2022 Productivity Achievement Awards
Selected from our top System Report cover stories from the previous year, Modern’s annual Productivity Achievement Awards honor companies that have made exceptional operational gains through means like warehouse automation projects, robotics, DC network strategy and a spirit of innovation.
Each year, Modern’s Productivity Achievement Awards honor those companies that made outstanding operational improvements through materials handling systems and related warehouse automation or software systems.
Modern’s editorial team selects finalists from among the System Report articles published in the previous year. A panel of industry experts then reviews the finalists in each category, selects a winner and provides insights on what set each top project apart. Of course, every project we highlight on our covers has “winning” value and benefits, so consider these the best of the best.
Finalists in the “Manufacturing” and “Warehousing/Distribution” categories are recognized for their ability to provide outstanding customer service, quickly respond to changing business conditions, deliver orders that meet customer requirements, and improve operations. The “Innovation” category recognizes a company that successfully employed a solution that exceeds convention.
In addition to achievements in productivity, throughput or efficiency, winners were judged on how projects inside the four walls complement broader business objectives of the company, or its DC network strategy.
This year’s Productivity Achievement Awards judges were: Don Derewecki, senior consultant at St. Onge Co.; Mike Noble, vice president of client services with Open Sky Group; and Christian Dow, executive vice president of membership and industry leadership for MHI.
In our Warehousing/Distribution category this year, we had a unanimous decision, and for the others it was closer: two votes of three. In these times of pandemic disruption and hurdles to traditional systems installation, the way these companies worked through these challenges while readying themselves for the future is remarkable.
The 2022 Productivity Award winners are:
- Warehousing/Distribution Award: Mount Adams Fruit
“Being one of only three companies in an industry to automate their warehouse operations, Mount Adams is making their mark as an industry leader.”
“Mount Adams has leveraged automation in the face of adversity. The implementation of automation to recover from a fire also protects them from area labor shortages. Implementing an automated storage and retrieval system and robotic palletizers has moved them to the leading edge of the fresh fruit industry. In addition to increasing potential throughput, they have improved track-and-trace capabilities.” - Innovation Award: SB Logistics
“SB Logistics is pushing toward the development of a ‘lights-out facility.’ One of the areas that many others in the industry have found challenging is goods-to robot picking. SB is finding remarkable success in this area.”
“This operation’s design maximized the use of robotics and other technologies to push the limits of available technologies.”
