Real GDP at the bottom of this business cycle. Irrespective of whether actual results come in showing slight contraction or anemic growth, some markets will undergo mild recessions

This is an excerpt from MHEDA’s 17-page Custom Economic Advisory Report, produced quarterly by ITR Economics.

First, now is a good time to borrow at fixed rates if the ROI on the project is Emphasizesufficient. projects that combat labor scarcity and expense, help you save costs, or otherwise make your business more Second,resilient.margins will be squeezed if you aren’t careful. Your customers may well start pushing back on price increases, especially as the elevated inflationary period sticks around. You may also find yourself in a period of “profitless prosperity” wherein your top line rises along with inflation, but a peek at the bottom line reveals struggles. Walmart and Target’s disappointing first-quarter earnings reveal that even the blue chips are not immune.

4. Consumers and businesses are wellpositioned to take the punch presented by issues 1, 2, and (for employers) 3. Capitulation is not around the next 5.corner.Thefinancial firewalls of consumers and businesses alike won’t always be so robust. Be prepared for a rocky economic period during the middle of the decade.

SURIYAPONG/STOCK.ADOBE.COM

QuarterThird Economic Forecast

66 MHEDA • WWW.MHEDA.ORG

What do these factors mean for you?

Third, don’t worry excessively. There is a lot of negative sentiment in the media and among consumers right now. Headlines and consumer sentiment are not reliable predictors of what is to come. Take comfort in the solid financial underpinnings of the economy and focus on what you can control. This Economic Report is free to MHEDA members and provides clear, actionable information on current economic trends and data on seven markets applicable to your business. Visit www.mheda.org/ economy to access today.

2. Inflation will moderate at least somewhat as demand cools and supply ramps up. 3. Labor will remain scarce and expensive given the myriad of factors causing the shortage. (Remember, the labor shortage predates COVID-19, which then exacerbated the issue.)

Today’s challenges can seem insurmountable. You need to move inventory faster, longer, smarter, with higher levels of efficiency than ever before. An ordinary partner can’t help. You need a partner that has the right mountain moving solutions for your unique operational needs. PARTNER WITH POWER The right PORTFOLIO – lead & lithium technology Proven PERFORMANCE – cycle after cycle, lift after lift Network of PEOPLE – sales and service experts working for you All found in a PARTNERSHIP with a company you can trust for sustainable power www.dekabatteries.com Lyon Station, PA 19536 Phone: 610-682-6361

For more info and to sign up: chunker.com/MHEDA

PARTNER PROGRAM CHUNKER BECOME A

BYDISTRIBUTORVALUE-ADDEDMOREJOININGTHEImmediateaccesstoallavailablewarehouses

in your with extra space, to help customers bursting at the seams.

Ability to instantly register a customer with underutilized space so that Chunker can find a short-term tenant for them. Instant payment for each referral and compensation for all transactions from your referrals. You provide the referral, Chunker does the selling, making it easy for you to participate. Everyone wins with Chunker.

All material handling distributors have customers with immediate warehouse space problems. Some have too much, which wastes valuable cash, and some are bursting at the seams. In both cases they need immediate help, but your options for fast solutions are limited. Becoming a Chunker Partner provides additional tools for you to solve immediate space problems and to deepen your customer relationships.