Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

MHI names Heragu for lifetime achievement award in material handling education

Oklahoma State University professor wins MHEFI’s Reed-Apple Award for textbook, research, teaching.

heragu professor oklahoma state

The industry group MHI today named the most recent winner of its prize for lifetime achievement in material handling education, presenting the honor to Sunderesh Heragu, a college professor at Oklahoma State University.

Unveiled during MHI’s annual Fall Meeting, the Material Handling Education Foundation Inc. (MHEFI)’s Reed-Apple Award Winner honors lasting contributions to material handling education made by a person, company, or group.


According to MHI, Heragu has earned the award for his record of publishing more than 250 papers, authoring the foundational college textbook “Facilities Design,” and teaching more than 30 courses in the field at schools including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Louisville. Heragu today is the Regents Professor and head of the school of industrial engineering and management at Oklahoma State.

His devotion to education has helped thousands of students become experts in material handling, warehousing, and facilities logistics, and his research has made large strides in the fields of warehouse management systems, real time data collection, and automation, MHI said.

Recent

More Stories

photo of container ship cruising

Project44 tallies supply chain impacts of a turbulent 2024

Following a year in which global logistics networks were buffeted by labor strikes, natural disasters, regional political violence, and economic turbulence, the supply chain visibility provider Project44 has compiled the impact of each of those events in a new study.

The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

photos of grocery supply chain workers

ReposiTrak and Upshop link platforms to enable food traceability

ReposiTrak, a global food traceability network operator, will partner with Upshop, a provider of store operations technology for food retailers, to create an end-to-end grocery traceability solution that reaches from the supply chain to the retail store, the firms said today.

The partnership creates a data connection between suppliers and the retail store. It works by integrating Salt Lake City-based ReposiTrak’s network of thousands of suppliers and their traceability shipment data with Austin, Texas-based Upshop’s network of more than 450 retailers and their retail stores.

Keep ReadingShow less
minority woman with charts of business progress

Study: Inclusive procurement can fuel economic growth

Inclusive procurement practices can fuel economic growth and create jobs worldwide through increased partnerships with small and diverse suppliers, according to a study from the Illinois firm Supplier.io.

The firm’s “2024 Supplier Diversity Economic Impact Report” found that $168 billion spent directly with those suppliers generated a total economic impact of $303 billion. That analysis can help supplier diversity managers and chief procurement officers implement programs that grow diversity spend, improve supply chain competitiveness, and increase brand value, the firm said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Logistics industry growth slowed in December
Logistics Managers' Index

Logistics industry growth slowed in December

Logistics industry growth slowed in December due to a seasonal wind-down of inventory and following one of the busiest holiday shopping seasons on record, according to the latest Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) report, released this week.

The monthly LMI was 57.3 in December, down more than a percentage point from November’s reading of 58.4. Despite the slowdown, economic activity across the industry continued to expand, as an LMI reading above 50 indicates growth and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Keep ReadingShow less
pie chart of business challenges in 2025

DHL: small businesses wary of uncertain times in 2025

As U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face an uncertain business landscape in 2025, a substantial majority (67%) expect positive growth in the new year compared to 2024, according to a survey from DHL.

However, the survey also showed that businesses could face a rocky road to reach that goal, as they navigate a complex environment of regulatory/policy shifts and global market volatility. Both those issues were cited as top challenges by 36% of respondents, followed by staffing/talent retention (11%) and digital threats and cyber attacks (2%).

Keep ReadingShow less