Textile Distributor Relies on Morrison to Keep Them Cool

Shade Industry Demand Explodes
The awning on your home or local pizza shop is a small representation of the exploding shade industry. As worshiping the sun exploded, so has the demand for shade products. Like most things we drive by every day, we hardly notice the function shade products have in our lives.

Awning, canopies, boat covers, and tents are some quick examples. When you add up the applications, textile products play a big role in our lives. The hundreds of manufacturers and the companies that distribute their products all rely on material handling solutions.

Most textile raw material used in the shade industry originates on rolls. Roll handling issues are a huge challenge. Storing, moving, staging, cutting and shipping operations require handling of bulky and heavy rolls. Repetitive manual handling of rolls results in back injuries.

Storage problems occur as well. Most storage solutions are designed for square pallets or boxes. Textile storage products are round. The adage of a square peg in a round hole applies, but only in reverse.

Morrison Company represents roll handling products that safely and efficiently move rolls of material from storage locations to a cutting or finishing operation. Whether the facility relies on overhead or floor supported cranes, carts, or lift trucks, a Morrison Company engineer can design an integrated material handling solution to work in most environments.

Industry leader distributor, The Astrup Company, has relied on Morrison Company to help expand, renovate and complete existing distribution center locations and complete new facilities. Over the decades, most of their facilities have been involved in a Morrison Company project.

Whether your facility has roll handling or similar challenges, Morrison Company is ready to provide a facility assessment that may confirm plans you may already have about an expansion or renovation.

For the past 75 years Morrison Company has led the way as the material handling industry has evolved. After hundreds of projects, the Morrison Company sales and engineering team is eager to take on your unique challenges. To set up an evaluation of your facility, select facility assessment.

You Do That? - Conveyors

Conveyor Systems Automate Your Every Move
Is a conveyor system the right solution for every business that moves products? Whether your business is manufacturing or distribution, whether moving cartons or components on an assembly line, conveyors keep your world moving. No matter if your supply chain stretches across your plant or around the world, the right conveyor system can deliver significant improvement in time and cost.

If you need a conveyor system, how do you know what kind of system is right for your application? Does experience matter, you bet! Morrison Company’s projects include some of the world’s most sophisticated high-profile distribution centers and warehouses for retail, mail order, apparel and pharmaceuticals.

Discover how you can get an appraisal of your conveyor needs!

Two premier company’s, FKI Bushman and Jervis B. Webb, conveyors are the ideal solution for moving product. Bushman’s standard roller conveyors are pre-engineered in three popular sizes for light, medium and heavy loads. When your material handling system requires transportation for heavier loads the roller-bed belt conveyor supplies the energy-saving solution.

Jervis B. Webb conveyors are ideal for many manufacturing applications. Their UnIbeam conveyor solution is ideal when moving heavy components using their I-beam conveyor track with rivet less chain. Powered by a caterpillar drive system the trolley can safely carry loads up to 400 pounds.

Power and Free conveyors allow the system to interface smoothly with automatic workstations, loading and unloading equipment, and a variety of production robots for loads up to 8,000 pounds. A carrier identification system, including electro-mechanical radio frequency (RF) and optical readers, are available to allow tracking of every carrier in the system.

Whether working with a supply chain consultant or solely implementing a conveyor project, contact Morrison Company for an assessment of your conveyor system needs.

Test Your Knowledge

The Twelve Commandments of Performance Management
“If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it” was the announcement Peter Drucker made twenty years ago. His zest to sell Corporate America on the importance of performance management has succeeded. But the execution hasn’t always lived up to expectations. Many well-intentioned CEO’s have internalized the message as “measurement is management”. They’ve rushed out to adopt performance metrics – whether it’s scorecards, dashboards or some other metric program.

Six months later, they’re come to realize they haven’t achieved the performance breakthroughs they expected. What companies fail to understand is that using performance metrics is not the same as adopting a performance management program.

The challenge facing business managers is to use performance metrics to create a viable performance management process. Performance management experts have devised twelve factors that must be present in an effective program. These twelve are commandments that, if followed, will create the foundation of sound policy.

One of these factors, know your goals, is a critical first step. Managers who know where they are going adopt key performance indicators (KPI’s) that let them monitor performance against those specific goals and objectives and act on what they learn.

An example of this strategy might be a company’s market share. If market share were your KPI, then a downward shift in market share from any business unit should trigger a meeting of the company’s executive team. Another benefit of this strategy is the empowerment it can give to middle management. A KPI can clarify the company’s key objective for the whole organization.

Are you interested in the other 11 commandments of performance management? Morrison Company can provide you with a copy of all twelve commandments by selecting more information on performance management.

