Yes, Virginia, there are companies in America that are hiring.

Dematic North America, a major manufacturer and integrator of automated material handling systems, has openings for 150 professionals—primarily engineers—for its U.S. operations. That's in addition to the 200 or so engineers added over the past two years.

John Baysore, Dematic North America's CEO, says the company enters its 2012 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, with the deepest backlog in its history. "Our pipeline of opportunities is stronger than it has ever been. It could hardly be more solid right now," he said in remarks and in an interview yesterday at the company's annual Material Handling & Logistics Conference in Park City, Utah.

Baysore attributed the strength in capital spending to several factors. He said customers are spending on automation to reduce operating costs and plan to keep investing even in a turbulent economy. He also credited Dematic's technology advances with giving the company a competitive advantage in its traditional markets as well as in areas where it has not been strong in the past.

Baysore said a few years ago, Dematic re-evaluated its business model and developed what he called the "four walls and two windows" concept—a reference to the four walls of the distribution center with a window looking upstream (at how goods are coming into the DC) and a window looking downstream (at where outbound goods are going, whether to stores or directly to consumers. "All of that affects the solution set inside the four walls," he said.