Presented by: The Conveyor and Sortation Systems (CSS) MHI Industry Group As automation reshapes the modern supply chain, the integration between packaging and material handling is more important than ever. In this session, experts from the Conveyor and Sortation Systems (CSS) Industry Group will explore how automation technologies—such as conveyors, sorters, and smart controls—are creating seamless transitions from packaging lines to warehouse and distribution operations. Attendees will learn: The key touchpoints where packaging and material handling intersect How automation reduces bottlenecks, labor costs, and product damage Real-world examples of integrated systems across e-commerce, CPG, and food & beverage Best practices for evaluating and selecting automation solutions The role of data and software in connecting packaging equipment with material flow systems Whether you’re a packaging engineer, operations leader, or supply chain strategist, this session will help you better understand how collaboration between sectors is driving scalable, sustainable automation strategies. Session Presented by CSS Colin Cartwright Director of Industry Development – Packaging NA at Murrelektronik Dr. Helge Hornis Director of Technology, Americas at Pepperl+Fuchs Allison Myers Director of Marketing & Communications at Fives Intralogistics Corp. Chris Thompson Sr. Marketing Communications Manager at Duravant 📅 Tuesday, September 30 🕧 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM 📍 Industry Speaks Stage (W-4324) 🔗 View full session details on the PACK EXPO website

The Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. (MHEFI) is proud to announce it has awarded an unprecedented $278,000 in scholarships to 71 exceptional students for the 2025/2026 academic year. This milestone marks the largest total in MHEFI’s history and underscores its commitment to supporting the next generation of material handling professionals.Scholarships were awarded to full-time undergraduate students pursuing studies in material handling, logistics, and/or supply chain management. To qualify, recipients were required to maintain at least a “B” average in their major. Awards ranged from $1,500 to $6,000 and must be applied toward tuition, fees, or textbooks related to the students’ academic programs.MHEFI would like to congratulate the following scholarship recipients: Colleen Andrews, Michigan State University, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Aaron Ayodeji, Washington and Lee, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Erin Barker, Louisiana State University, Rack Manufacturers Institute Honor Scholarship Sponsored by ASG Services, $5,000 Hunter Bent, Bradley University, Hanel Storage Systems Honor Scholarship, $2,000 Baker Bertrand, University of Kearney, Liz Richards Honor Scholarship Sponsored by MHEDA , $5,000 Griffin Bittel, Auburn University, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Jonanthan Blatt, Oklahoma State University, Rack Manufacturers Institute Honor Scholarship Sponsored by ASG Services, $5,000 Ethan Blesie, North Dakota State University, Lift Honor Scholarship, $2,850 Blake Bollow, University of Wisconsin - Platteville, Hoist Manufacturers Institute/Monorail Manufacturers of America Honor Scholarship, $2,300 Kasey Boukhong, Virginia Tech, Frazier Industrial Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Mason Bowers, Ohio State University, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Lilly Chado, University of Maryland, The Mike Laurent Honor Scholarship Sponsored by The Donald Revels Memorial Fund, $2,000 Boutaina Charrat, Western Illinois University, Automated Storage & Retrieval Systems Honor Scholarship, $5,500 Cammy DeFeo, Virginia Tech, The Donna Varner Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Alexis Denny, Michigan State University, Scan Label Apply Manifest (SLAM) Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Luke Diener, Oklahoma State University, Expert Crane Honor Scholarship, $2,250 Rachel Endsley, University of Tennessee, Mobile Automation Group Honor Scholarship, $4,400 Clarissa Escobar, Texas A&M University, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Aleia Frye, University of Pittsburgh, Gorbel, Inc. Honor Scholarship, $3,000 Davis Gillen, Texas A&M University, Southworth International Group, Inc. Honor Scholarship, $2,500 Kai Halpin, UC Irvine, Seizmic, Inc./LAMHMS Honor Scholarship - CA School, $2,000 Sophia Han, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Rack Manufacturers Institute Honor Scholarship Sponsored by ASG Services, $5,000 Sofie Hancock, Auburn University, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Adam Hartman, Oklahoma State University, Automation Controls Electrification (ACE) Honor Scholarship, $3,000 Aliona Heitz, Stevens Institute of Technology, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Jackson Hill, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Bastian Family Scholarship, $2,500 Joan Jaiyeoba, Texas Tech University, Ergonomic Assist Systems & Equipment Honor Scholarship, $3,300 Jacob James, Purdue University, James Galante Memorial Scholarship Sponsored by Southworth International Group, $1,500 Augusta Jones, Auburn University, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Ayla Julien-Vinuela, University of South Florida, The Robotics Group Honor Scholarship, $4,400 Viraj Kothari, University of North Carolina - Asheville, The Dan Quinn Honor Scholarship Sponsored by The Donald Revels Memorial Fund, $2,000 Alexandra