INNOVATION HELPS DRIVE SUPPLY CHAIN PRODUCTIVITY
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INNOVATION HELPS DRIVE SUPPLY CHAIN PRODUCTIVITY WRIT TEN BY
JOHN O’HANLON PRODUCED BY
DENITR A PRICE
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HYSTER COMPANY IS POSITIONING ITSELF TO MEET SEISMIC CHANGES IN THE WAREHOUSING AND MATERIAL HANDLING INDUSTRY.WE SPEAK TO GIJO GEORGE, BUSINESS UNIT DIRECTOR FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE
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ppointing Gijo George as its first ever Business Unit Director for Food and Bever-
age was part of a wider Hyster Company strategy to focus on a cultivating a deeper understanding of the unique challenges of key industry segments and help influence marketing initiatives and product development. George is a seasoned supply chain veteran, bringing to his newly-created role not only 20 years of procurement leadership, but also a deep knowledge
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from a customer perspective – as
locations, the world’s largest cold chain
a Hyster national account customer
solutions provider faced some very
for 11 years. “I was a very active
specialized material handling issues.
customer, too,” he asserts. “Pursuing
Warehouses that operate at -20
innovative solutions for the business.
degrees put material handling equip-
Hyster approached me to join their
ment under extreme stress: steel
marketing group because I had that
becomes brittle, batteries lose power,
customer perspective on the food
fluids become viscous.
and beverage side.”
“It was my job as a procurement professional to cultivate a strong
THE CUSTOMER’S PERSPECTIVE
supplier relationship. Hyster became
As a major cold storage and warehous-
one of the preferred suppliers at that
ing company with more than 170 global
time. Cold storage warehouses are w w w.hyster. com
among the most challenging ware-
Hyster Company continues to apply
house environments, mainly due to
its expertise and customer feedback
condensation and the need for driver
from a broad global install base to
comfort,” he says, “and Hyster has
develop innovative solutions that build
become a serious competitor in the
on its reputation for strong, durable
sub-zero space.”
equipment while integrating intelligent
A good example is the new Class III
software capabilities to help opera-
End Rider – designed with a variety of
tions meet increasingly demanding
industry-exclusive and best-in-class
productivity goals.
ergonomic enhancements and produc-
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tivity-enhancing Smart features to help
TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP
operations boost labor efficiency and
As in any industry requiring capital
increase throughput in order picking,
investment in specialized equipment,
unloading and other warehouse tasks.
there is a temptation, especially among
It was awarded “2018 Product of the
smaller food and beverage operators,
Year” by Material Handling Product News.
to make purchase decisions based
“ Hyster has become a serious competitor in the subzero space” — Gijo George, Business Unit Director for Food and Beverage, Hyster
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘HYSTER: TOUGH AND RESOURCEFUL’ 07 solely on price. Gijo George is a passion-
statistics show productivity falling by as
ate evangelist for the concept of total
much as 14% since 2013 and turnover
cost of ownership (TCO) that reveals
rates around 30% have been recorded
the broader decisions facing a CPO.
in ambient warehouses (60% in cold
“It’s our strategy to work very closely with our customers to help them manage their balance sheet.” For example, the
stores). Average onboarding costs for a skilled operator stand at around $10,000. “Hyster is addressing the issue on
emphasis on operator comfort ad-
two fronts: focusing on robust telemat-
dressed by the end rider can positively
ics solutions to measure performance
impact broader labor issues prevalent
and productivity while engineering
in many warehousing operations.
ergonomic solutions to help improve
Recruiting and retaining skilled labor is
operator comfort and reduce potential
increasingly a challenge. With record
fatigue. We have some of the most
low unemployment, labor has become
comfortable platforms in the industry,
a scarce and valuable resource. Some
designed to help minimize fatigue w w w.hyster. com
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and absorb shock and vibration in a multitude of operating environments.”
