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.

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?

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!

We spoke with three TFS executives who were at MODEX to get their takes on the show. Here are the six top takeaways you need to know to get you beyond 2022. Everyone seemed to agree that automation had stronger representation than ever before, but even the more traditional technologies had morphed in new and interesting ways. In short, there’s a lot of exciting change going on.

Last time, we said that “2022 promises to remain a rollercoaster” and that turns out to have been an understatement. While we can’t possibly keep you up-to-date with the firehose of information that is the state of the world, the Supply Chain Roundup can curate the most valuable and innovative takes on supply chains, logistics, and material handling. If you'd like to sign up to receive it via email once a month, please subscribe (if you don’t already)!