Material handling and logistics have become especially important to industrialists because of the competitive advantage that results from using the right methods to provide the right amount of the right material at the right place, at the right time, in the right condition, in the right sequence, in the right orientation, and at the right cost. But, what are the right methods? The emergence of sophisticated control systems, coupled with advances in hardware design, has resulted in a wide variety oftechno logical alternatives availablefor practically any application. Yet, with the emergence of...

The contents of this book are based on invited papers submittedfor presentation and discussion at the 1990 Material Handling Research Colloquium held in Hebron, Kentucky, June 19-21,1990. The Colloquium was sponsored and organized by the College Industry Councilfor Material Handling Education (CIC-MHE) with addi tional co-sponsorship and funding provided by numerous organizations (see ac knowledgements). The purpose of the Colloquium was to foster open discussion about the current state of material handling research at universitiesfrom across the United States and Canada. It was an...