We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » David Peacock of Hytrol
in person

David Peacock of Hytrol

April 8, 2019
David Maloney
No Comments

David Peacock is the president of Hytrol Conveyor Co. and a member of its board of directors. He began his Hytrol career in 2014 as executive vice president and became president in 2015. Peacock has led the company to back-to-back record growth years while implementing strategies to move Hytrol into the future. Before joining Hytrol, Peacock served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1984 to 1996, departing with the rank of captain. He also spent 18 years in manufacturing management positions. He recently spoke with DC Velocity Editorial Director David Maloney.

Q: How does Hytrol view the current state of the material handling industry?

A: We are in a period we will remember our entire careers. Technology, information, and consumer patterns are all making significant advances that are creating unprecedented opportunities. No one really knows how long this market will last or exactly where it will lead, so we must all stay focused, nimble, and open to new possibilities.

Q: Recent statistics from CEMA (the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association) show continuing growth in the unit load conveyor market. To what do you attribute this increasing demand?

A: E-commerce is obviously driving demand. Whether it is the big players or the traditional retail distribution organizations working to add e-commerce to their capabilities, everyone is responding to this vast channel.

Q: How has the growth of e-commerce affected the types of conveyors and sorters that Hytrol provides?

A: Speed, carton density, and operation tempo are all being impacted by e-commerce. The ability to process different package types—cartons of all shapes and sizes, poly bags, flats—is crucial. Our solution must utilize the equipment and technology capable of supporting the widest product mix. One area I see offering great opportunity is in processing returns. There are some facilities where the bulk of their labor is dedicated to processing returns. Making inroads in reducing this labor or minimizing returns has tremendous potential to assist those end users.

Q: Do you see the growing use of mobile robotic transport devices as a potential threat to long conveyor runs within facilities? How are you addressing and adjusting to possible changing markets?

A: If we were content with the status quo, we would probably see mobile robotics as a threat. Fortunately, we look at emerging technology as opportunities. Will the systems we design tomorrow look like those we implemented last year? Absolutely not, but why would we see that as anything but reflective of our commitment to innovation? We are on a journey—a journey that we want to help lead—and we have targeted between 1 and 2 percent of our revenue to be invested into product development. We intend to lead the way and are investing accordingly.

Q: You have worked in manufacturing operations throughout your career. How have you been able to bring your experience with lean manufacturing to Hytrol's own manufacturing processes to benefit your customers?

A: One of the keys to a lean operation is the standardization of processes. My background, both in manufacturing and in the military, has been focused on this type of standardization, and it's something that I've challenged our team at Hytrol to increase its focus on. By creating these standards, we can produce more while saving our customers time, money, and confusion.

Having said that, I'd like to offer two caveats. First, my team at Hytrol had enthusiastically embraced lean concepts before my arrival. You can't set foot in our 700,000-square-foot facility and not be blown away by lean work that has been done and the incredible coordination being done by the professionals driving this organization. Second, we also recognize that we cannot sacrifice our responsiveness to achieve standardization. The art is in the integration of both concepts.

Q: Your Hytrol team has begun to use virtual reality in your design simulations. Can you tell us how this helps customers better visualize how their new systems will operate?

A: Virtual reality can be used in a multitude of ways—not only to help customers visualize their solutions, but also to help them with everything from preventive maintenance to product testing. Before now, you always saw your system on paper and had to take steps to visualize it yourself. By programming different simulations, we can give customers the experience of seeing their products convey through their system, the space that will be utilized, and how the technologies employed will work together to give them a system that meets their needs. They will see chokepoints early in the design phase, and we will collaboratively work through those challenges before the first piece of metal is ever cut.

The exciting part is where we are going with this technology; its applications are evolving very rapidly and we have partnered with academia to develop technology to address several other challenges that our customers face. I can't wait for everyone to see what we're working on.

Material Handling Conveyors Omnichannel
KEYWORDS Hytrol Conveyor Co. Inc.
  • Related Articles

    David Peacock Selected For Arkansas Business Top 250

    Hytrol to hire 140 production employees

    Hytrol president cautiously optimistic about conveyor market

Davidmaloney
David Maloney has been a journalist for more than 35 years and is currently the editorial director for DC Velocity and Supply Chain Quarterly magazines. In this role, he is responsible for the editorial content of both brands of Agile Business Media. Dave joined DC Velocity in April of 2004. Prior to that, he was a senior editor for Modern Materials Handling magazine. Dave also has extensive experience as a broadcast journalist. Before writing for supply chain publications, he was a journalist, television producer and director in Pittsburgh. Dave combines a background of reporting on logistics with his video production experience to bring new opportunities to DC Velocity readers, including web videos highlighting top distribution and logistics facilities, webcasts and other cross-media projects. He continues to live and work in the Pittsburgh area.

Recent Articles by David Maloney

In Person interview: Alex Stevens of Opex

Growing up … and up and up: interview with Sam Bertram

Life in the faster lanes

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Relaxed regulations for drone parcel delivery to take effect in March

  • Gartner survey signals increased investment in resilience over the next two years

  • Increasing Urgency for Vaccine Supplies Drives Launch of New Vaccine Manufacturing Resources on Thomasnet.com

  • IBM survey says digitalization trends will sweep trucking industry by 2030

  • What Level of Automation is Right for Your Warehouse?

Now Playing on DCV-TV

Ef7899d1 1c83 487b 9291 8af692931c96

myQ Dock Management

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Introducing myQ Dock Management. Connect your loading dock equipment and iDock Controls from Poweramp, McGuire, or DLM to the cloud and view your loading activity online with myQ Dock Management.Facilities with myQ can monitor the real-time status of their docks and be proactive in improving efficiency and safety. ...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Time to rethink your lift truck power

  • Warehouse Management System Project Toolkit

  • Solving Talent Management Challenges Now and In the Future

  • Shaping Up Last Mile Delivery to Surpass Customer Expectations

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing