February 21 , 2008 - The Material Handling Operating Committee (MHOC) met Feb. 21 in Charleston, S.C. AISTech 2008 presenters were discussed, and a fifth paper was added to the single MHOC session on Monday, May 5. A safety presentation was given by Randy Cooper, Nucor Steel–Berkeley’s safety coordinator. Cooper serves as vice chair on SMA’s Safety Committee. AIST and AISI committee integration was discussed, with anticipation for the Fall 2008 committee meeting. Nominations for committee officers were held, and voting will occur during the next meeting, which will be held during AISTech 2008 in Pittsburgh. Producer involvement was discussed, with plans to encourage increased participation from ArcelorMittal, U. S. Steel, Nucor, Steel Dynamics and Gerdau Ameristeel. Open discussion covered topics on bar coding, inventory movement, coil handling and mobile data communications. On Friday, Feb. 22, the MHOC toured Nucor Steel–Berkeley’s shipping facilities.

October 25-26 , 2007 - The Material Handling Operating Committee met for a meeting and a tour of Gallatin Steel on Oct. 25–26. The committee chair, Jason Holmes, opened the meeting and welcomed the first-time attendees: Rich Montano of California Steel, Dave Bartlett of ESW, Eric Cunningham of CSX Transportation, Mike Pauley of Goodyear OTR Dept., and Bryan Niksch of Mi-Jack Products. The committee reviewed the available abstracts for AISTech 2008 and developed a session with a theme of material tracking. The following technical presentations were given: “Custom Industrial Training” by Mr. Bartlett, “Overview of CSX Transportation” by Mr. Cunningham, “Off-the-Road Tire Industry Update and Maintenance Tips” by Mr. Pauley, and “Overview of Gallatin Steel’s Material Handling Organization” by Rick Jackson. The committee was given a tour of Gallatin Steel’s material handling facilities by Mr. Jackson, including the pier, raw material yard, and the coil field and the machinery involved at each location. The next meeting is scheduled to be located at Nucor’s Berkeley facility Feb. 21–22, 2008. Please check the Material Handling Operating Committee section of the website for up-to-date information about the upcoming meeting as well as the other information about the committee.

May 7, 2007 - The Material Handling Operating Committee (MHOC) met at AISTech 2007 on May 7 in Indianapolis, Ind. Chris Graham of Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) Structural and Rail Division welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for their time. The MHOC established its mission statement as “To provide a forum where the safe, efficient handling of steel-related materials can be discussed. To create a place where new technologies are explored. To operate a committee whose members will find innovative ways to reduce costs, positively impacting the bottom line of their companies.” The new officers for 2007–2008 were elected: Jason Holmes of Nucor Steel–Berkeley is the new chair, Greg Bond of The Timken Co. is the new vice chair, and Mr. Graham is the new papers chair. The meeting included a very interesting and informative presentation by Rick Jackson of Gallatin Steel concerning the safety program at that company. The committee presented Chris Graham with a plaque for their appreciation of his leadership and service to the committee as chair during the past year. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2007 at Gallatin Steel in Ghent, Ky.

January 17, 2007 - The Material Handling Operating Committee (MHOC) met in Fort Wayne, Ind., on Jan. 17, 2007. Committee chair Chris Graham, of Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) Structural and Rail Division, began the meeting with introductions. Gary Morris, IT director at SDI, explained SDI’s experiences and difficulties with tracking and shipping of beams using RF technology. The company is looking into the possibility of using cellular technology because of the problems experienced with RF interference. A cellular tower is on-site, so coverage is not a problem. The next agenda item was safety. This led into a presentation by Jim Alesia, SDI safety coordinator, on how to improve and champion a meaningful safety program. Mr. Alesia offered many great ideas and stressed the need for upper management to drive the safety programs in their organizations. The next presentation was on remote control train operations by Carl Brown of Cattron-Theimeg. His presentation covered remote control configurations and how they are used in conjunction with current safety practices. Jeremy Cronkhite, metallurgist at SDI, presented the history and an overview of the SDI structural and rail mill facility. Next was an informative presentation on digital DC controls by Andrew Thexton of Cableform. A tour of SDI’s beam and rail mill, as well as the new rail welding line, took place on Jan. 18. The MHOC thanks Chris Graham and SDI for hosting the tour. The next meeting of the MHOC will be Monday May 7, 2007, at AISTech 2007 in Indianapolis, Ind.

May 2, 2006 - The Material Handling Operating Committee met on May 2 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. The committee nominated and appointed its 2006–2007 officers. The possibility of having a round table and four or five presentations by suppliers at the next meeting was discussed.

October 23-24, 2005 - The Material Handling Operating Committee met in Charleston, S.C., on Oct. 23–24, 2005. The meeting began with Goodyear providing a presentation on “Tire Usage in the Steel Industry.” Goodyear gave an overview of tire availability as well as some maintenance tips to extend tire life. MultiServ gave a presentation on “GPS Inventory Tracking” to improve planning, tracking and efficiency. The committee discussed benchmarking in the areas of fuel consumption and capital projects. They also discussed sponsoring a joint technical session on automated logistics and transportation at AISTech 2006. On the second day, Rob Roberson provided a tour of Nucor Steel–Berkeley for committee members. The next committee meeting will be held at AISTech 2006 in May at the Cleveland Convention Center.

May 10, 2005 - The Material Handling Operating Committee held their initial meeting on May 10 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C. The members elected Kevin Moriarity as Chair and Peter O’Hagan as Vice Chair. The meeting focused on the topic of committee membership. Several members provided suggestions on how to promote the benefits of the committee. The committee has developed a detailed agenda on benchmarking for their next meeting, which will be held in October in Charleston, S.C.