Laskonis, Miami University, Willard P. Heddles Memorial Scholarship, $5,000 Chloe Lin, University of Pennsylvania, The George W. Prest Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Emmett Looman, University of Cincinnati, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 William Lovell, University of Arkansas, Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association Honor Scholarship, $3,000 Michael Macharia, Wright State, Automation Controls Electrification (ACE) Honor Scholarship, $3,000 Toju Maku, Penn State University, Loading Dock Equipment Manufacturers Honor Scholarship, $3,100 Youssef Mansour, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Elliott Mascena, University of Tennessee, The Bill Capps Honor Scholarship Sponsored by The Donald Revels Memorial Fund, $2,000 Dayton McCall, Oklahoma State University, The Robotics Group Honor Scholarship, $4,400 Elanor Mehen, Oklahoma State University, Brian McNamara Honor Scholarship Sponsored by Southworth International Group, $1,500 Tienna Mensah, Purdue University, Crane Manufacturers Association of America Honor Scholarship, $6,000 Theodore Miller, Oregon State University, Steel King Industries Honor Scholarship, $2,000 Chibuzor Nwaeme, Widener University, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Zachary Orvis, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, The John Nofsinger Honor Scholarship Sponsored by The Donald Revels Memorial Fund, $2,000 Parshv Patel, Stanford University, Conveyor & Sortation Systems Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Rushang Patel, Texas A&M University, UNEX Manufacturing Honor Scholarship, $2,250 Mira Patel, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Ridg-U-Rak Honor Scholarship, $2,000 Jacob Plotts, Sam Houston State University, Richard Dilling Memorial Scholarship, $5,000 Cole Pollard, Texas A&M University, Liz Richards Honor Scholarship Sponsored by MHEDA, $5,000 Rajnish Poudel, Mississippi State University, Al Wurz Scholarship $5,000 Lynnlin Qiao, University of Washington, The Tom Carbott Honor Scholarship Sponsored by The Donald Revels Memorial Fund, $2,000 Nicole Quiram, Virginia Tech, Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association Honor Scholarship, $3,600 Grace Renk, University of Minnesota, Al Wurz Scholarship), $5,000 Grant Robertson, Virginia Tech, Rack Manufacturers Institute Honor Scholarship Sponsored by ASG Services, $5,000 Hailey Ruddick, Michigan State University, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Rahul Sah, Mississippi State University, Conveyor & Sortation Systems Honor Scholarship, $3,250 Esteban Salas Serrano, University of Michigan, Richard Dilling Memorial Scholarship, $5,000 Jude Sanborn, Virginia Tech, Daniel Clapp Memorial Scholarship Sponsored by RMI, $5,000 Nathan Schlegel, West Virginia University, Bastian Family Scholarship, $2,500 Sophia Schneider, Iowa State University, Solutions Community Honor Scholarship, $2,750 Andrew Schultz, University of Tennessee, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Riley Scott, Texas A&M University, Liz Richards Honor Scholarship Sponsored by MHEDA, $5,000 Jackson Shellhaas, Wright State, Crane Manufacturers Association of America Honor Scholarship, $4,600 Anna Sidoti, University of Tennessee, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Maaya Tsukada, University of South Florida, Storage Manufacturers Association Honor Scholarship, $3,300 Beverly Ukoha, University of New Haven, Crane Manufacturers Association of America Honor Scholarship, $6,000 Satchel Vaughn, University of Tennessee, Material Handling Education Foundation Honor Scholarship, $5,000 Ella Webb, University of Tennessee, St. Onge Company Honor Scholarship, $2,500 Sarah Witte, University of Arizona, Irving M. Footlik, PE Memorial Scholarship, $3,000 Aaron Zapolin, University of South Carolina, Solutions Community Honor Scholarship, $2,750Thank you to the generous companies and donors who support MHEFI’s vision to empower the future generation of supply chain leaders and have made these scholarships possible. For more information about the scholarships, contact Mary Alyson Ammons, MHEFI Executive Director, at mammons@mhi.org.About MHEFIThe Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. (MHEFI) is an independent charitable organization that was established in 1976. Since 1976, our programs have supported over 1,000 students and educators seeking pathways to quality educational programs and fulfilling careers. The demands of today’s global economy and fast-paced technological change reinforce the need to draw top talent to sustain and strengthen material handling and supply chain businesses for the future. Learn more at mhi.org/mhefi.About MHIMHI is an international trade association that has represented the material handling, logistics and supply chain industry since 1945. MHI’s over 1,000 members include material handling and logistics equipment and systems manufacturers, integrators, consultants, publishers and third-party logistics providers. MHI offers education, networking and solution sourcing for their members, the members’ customers, and the industry as a whole through programming and events. The association sponsors the ProMat and MODEX expos to showcase the products and services of its member companies and to educate manufacturing and supply chain professionals. The Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC) is a division of MHI and provides education and research to the warehousing, distribution, and logistics community.

