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 » The mothers (and fathers) of invention
big picture

The mothers (and fathers) of invention

Some of our most important material handling technologies have surprising origins.

December 10, 2019
David Maloney
No Comments

When J.M. Lapeyre was a teenager in 1940s New Orleans, his father challenged him to design a machine for peeling shrimp at the family's seafood business. Walking through the facility one day, he stepped on a shrimp and noticed how it squirted from its shell. That observation led to his invention of the world's first automated shrimp peeler.

Fast forward a few years, and the family company needed better conveyor belting to replace the rusting metal belts feeding the peelers. The plastic belt he designed led to the launch of Intralox, now a major producer of belts and conveyors.

It is interesting to see the events that spark companies from other industries to enter the material handling space. There are many examples.

Clark was manufacturing street trolleys, axles, wheels, and railroad drills when it needed a powered cart to move parts between departments. Mechanics at its Michigan plant built the "Tructractor," a flatbed internal-combustion vehicle that became the first powered industrial truck. It didn't yet have forks, but it was the forerunner of the modern lift truck.

Loberg and Hagen was a small Michigan machine shop that made turbines for the Navy during World War II. A friend asked the shop owners to build a small conveyor to load and unload feed and seed on his farm. Eventually, the company got very good at manufacturing conveyors and today is known as Hytrol Conveyor Co.

In 1926, the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works started making weaving looms in Japan. The motors that powered the looms proved so reliable that the company began building cars around them in 1932 under a slightly revised name, Toyota Motor Corp. Today, Toyota is also the world's largest forklift manufacturer.

Opex Corp. got its start manufacturing mail-sorting systems. One system uses small robotic elevators to sort mail within a grid. Then, someone figured out that a larger version could store and retrieve products for warehouses, and the Perfect Pick goods-to-person system was born.

Crown Equipment once made temperature controls and television rooftop antennas, until it was asked to subcontract on industrial lift tables. Put a lifting device on wheels, and you have a lift truck.

In the early 1980s, researchers at Westinghouse Electric sought to make circuit board inspection easier. Inspectors had to look in a microscope, then move their eyes away to record defects on a clipboard. They realized it would be faster if they could record their observations verbally—and even better if the system could prompt them through a checklist. The engineers took the idea and started Vocollect (now Honeywell), the maker of the first voice-directed system, which eventually found a market in DCs.

Where will the next major inventions in our industry come from? Don't be surprised if they spring from necessity somewhere completely unrelated to supply chain.

Material Handling Storage Internal Movement Ergonomic & Assist Equipment Conveyors AS/RS/Shuttles Automatic Data Capture Voice
KEYWORDS Clark Material Handling Co. Crown Equipment Corp. Honeywell Vocollect Hytrol Conveyor Co. Inc. Intralox OPEX Corporation Toyota Forklifts
  • Related Articles

    The big and small of storage

    the speed of sound

    Milking the benefits of voice

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

Thriving in the long haul: interview with Colin Yankee

Still crazy after all last year

Outlook 2021: What’s in store for logistics supply chain?

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

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Cold chain giant Lineage Logistics buys its own rail operator

  • For container lines and ports, what a difference a year makes

  • Outlook 2021: What’s in store for logistics supply chain?

  • Capacity challenges will continue in 2021

  • Cushman & Wakefield Brokers Sale of 170 Acres plus Lease for 1MSF Build-to-Suit for Home Improvement Retailer in Commerce City, CO.

Now Playing on DCV-TV

2mw 01 11 21 thumb

Ocean Sector Shaping the Next Shipageddon

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
If you're a shipper, it's never good when a rep for an ocean carrier tells you, "You better sit down before you read this." We've been seeing astoundingly high increases in the ocean sector and they seem to have staying power. While the ocean carriers used blank sailings last year to tip the balance of supply and...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Proven Benefits: A Compendium of Slotting Optimization Success Snapshots

  • Bridging Information Gaps in Dock and Yard Operations

  • How Intelligent Sensor Solutions Turn Data Into Action

  • Order picking Solutions: Understanding Your Options

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