In our continuing series of discussions with top supply-chain company executives, James J. Radous III of UniCarriers shares his take on the state of the forklift industry, his company's growth following its 2015 acquisition and rebranding, and the importance of giving back.
David Maloney has been a journalist for more than 35 years and is currently the group 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.
James J. Radous III is president and CEO of UniCarriers Americas and corporate/executive officer of Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas. Under his leadership, UniCarriers has seen a significant expansion of its manufacturing capabilities while growing from the eighth- to the third-largest producer in the world. Radous also guided the company through its acquisition by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and rebranding as UniCarriers. Radous joined UniCarriers in 2009, when the company was known as Nissan Forklift Corp. Over the years, he has served as vice president, sales and marketing operations; executive vice president of Americas-sales; and president of retail operations.
Radous has also been active in industry associations, including the Industrial Truck Association, and has contributed his time to many good causes, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He recently spoke with DC Velocity Editorial Director David Maloney.
Q: How do you view the current state of the forklift industry?
A: Overall, I am cautiously optimistic. While we are seeing progress in financial markets, industry has retrenched a bit. After nine years of consecutive growth, buyers have become more apprehensive and deliberate in their purchasing.
What I find exciting is the new technology impacting our industry. It's amazing to see the advancements year over year. Data technology like telematics has gone from a future capability to an implemented system among large operators.
Q: During your time with UniCarriers, your company has grown to be the third-largest producer of forklifts in the world. To what do you attribute that success?
A: To be fair, that designation is, in part, due to our status as a Logisnext company. But our continued growth has been driven by three things: 1) the best-trained and most qualified dealer network in the Americas, 2) engaged supplier partners who consistently go above and beyond, and 3) the most dedicated group of employees I've ever been around.
Our philosophy of continuous improvement also plays a role in our success. We will never be satisfied with the status quo. Active employee engagement and the constant pursuit of best practices—including vertical integration and emerging technology—have allowed us to achieve greater success.
Q: What differentiates UniCarriers' products from others in the market?
A: I can sum that answer up for you in two words: "reliability redefined." That's how we describe it. We have conducted numerous studies among forklift owners and operators to determine what is most important to the buyer and how the marketplace delivers against that. What we learned is that reliability (uptime) is the most critical attribute of a forklift. Further, we learned that owners consistently rank us among the leaders in product reliability. And we prove it by offering an industry-leading, best-in-class two-year warranty.
The reason our products lead in reliability is because of quality manufacturing and proven design engineering. This is what we call the "UniCarriers Production Way."
Q: You have been active in the Industrial Truck Association (ITA), serving on its board of directors. Why is this engagement important to you and your company?
A: Being involved with the ITA has allowed me to become fully engaged with the industry and where we are headed. I believe that forklifts are "The Heart of Commerce." Imagine a day where every forklift stopped operating. The world's economy would come to a standstill. Forklifts play an essential and critical role in businesses around the globe. The ITA is a platform where we (manufacturers) act with a common purpose—to promote the relevance of forklifts and their safe operation.
The ITA has given me access to legislators and business leaders, and allowed me to represent the great work UniCarriers Americas is doing. The ITA also provides us with research and analysis of trends in material handling segments, so we can prepare for new opportunities or challenges.
Q: Has the uncertainty over tariffs, especially on steel and other goods used in your manufacturing, affected your material supply and your ability to export your finished goods?
A: Back in July 2018, I would have to say that there was a definite impact. As an Illinois company that manufactures products sold globally, we had to make smart changes and adapt our supply chain operations. While I wouldn't say that the "feeling" has gone away, we have all learned how to manage through the challenges.
Q: You are a supporter of many charities and educational institutions outside of the industry. Why is it important to you and your company to give back?
A: I believe that the fortunate should share among the less fortunate. We've been very blessed as a company and as individuals, and we all feel the need to give back. Personally, I find it deeply rewarding to see the impact we can make on the lives of others. From the church basket to the most corporate of giving, I encourage others to get involved. But it isn't just about money; it's about time as well. For many years, I worked with the Boy Scouts of America molding young minds—because I believe that good boys become good men. Over the last few years, I have been a professional mentor for several students at Northern Illinois University and Roosevelt University (my alma maters).
I hope that many years from now, my legacy with the company will be that I left it better—not just as a business, but as a community of people. In fact, this year we selected St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as our principal beneficiary going forward. Having visited their hospital recently, I could not be more proud of the work we do for them.
Q: Are there any new initiatives you're working on that you wish to share?
A: We recently launched UniCarriers System Solutions in a move that takes us beyond equipment manufacturing. As part of that initiative, we brought Rocla AGVs to the marketplace that are sold and serviced by UniCarriers Americas. We also enhanced our financing options with UniCarriers Capital and even launched a competitive comparison mobile app to help customers find the best products for their needs—so, we're more than just a forklift manufacturer.
What's unique about System Solutions is that we have opportunities to partner with many automated and robotic suppliers. So, unlike competitors who own and have to work with specific products, we are free to pursue all opportunities. Because technology is a rapidly changing phenomenon, we leverage this strategy to selectively work with the best and most leading-edge companies. Our vision is to become "The Preferred OEM for Solutions Companies."
Also, technology represents a key initiative internally at UniCarriers Americas. Included in this initiative is our Americas Design Center (ADC) that has more than tripled our R&D testing-lab space.
Our goal is to bring new talent, new ideas, and new opportunities to Illinois. This will allow us to reimagine the way business moves materials by delivering the next generation of forklifts.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.