To complement a new educational video, thought leaders representing the Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association (ProGMA), an MHI product group, discuss the importance of protecting personnel, equipment, and inventory in industrial facilities.ProGMA has recently launched the second in a series of videos about the importance of protective guarding products in the material handling industry. The video titled “Proper Safeguarding for Elevated Work Platforms” followed the inaugural, educational video titled, “Essential Safety Barriers for Automated / Robotic Workcells”. (http://www.mhi.org/progma/videos)Here, representatives of member companies expand on the themes explored within the latest video in the group’s first blog.Before we start, says Arlin Keck, corporate research and development engineer at Steel King (a manufacturer of pallet racks, mezzanines and guardrails), it’s important to clarify what we mean by “mezzanine” in this context. “The technical term for what my company and other members make is work platforms. Mezzanine was an old term for these systems; however, the word mezzanine had to be dropped because mezzanine, as defined in the building codes, refers to a specified type of floor within a building structure and carries with it added requirements for fire safety, egress, parking, and so on,” Keck explains.A typical work platform is design to support the site-specific load that will be placed on the floor, be it palletized loads, pallet jacks, foot traffic, work equipment, filing cabinets, racking or shelving units, to name just a few possibilities.Keck says that the main purpose of an elevated work platform is to add additional floor space into a building or room by taking advantage of surplus ceiling clearance that may exist in a warehouse or manufacturing facility. Aaron Conway, president at Mezzanine Safeti-Gates Inc. (a manufacturer of safety gates to secure the ledges of pallet drop areas on mezzanines and rack picking systems), says, “A company that has utilized all of its ground space can build upward. An elevated platform allows one to use the space for workflow or to store product.”As Hue Schlegel, director of marketing at Wildeck Inc. (a manufacturer of mezzanines and work platforms), puts it, “Move up, not out.” He adds, “Depending on the available height in a building, platforms can be one, two, or three levels high, with the most common height being 10 ft. top-of-deck and supporting a floor load of 125 lbs. per square foot. Their length and width are only limited by facility size.” Importantly, he explains, they cannot occupy more than two thirds of a fire-rated area within a building.Keck says work platforms are also used to create catwalks between separated platforms, and to serve as sortation and conveyance areas for mechanized systems. Conway agrees, adding, “Companies that supply elevated work platforms can fabricate them in virtually any configuration. They can be designed to accommodate specific workflow operations or to fit with existing structures in the building.”Industrial buildings are getting bigger and elevated work platforms are scaling up with them. Say, 50 years ago, facilities were much smaller and ceilings lower so there were fewer requirements for elevated platforms. Further, the equipment to load at such heights didn’t exist. Now, the capability of equipment is greater and taller structures are being utilized as a result. Within them, work and storage takes place on multiple levels.These multi-level work platforms present a danger of personnel and objects falling from height.As the latest video warns, the pallet drop area of elevated work platforms can lead to accidents if the ledge is open without adequate guarding. Falls to lower levels cost employers $5 billion annually in compensation claims in the U.S. alone. OSHA reports that it costs on average 16 lost working days per injured employee.Conway says, “Falling from an elevated level, whether it be people or products, is a serious danger and both should be addressed proactively, securing the situation before an incident occurs.” Schlegel adds, “The worst case, of course, is death; while the best scenario is that a worker survives a fall from the typical mezzanine height of 10 ft. sustaining only broken bones, fractures, and other injuries from hitting the concrete floor below. It is a serious matter not to be taken lightly.”Traditional railing or guarding systems are effective at preventing falls from height as long as they include a kick plate that is installed in conjunction with ANSI MH 28.3-2009. Adding netting or expanded metal and safety products to traditional railing systems provides added protection by capturing small objects that might otherwise fall into the work area below.OSHA Standard 1926.502, meanwhile, requires paneling or screening where tools, equipment, or materials are piled higher than the top edge of a toe-board or kick plate. ProGMA members also manufacture both netting and wire mesh panels that comply with that standard.However, David Brentz, chairman of ProGMA and vice president of member company Industrial Netting (a manufacturer of plastic netting), says, “That’s only a minimum requirement; added protection is financially prudent. The cost to install netting or wire screens around the perimeter of an elevated work platform