MHSNJ Members In The News

Fred Gerstler (right) is the Executive Vice President of the MHSNJ
and has been a member for over 15 years.

Recently featured in the Home News Tribune:

Owners of Shipping Firm Keep Business in Perspective
By JARED KALTWASSER • Staff Writer • February 18, 2009

SOUTH PLAINFIELD — For Fred Gerstler and Ed "E.J.'' Koznowicz, business and friendship always have been intertwined, and that's just the way they like it.

The co-owners of shipping supply firm New Pak met in the 1980s when they worked at Gerstler's uncle's company, Central Jersey Steel Strapping and Shipping.

Koznowicz came in part-time after high school to help with filing and other paperwork. Gerstler, who also had worked at the company as a teenager, returned after the death of his uncle to work in outside sales.

After Central Jersey Steel Strapping and Shipping closed its doors in 1988, Koznowicz, Gerstler and Tom Kay, who was operations manager at the old firm, started their own company in 1989, based out of Gerstler's Carteret home.

Fred Gerstler in the late 1980's when he founded New Pak.

"We figured, let's start it,'' Koznowicz recalled. "We did have a lot of customer contacts and stuff like that, but for the most part, we started from scratch.''

After eight months, the firm had a warehouse in Elizabeth, and by 1993, the trio had bought out their business partners in Brooklyn, N.Y. They moved the business to South Plainfield in 1993 and to its current location on Kennedy Road in 1998. Kay retired in 2005.

The company sells shipping supplies and equipment, as well as janitorial supplies. In addition to its local sales, New Pak also now makes sales across the country through its Web site, but Gerstler said customer service remains their main focus and selling point.

The pair maintains a family-like atmosphere inside their business, but both also place a premium on family and community outside of work.

"We realize we have a life outside of this place, and we enjoy it,'' Koznowicz said.

At the end of the day, Gerstler said, they know those community ties are just as important as any sales they may make during the day.

"We tend to be two people who enjoy life and don't take ourselves too seriously,'' he said. "We respect our business, we enjoy our business, but we put it in perspective.''

IF YOU KNOW OF ANY MHSNJ MEMBERS IN THE NEWS, PLEASE EMAIL INFO@MHSNJ.COM.

MHSNJ Members In the News

Recently featured in the Home News Tribune:

First Energy Reduces Businesses' Utility Bills
By SUSAN LOYER • Staff Writer • March 3, 2009

Herb Unger (right) has been a longtime MHSNJ Member

OLD BRIDGE — With the economy in a recession and utility bills skyrocketing, many companies are turning to the First Energy Group to reduce their energy consumption.

First Energy Group, which designs and arranges the installation of energy-efficient equipment for commercial, industrial and institutional organizations, was founded 19 years ago by Herbert M. Unger and Howard Porter. The pair were joined in their endeavor by Jay Lopatin in 2001. Porter retired in 2007.

The group has helped cut energy costs at nursing homes, hospitals, schools and businesses and in some municipalities, Unger said.

Although the company primarily focuses on businesses in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, it has worked with companies throughout the country.

"Over the years, we've saved about 3 million kilowatt hours of energy or almost six million gallons of gasoline,'' Lopatin said. "We've saved so much energy that it's equivalent to planting 87,000 acres of trees or removing 42,000 cars from the road.''

Lopatin said he joined the group when he wanted to make a career change.

"I heard all this talk about using too much energy and global warming and thought this was something I can help with,'' he said. "Saving all this energy for customers is a good thing. Not only does it make economic sense, but in addition, there are only a few times when you can make money and help the world at the same time.''

Unger got into the energy business in 1981 after owning a maintenance chemical company, which he sold in 1977.

"In the chemical business, I saw an awful lot of problems with petroleum and derivatives,'' Unger said. "I felt that energy was a growing problem in this country, and I thought I could service it very well. With the gas crisis and the rising cost of energy and oil, I thought it was the right place to be at the right time.'' Unger started his own energy company, which he sold nine years later. He then joined forces with Porter and founded First Energy Group.

"We will solicit a company to reduce their energy consumption and improve their environmental conditions by addressing things like lighting, motors, air conditioning and refrigeration,'' Unger said. "We look at about 40 different things to reduce energy consumption.''

The first step in First Energy Group's efforts to cut costs is an energy audit, Unger said.

Typical changes, he said, include replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.

"We take the warehouse lighting, which is notoriously inefficient, and we install lighting that's much more efficient and uses 50 percent less energy,'' he said.

First Energy Group then sub-contracts the jobs to licensed and insured electrical contractors.

"We design a "turnkey' project,'' he said. "We tell the subcontractors what to do. We arrange for the installation and deliver the finished project.''

Companies save anywhere from 30 percent to 60 percent in their energy bills, Unger said.

"Everybody needs to reduce their overhead,'' he said. "Whatever we reduce in energy goes directly to the company's bottom line.''