Closed Column Story

Interlake Material Handling is the largest manufacturer of record storage rack solutions. This reprint was made possible as a result of Morrison Company’s premier partner distributor relationship.
Two or three manufacturers have chosen to differentiate themselves on the basis of a closed column design within their upright frames. The marketing of this “advantage” has become confusing, mainly because of manufacturers’ reluctance to advise customers of all the issues regarding a closed column design. Customers are routinely told a small portion of the closed column story and, either by implication or outright misrepresentation are led to perceptions which are dangerously incorrect in the long run. It is important that users of rack systems understand the closed column versus open column issues so that they may make the correct purchasing decision.

The Story:

The closed column story normally begins with a manufacturer exhibiting how a tiny portion of a rack system, namely a small two-to-three-foot section of closed column, has greater resistance to torsional deflection, or twist. On the basis of this one characteristic, the customer is asked to believe that the product which ends up on his floor is somehow less susceptible to damage, carries greater load, is “stronger”, or a combination of these. Often, customers are further told that the closed-column product is safer, and that manufacturers of open column sections do so in order to “cut cost”. The truth is that, in most cases, every one of these perceptions are false.

The Facts:

A closed section has greater resistance to torsional deflection, and is a more “efficient” load-carrying section, meaning that the same load may be carried with less steel.

Because the section has these characteristics, designers of rack using this section may design a lighter gauge section to carry the same load that would require a heavier gauge in an open section column. The sectional properties of a closed section often means that frames may be designed with lighter horizontal and diagonal bracing. Designers may forego “beefy” rack designs because rack designs standards do not address rack abuse as commonly found in warehouses.

Because of the engineers’ leeway in designing a frame assembly using closed column section, customers most often end up with load-bearing frames on their floors with the following characteristics:

• The column section is made out of thinner, lighter weight steel


• Diagonal braces are only tied to horizontal braces, and not to the column itself
• Horizontal braces are butt-welded to the column face, rather than inserted into the open back of the column
• Non-staggered hole punching patterns are used

The result is that the manufacturer has used the closed section to deliver a more damage-prone, less safe, and less costly solution. And it is ironic that this story was backed up only on the basis of a small section of column and some marketing hype. In reality, a frame is made up not only of column sections, but includes horizontal and diagonal braces and footplates. It is further braced by horizontal beams and row spacers, wall fixes, and anchors. Indeed, a two-foot section of column is quite insignificant, but the closed column story manages to endure through the years.

Record Storage Strategy Not a Calculated Risk

Business Planning Tool Available
Perhaps you are a company looking to enter the profitable archive storage market. What if you are looking for a means to confirm an expansion strategy? Suppose you are exploring the possibility of building a record storage operation to support internal needs. No matter the rationale, a business planning mentor would be invaluable.

Morrison Company’s vertical market presence in the record storage industry is no accident. For 75 years Morrison Company’s reputation has been earned through providing companies of all sizes with efficient rack design. Comparing quotes from competitors usually identifies the fact that a Morrison Company design will store more boxes.

Whether your business is based on charging per box or pallet location or you want a maximum use of your storage space, a storage solution from Morrison Company is bound to be the winner.

Knowing which storage solution to pursue is invaluable. What if there was a means to explore scenarios on your computer? From your desktop, this worksheet will guide you through the three main cost parameters.

• Facility comparison; this tool will help answer whether you should build, lease or use an existing space.


• Storage system comparison; based on your customer’s storage media mix, which storage option will be the most efficient?


• Productivity comparison; how efficiently can your team store and retrieve orders?

To request an evaluation, select storage system review.

Pick Modules - The Backbone of the Distribution Center

Background Information 101
Remember sitting in biology class and discovering how interdependent the human body is? Consider that every function of our body relies on the dynamic activity of cells. Enzymes from within one type of cell are somehow transferred to another through an elaborate chemical process resulting in "activity". This illustration of interdependency helps describe the dynamic chain of events that occur in a distribution center so that product can move into and out of a "cell" called a pick module.

When done right, order picking and product replacement become seamless, integrating the power of dynamic storage and retrieval elements with sortation system software. By combining elements like selective pallet rack, pallet-flow, push back, carton-flow systems, and mezzanines you can move products from pallets or cartons to complete orders quickly and efficiently.

Morrison Company can help analyze your product types, workflow patterns, facility layout, and capacity requirements when planning a pick module solution. An endless variety of configurations are possible, including multi-level picking operations that can free up valuable floor space and improve your overall efficiency.

Whether you received an A or not in biology, you can rely on Morrison Company to dissect your material handling needs. Considering an evaluation of your facility? Contact us for a no obligation review.

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