TFS Blog

It's a mixed forecast for material handling stakeholders. On the one hand, prices are improving and equipment wait times are coming down. On the other, economic hardships and labor challenges continue to cloud the future.

How can facilities stay ahead? To find out, we went straight to Jason Laws, who estimates he and his team have spent countless hours talking with 10,000 material handling executives. In the process, Laws, TFS's Market Development Manager, has not only gained deep insights into the issues facing facilities, he has crafted solutions that increased uptime and saved money.

The only thing that’s remained constant in material handling during the past few years is change. That’s already continued in 2023 as economic predictions are already shifting from a definite recession to the economy remaining on a growth trajectory.  The advanced technology and social shifts in terms of workforce and consumer demand volatility make this a difficult management environment for facility leaders.

Times are tumultuous right now, so it might feel like your company may have to choose between increasing profit and boosting sustainability—but the good news is that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, when it comes to material handling, just asking the right questions can unlock leaner, cleaner, greener, and more profitable decisions.

At TFS, we talk to a lot of companies about material handling. What we’ve found is that most businesses don’t even realize they’re not actively managing their forklift fleets and facilities.

Yes, it’s absolutely true that most are doing some sort of management, but when we crunch the numbers to demonstrate how much money they’re leaving on the table, they’re stunned. 

That’s because active fleet management means more than just dealing with a vendor to choose forklifts and negotiate a monthly payment.

There’s no understating the power of data. And when it comes to keeping material handling facilities running at peak safety and efficiency, telematics has a crucial role to play.

While telematics—a term that blends "telecommunications" and "informatics"—may seem like the hot new buzzword, it’s not. Telematics, which describes the process of collecting and assessing data from warehouse vehicles and equipment through remote telematics systems (e.g., sensors, GPS systems, onboard diagnostics, etc.), has been in use for about two decades and has become increasingly sophisticated.

Welcome to the Fleet & Facility Roundup! We’ve curated the latest, most practical news to help you keep up with material handling developments and insights.

Our takeaway this month? Inflation is up, lead times are still long, and the supply chain remains chaotic, so it’s safe to say that the end isn’t in sight yet. In short, it’s an ideal time to assess what actions you and your company have taken so far and see what efforts are paying off and which need to be redirected.

Many companies have migrated to “just-in-time” inventory management to optimize their production lines, but it’s safe to say that the last few years have made that ultra-low inventory strategy much more challenging. 

But moving back to an inventory-heavy “just-in-case” plan can be costly and cumbersome, especially when you have to rethink almost everything about your facility. So, what’s the solution?

The pandemic, inflation, supply chain issues, labor shortages, and more: companies are grappling with one of the most unpredictable times in modern history—and material handling has been hit especially hard. While it may feel that you have no effective way to control costs, the good news is that you likely have many more options than you think.

In the market for a new forklift? Be prepared to wait. With order lead times stretching from six months to over a year (and beyond), companies waiting to replenish their fleet are challenged to make do with what they have until their shipment comes in. 

“Before this, a lot of companies were used to being reactionary with their orders because the supply chain was so wide open and you could get your hands on the things that you needed within the relative time frame,” says Ryan Boyd, TFS Vice President, Racking and Automation. "With today's supply chain issues and lead times, companies need to be more proactive and think about the bigger picture sooner rather than later."

It’s officially Spring! As if the world didn’t have enough going on already, unexpected things continue to crop up, such as the first Amazon union and the Ever Given’s sister ship, which also got stuck, exemplifying the worst kind of sibling rivalry.

To help you keep up, we curate all the need-to-know material handling news every month—so read on!