pales in comparison to the cost of a single lost time accident. ProGMA members offer several simple, cost effective solutions to protect employees below loose objects that may fall or be kicked off work platforms.”Conway says, “In the past, properly guarding a pallet drop area or installing netting or wire was something that would be retrofitted, either after an incident occurred or after someone pointed out the issue. Designing proper safety guarding for the structure at the time of purchase makes for a much better fit; when retrofitting, there is often insufficient room for proper guarding and concessions have to be made. But, it is important to note that even if proper guarding wasn’t designed with the structure, it still should be installed. There are companies in the ProGMA that can customize solutions to fit these areas.”He continues, “Don’t confuse luck with judgment. If I visit a facility that was built, say, 20 years ago, I’m sure to find open pallet drop areas or insufficient guardrails. Just because these areas have been around for a while isn’t a reason not to properly secure them. I’ve heard the line, ‘Well, we’ve been doing it this way for 20 years and nobody has gotten hurt’. To that I say, ‘You’ve been lucky!’”Schlegel says, “The biggest safety risk is when a forklift access gate on mezzanine is left open creating a fall hazard for someone off-loading a pallet at the upper level. There are many products, provided by ProGMA members, that prevent the gate from being left open or that keep the operator at a safe distance, which should always be installed.”ANSI says, “Any gate that provides an access opening through the guards for the purpose of loading and unloading material onto a work platform shall be designed such that the elevated surface is protected by guards at all times. Gates that swing open, slide open, or lift up, leaving an unprotected opening in the guarding are not acceptable.”Dual gate systems such as a rolling gate ensure that the operator is separated from the ledge as well as the load. A pivoting gate ensures the operator is never exposed to the ledge and does not require him or her to walk near an open ledge to operate the gate.Unfortunately, sometimes it can take an incident and a facility to be shut down during an investigation for companies to understand the serious financial consequences of a workplace injury. There are many other companies that understand the risks and proactively secure their work areas. These diligent companies end up ahead in the long run:1. They typically get better solutions because they had the time to design them correctly;2. They get a better price because they can take their time and research the solutions;3. Safety solutions are in place before they need them.Conway concludes, “The large majority of people don’t want to get hurt and are not acting recklessly on the job. Typically, they are performing a repetitive operation, and in their process miss a step or push something too far and someone gets hurt. Proper guarding should be in place to prevent injury if this happens.”About ProGMAThe Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association (ProGMA) members are the industry’s leading suppliers of fixed protective guarding products designed to protect personnel, equipment, and inventory in industrial facilities. Member companies meet regularly to review, discuss, and revise the standards for design and performance of protective guarding products used in the material handling industry. ProGMA member companies are committed to the development, maintenance, and publishing of industry standard specifications for these systems. Visit the website at http://www.mhi.org/ProGMAAbout MHIMHI is an international trade association that has represented the material handling, logistics and supply chain industry since 1945. MHI members include material handling and logistics equipment and systems manufacturers, integrators, consultants, publishers and third-party logistics providers. MHI offers education, networking and solution sourcing for their members, their customers and the industry as a whole through programming and events. The association sponsors the ProMat and MODEX expos to showcase the products and services of its member companies and to educate manufacturing and supply chain professionals. http://www.mhi.orgContactAnupam Berry Boseabose@mhi.org704-676-1190

Webstaurant Store, a prominent e-commerce player specializing in restaurant equipment and supplies, faced a complex challenge in their distribution center near Savannah, Georgia. Sorting similar-looking cases of various products for manual palletizing was an error-prone and inefficient task. To overcome these challenges, Webstaurant Store collaborated with FMH Conveyors and implemented their state-of-the-art LITESORT automated sortation system.

A comprehensive guide to conveyor sortation technologies, this 16-page brochure features over 30 full color photographs and illustrations. The most commonly cited benefits from a well-designed conveyor sortation system is greater productivity. This brochure covers all aspects of conveyor sortation technology including merge subsystems, sortation subsystems, takeaway subsystems, along with selection criteria for each technology. This is an excellent companion for the CD-ROM on conveyor sortation, item #10070.