Companies who undergo an energy reduction generally are eligible to receive incentives from the state, Unger said. Those incentives are handled by First Energy Group, Unger said.

"We arrange for the client to get the benefit of those incentives, which reduces their capital cost,'' he said.

Besides savings on utility bills, Unger said, companies also may see increased productivity because of improved working conditions.

IF YOU KNOW OF ANY MHSNJ MEMBERS IN THE NEWS, PLEASE EMAIL INFO@MHSNJ.COM.

Our 60th Anniversary

The Material Handling Society of New Jersey celebrated it's 60th anniversary at the March Program. MHSNJ is the oldest professional organization in the country in this field, began with an organizational meeting held in Public Service Company’s auditorium in Newark, NJ on February 25, 1949.

Chuck Kroner of the MHSNJ spoke of our history. Chuck is a past president
and has been an active member for over 30 years.

A meeting of past MHSNJ presidents at our March Program.
From left to right: Kim Frazier (Son of Former President Don Frazier), John Tracy, Harry Baldeo,
Bob Berry, Chuck Kroner, Carlton Johnson, Don Cronin, John Yacka, and Steve Garvey

MHSNJ Scholarship Awarded at the March Meeting

The Material Handling Society awards scholarships annually to college students pursuing studies in material handling related fields. At our March Program, we award scholarships to deserving students from from both Rutgers University and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).

Don Cronin presents scholarships to Dr. Thomas Boucher and students from Rutgers University.
From left to right: Dr. Thomas Boucher, Joel Lora, Christopher Krieger, Haithum Salem, and Don Cronin.

Chuck Kroner & Don Cronin presents a scholarship to Dr. Layek Malek and a student from NJIT.
From left to right: Don Cronin, Dicknery Diaz, Dr. Layek Malek, and Chuck Kroner.

News Link

Photos from the Volkwagen/Audi Tour and Dinner Program

Our March Program took place this last week. It was attended by over 60 members of the MHSNJ and WERC. We would like to thank Ray Matusiak of Volkswagen/Audi for letting us tour his facility and Jeff Corrandino for speaking at our dinner program. We would also like to thank our program sponsors Alternative Technologies and NewPak Inc.

Allison Clancy presents membership certificates to new MHSNJ members.
From left to right: Ray Matusiak, Jacob Barnes, Jonathan Rudnick, Nicole May Conover, and Allison Clancy.

Fred Gerstler thanks Jeffrey Corradino for speaking at our dinner meeting.

Our tour host Ray Matusiak is thanked by Fred Gerstler.

Jeffrey Corradino speaking at our dinner meeting.

It was a full house for this month's program.

March Program Details and Registration

On Tuesday March 24th, the MHSNJ is touring the Volkswagen/Audi distribution center in Cranbury New Jersey.

TOUR DETAILS

Volkswagen/Audi Distribution Center
47 Station Road
Cranbury, New Jersey
609-443-5510

Our March tour will be of the Volkswagen / Audi Parts Distribution Center in Cranbury, NJ. This will be a joint tour with the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Chapter of the Warehouse Education Research Council (WERC), and will be followed by an outstanding speaker and dinner meeting at the nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel by NJ Tpke Exit 8A.

The facility is actually two distribution centers in one location, the New Jersey Parts Distribution Center (PDC) and the North American Redistribution Center (RDC) which will serve as the main hub for incoming parts and accessories to be distributed throughout North America. Opened in 2002/2003, together the two units share 72 acres at this site.

The North American RDC occupies 578,000 square feet and employs 70 warehouse personnel and 13 administrative staff. It houses some 70,000 products and services the USA and Canada including 7 PDCs. The New Jersey PDC encompasses 350,000 square feet and employs 90 warehouse personnel and administrative staff. This site serves 255 Volkswagen and Audi dealers in the Northeastern United States.

Due to the wide range and size configuration of auto parts handled in both the PDC and RDC, internal transport is via 166 pieces of material handling equipment including order pickers, tugs, reach trucks and sit-down forklifts.

Founded in 1955, in Englewood Cliffs, NJ Volkswagen of America, Inc. is now headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen recently announced the construction of a new manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee which is slated to open in 2011.

Volkswagen of America and its affiliates employ approximately 2,850 people in the United States and are responsible for the sale and service of Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen products through retail networks of approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers.

DINNER PROGRAM

TOPIC: Proposed Labor Legislation

SPEAKER: Jeffrey J. Corradino/Partner in the Law Practice of Jackson Lewis, LLP

Mr. Corradino is a partner in the Morristown law office of Jackson Lewis, LLP. He received his Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School, cum laude. He completed his undergraduate studies with a B.A. degree from Montclair State University, and is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York and is a member of the New Jersey Bar Association.

Mr. Corradino serves on the National Labor Relations Board, Region 22 Practice and Procedure Committee and the New Jersey Business and Industry Assn’s Legislative and Human Resource committees.

