Mission
The mission of the College Industry Council on Material
Handling Education (CICMHE) is to undertake educationally-oriented activities designed
to increase awareness and greater understanding of material handling. CICMHE provides
quality materials and teaching aids for use in any educational/training setting. The
Council encourages research and sponsors educational seminars and training courses.
Through its various programs and diverse representation of membership, CICMHE
facilitates the interchange of information among concerned individuals in industry,
academia and in the user community to aid in improving and implementing material
handling education.
Background
CICMHE is an independent organization that prepares and
provides information, teaching materials and various events in support of material
handling education and research. Founded in 1952, the main body of the Council is
composed of thirteen college and university educators. Additional members are drawn
from material handling equipment manufacturers, distributors, users and consultants,
representatives of the business press, and professional staff members of organizations
concerned with material handling education.
Objectives
- To provide material of recognized quality to educational institutions and other study groups for use in courses involving material handling.
- To initiate the development of new material handling teaching aids for use by educational institutions.
- To encourage or sponsor such educational seminars or training courses as will promote or improve the teaching of material handling.
- To conduct and publicize the activities of the Council in such a way that it will be accepted as the recognized authority for information on material handling education.
- To promote the understanding of material handling and its impact on industry, education and government.
- To develop and publicize principles of material handling.
- To facilitate the interchange of information among material handling teachers as an aid to implementing and improving material handling education.
- To encourage the identification of material handling research issues.
- To encourage qualified students to pursue educational programs that will prepare them for careers in material handling.
Organizational Structure
CICMHE is organized into three working committees. Each committee conducts a variety of projects and activities focused in particular areas. A brief overview of each committee is provided below:
Classroom and Training Resources (CTR)
This committee focuses on developing materials for use in education and training settings, particularly for instructors in university classroom environments. The committee maintains and continually updates a set of resources for the classroom. At present, this includes a collection of case studies describing material handling and logistics applications, a collection of lecture resources that include presentation files that educators may use to support a lecture on a topic of interest, and a small set of classroom modules that provide lecture and activity-based materials for the classroom. This committee is developing sets of web tours that will show different material handling technologies in action within a variety of application settings.
Publications (PUB)
This committee develops publication oriented materials. The committee publishes a semi-annual newsletter describing the current status of projects within CICMHE. The committee also maintains a database of digital multimedia accessible through the internet showing a variety of different material handling equipment and technologies. The committee also works to produce a number of material handling publications, including a glossary of material handling terms, a description of the 10 principles of material handling, a set of books highlighting key developments in research and practice, and a series of chapters and lessons describing essential concepts in material handling.
Events and Special Projects (ESP)
This committee oversees several recurring events and special projects that don't fit within the scope of the CTR or PUB committees. An annual material handling student design competition is conducted utilizing a case project developed and circulated to universities. A material handling teacher's institute is organized for new educators to expose the participants to the wide array of resources available for use in material handling classes and to provide a networking opportunity with both new and experienced educators. A material handling research colloquium is conducted to bring together the top researchers in the field to discuss the latest research advances related to material handling and logistics. Other activities of this committee are developing special needs items to promote material handling. One example is the development of a software tool to facilitate conducting a material handling audit within a facility.
Communication and Technology Transfer
CICMHE continually monitors activities with the different
MHIA product sections and councils to facilitate technology transfer between the groups.
This monitoring is primarily conducted by having CICMHE members attend the meetings of the
product sections and councils. The activities of the product sections and councils often
provide information to the CICMHE members on the latest advances in material handling
equipment and technology as well as keep them abreast of the challenges and issues that a
particular industry segment is facing. Additionally, issues or topics will arise where
CICMHE can assist the product section on special projects. These projects might involve
developing white papers on a particular topic, creating overviews and summaries that
can be used to promote the activities of the product section, or developing tools to
assist in designing or analyzing material handling technologies (e.g. economic
justification software, an ergonomic toolbox, or a carousel throughput estimation package).