The lift trucks also incorporate an ‘Intelligent’ suite of solutions providing improved productivity, load stability
CLEVER COMFORT
and ergonomics. An optional extended
Warehouses are not normally well-lit at
operator platform provides more usable
the picking point. The new Hyster End
foot space than the leading competi-
Rider series of lift trucks have industry-
tors, allowing operators to adjust stance
exclusive LED platform lights to provide
to provide postural relief. The Ultra
operator awareness in low light or
Cushion reduces shock and vibration
congested areas and the LED fork
to improve operator comfort and
lights offer in-trailer illumination,
provide steady footing.
helping raise pedestrian awareness,
George involves the financial leader-
can reduce product damage and help
ship to explain the real cost benefits of
increase the bottom line.
such equipment. Acquisition costs are
balanced against operational costs, end-of-life costs and labor costs. “I aim to give the total picture; a better appreciation of the decision they are about to make - and for our current customers we point out that trucks become more expensive with every year that passes. They can consider minimal technology investments such as telemetry that can be added onto older trucks. This gives visibility into the way the truck is operating and the ability to measure and manage those costs. Our dedicated fleet management organization works as consultants and advisors to our E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Gijo George Gijo brings over twenty years of experience in Procurement, Supply Chain, Sales, and IT Applications. He currently leads the Global Procurement function, responsible for both Direct and Indirect supporting 170+ facilities. He has extensive experience in Capital Expenditure Projects such as construction, automation, assets and systems upgrades and renovation as well as Goods and Services Procurement for categories like Energy, Consumables, Contingent Labor, etc. Prior to Americold, Gijo worked for Rock-Tenn, The Home Depot, The Hackett Group, GeP, and consulted for several Fortune 500 companies.
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STEEL THAT SUPPORTS THE WORLD
From our beginning in 1907, through our incorporation as Steel of West Virginia, Inc. in 1982, to the present as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Steel Dynamics, Inc., we have had a long tradition of product innovation and process improvement. As an ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturer, we continue to expand and improve our manufacturing capabilities and production efficiencies. For our customers, this means we will always be the low-cost, high-quality producer.
Our structural steel sections are produced from electric furnace steel, continuously cast and hot rolled on highly specialized mills. We produce special shapes as well as standard beams, channels and MC channels. We also produce flat bars at the newly acquired SWVA-Kentucky rolling mill. These products are used by a wide range of OEM customers, including industrial truck and truck trailer manufacturers, rail, off highway equipment, guardrail, solar energy, and shipbuilding companies. We also have fabricating and processing capabilities, both at SWVA, Inc. and at our subsidiaries Marshall Steel, Inc. and Steel Ventures, Inc. SWVA, Inc. has been a long time supplier of forklift mast sections and hanger bars to Hyster-Yale. It has been a true partnership as our team designs our manufacturing systems to take care of this valued customer’s needs. We look forward to continuing our partnership well into the future!
CALL US TODAY 1 (800) 624-3492
MARCH 2019
www.swvainc.com
accounts in order to streamline and manage those costs.” Hyster sale teams are also equipped to support smaller customers that are not ready to invest in large-scale fleet enhancement. They may not realize that they can adopt the latest and most appropriate electric, lithium-ion, hydrogen fuel cell or gas-powered units without heavy capital investment. “We have designed pay-per-use models that make it economically feasible for a ten-truck customer to take advantage of a hydrogen fuel cell solution that would yield 20% to 30% power gain and 10% to 15% productivity gains just from not having to refuel so much and the resultant downtime.” Gijo George spends a lot of his time traveling the North American market to
“ We have some of the most comfortable platforms in the industry, designed to help minimize fatigue and absorb shock and vibration in a multitude of operating environments” — Gijo George, Business Unit Director for Food and Beverage, Hyster
learn at first hand what his customers in different industries really want. Its stakeholders, he has found, share the Hyster vision of an ecologically and economically sustainable end-to-end supply chain. “We deploy a number of strategies to collect customer feedback and identify their pain points. At the same time, as an organization with manufacturing facilities globally,
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we leverage the expertise and experience of our best suppliers and solicit opportunities to work with them to add value to the product.”
CUBES TO LAKES Fluctuations in the U.S. and global steel economies are another factor that affects the thinking of equipment manufacturers. George maintains close contact with his financial, procurement and IT counterparts to focus on solutions that make best economic sense while optimizing lead times. “We utilize a lot 12
of just-in-time data management and data mining tools, moving us from ‘data
cubes’ to data lakes which can swallow the input costs, global price indices, tariffs, tax information and the like, to enable the best solutions and the best decision making across the business.” By focusing on the food and beverage customers, Gijo George sits at the heart of the business. After all, this fast evolving, population-driven sector will never decline, and Hyster is positioned as a key player in its development. A characteristic of operations in this space is that they have purchased piecemeal in the past, ending up with a stable of equipment from different suppliers. “Over time our customers acquired different brands of equipment. Another aspect of my job is to help them understand how our brand is differentiated in the market and educate them on the TCO (total cost of ownership) that they would be returning to the business.”
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Hyster www.hyster.com