In his daily practice, Mr. Corradino specializes in traditional labor law. In that role, he has acted as the chief spokesperson in hundreds of collective bargaining relations and advised employers on the workplace issues raised by numerous complex business operations. His practice also includes counseling Legal and Human Resource personnel on virtually every employment related issue including managing employee performance, wage payment, and has developed a specialty in handling the complex issues that arise when classifying workers as independent contractors under federal and numerous state laws.

In a recent article in NJBiz, Mr. Corradino takes an in-depth look at the proposed “Employee Free Choice Act” which he labels a “deceptively named” bill to reveal the true nature of the proposed law. “In reality, it’s just another bailout for another floundering institution”. He will present to the members and guests a brief summary of the decline in union membership in the national workforce, and the effect this law would have on union organizing activities and the collective bargaining process. This should be an interesting discussion for the Society.

PROGRAM SPONSORS

MHSNJ would like to thank our program sponsor for their support
of this month's program, as well as supporting our society.

SCHEDULE

3:30 - Registration at the Tour Site

4:00 - Tour Begins

5:15 - Reception at Restaurant

5:45 - Dinner Program Begins

6:30 - Dinner

DINNER PROGRAM LOCATION

Crowne Plaza Monroe
390 Forsgate Drive (Route 32)
Monroe Township, New Jersey
609-655-5254

DIRECTIONS

Directions to Tour: NJ Turnpike Exit 8A, bear right thru tolls towards Cranbury; at light make left onto Cranbury-South River Rd (Rte 535). Go South on 535 for 2.6 miles, at end, make quick right, then left onto Rte 130 South. Go 0.8 miles and turn left at Station Road light, VW entrance immediately on left.

Click Here for a Map to the Tour Location

To the Dinner Program/Restaurant: Return via Rte 130 North, go just past 1st light, bear right onto Rte 535 North, go 2.4 miles, turn right at Forsgate Dr. /Rte 32 East, 0.2 miles to Crowne Plaza on right

Click Here for a Map to the Dinner Program Location

REGISTRATION

Registration prior to tours is strongly recommended to guarantee admittance. Tours often fill to capacity prior to program date which prevents same-day on-site registrations.

Please pre-register to allow us to adequately plan our programs and dinners.

Please note: Walk-in day of tour registrations are subject to availability and are subject to an additional charge.

MEMBER PRE-REGISTRATION RATE - $50.00

Please Enter Name:
Please Enter Company:

NON-MEMBER PRE-REGISTRATION RATE - $60.00

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Please Enter Company:

60 Years of MHSNJ

At the dinner meeting at the Crowne Plaza Monroe following the Volkswagen tour, the Material Handling Society will celebrate our 60th Anniversary with a varied program which will include honoring our Past Presidents and making scholarship awards to Rutgers and NJIT. This, the oldest professional organization in New Jersey in this field, began with an organizational meeting held in Public Service Company’s auditorium in Newark, NJ on February 25, 1949.

There were 80 attendees and a Constitution and By-Laws were approved, officers and directors elected. This meeting was followed on March 16th with the first “official” dinner meeting held at the Military Park Hotel in Newark, and the Society had its first plant tour the following November at the Allen B. Dumont Co. (television) plant in East Paterson, NJ.

MHS Elections

Voting for Board of Directors will begin soon after the March Tour. There will be five openings for 3-year terms beginning July 1, 2009.

The Nominating Committee has named the following current Directors up for reelection: Allison Clancy of CORE Consulting Group, Steve Garvey of Intelligrated, Rick Geiger of the New Jersey Department of Labor, and John Yacka of Bed, Bath & Beyond. The balance of the slate will be presented at the March meeting.

During out March Dinner meeting, nominations from the floor will be taken for Society members who wish to serve on the board and wish to be added to the list of candidates.

Message from the President

Dear Members and Friends:

It was good to see many of our members at the ProMat trade show in January. There were several new uses of technology that I thought were pretty exciting. I like some of these ideas because they are innovative ideas that rely on smart controls.

I hate to keep droning on about the economy like a 24 hour news channel anchor, but the fact is we are facing tough times and I want to try and address timely and relevant ideas that will help us be more effective. We need to start working smarter and finding ways to make operations run smoother and leaner. I think there are two basic directions we can take; going back to basics or looking to new technology to help us become more efficient. These directions are not mutually exclusive by any means. Let’s face it - most of us have already picked the low hanging fruit off the process improvement tree. That means the next steps taken will be tougher and require more thought and team input.

This month’s tour of the Volkswagen/Audi distribution center is a study of going back to basics. The managers at Volkswagen/Audi looked intensely at their business when they designed the operation and planned the facility. They decided that a more conventional type of operation suited them best. They will tell us how they made their design decisions and why.

As we all go about our supply chain jobs in the coming years we should be trying to educate ourselves on new applications of technology but don’t forget the past while you’re doing it. We’ll see you in Cranbury. Help us to honor some of our Past Presidents and the College Scholarship presentations at the dinner meeting following the tour.

Dave Lodwig
MHSNJ President