MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENT Under the auspices of the Business Process Improvement Group established at the Defense Industrial Supply Center; Philadelphia, PA, several commodity teams have been formed to benchmark commercial industry practices in order to streamline the acquisition process. Of these formed teams, the material handling team is concerned with the equipment and supplies used in the movement, storage, control and protection of materials and products throughout their distribution cycle. The Defense Logistics Agency purchases $48.4 million annually in material handling equipment, however, there is a great potential to increase this amount. We are interested in learning how industry operates to facilitate providing our customers with products through a distribution network available in the commercial marketplace; we plan to be a vital link between the material handling industry and the Department of Defense. Our team is interested in meeting with industry to explore the latest trends and developments in material handling. We want to provide our military customers with commercially available items that meet their Just in Time requirements for, but not limited to, the following (SIC code(s)): Material Handling Equipment (3537), Conveyors (3535), Bags and Sacks (2674, 3069), Bottles and Jars (3221), Fiber, Rope, Cordage, Twine (2298), Miscellaneous Material Handling (2448), Drums and Cans (3411, 3412), Block, Tackle, Rigging, Slings (3429, 3496), Special Shipping, Storage Containers (3499). Our plans include the use of EC/EDI for order placement/payment. Our aim is not to create another ``government unique'' system that interferes with the way industry works, rather, we seek a seamless interface with the current distribution and delivery systems. For more information, questions or comments contact the Contracting Officer, Mr. Glenn Mahon, gmahon@disc.dla.mil, phone: (215) 697-3425, fax: (215) 697-3630.

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