EIPS Minutes, 4/15/99
Attendees:

Travis Tyson, Micron PC
Paul Russell, HP
Derek Haines, Compaq
Perry Biancavilla, HP
John Clarke, Va. Tech. Univ.
Ron Johnson, Intel
John Morris, IBM
Bob Sanders, IBM
Richard Black, AMP
John Hayward, Republic Systems
John Bridges, Dell
Richard Hoffman, U. of Nebraska
Erich Guenter, IBM Germany

I was relieved by the improved turnout for this meeting. I will continue the reminder notes in the future.

Discussion:

1. A number of new members have joined, most notably from major computer distributors / reconfigurators (Ingram Micro US and UK, Magirus-Germany, Dickens US). This is important in balancing the membership. However, none were able to join us for THIS meeting. Bob Sanders may be meeting with some of these people early next month in Ireland. Major retailers such as Kmart, Sears, Walmart and so on will not be solicited since they receive goods from multiple industries. Electronics retailers have not been responsive per earlier input from Kevin Howard but these may still be worth pursuing. Most important will be the major distributors already mentioned plus major SUPPLIERS to the computer manufacturers. Suppliers are key since they are likely to be the starting point for these pallets. ACTION: I encourage each of you to seek out ONE key supplier and recruit an EIPS member. Look for someone who may be a supplier to all of us and who uses standard pallets today. This may also be our link into Asia since so many components come from that region.

2. Surveys: Assignment from last meeting was for all members to complete the EIPS survey which can be found on the website and fax or e-mail back to Bob Sanders for compilation. To date, I have only received a few, most of which were from HP. The team was again reminded to take a few moments to do that important piece of work. We are not asking for an in depth study. Best guess is sufficient for us to begin understanding the basic requirements. ACTION: All EIPS members to complete the survey and return it by 5/12/99. People refusing to do so will be assigned the task of unraveling the HP spec repository debacle!

John Clarke will also review his survey format and see how it compares to the IBM survey and advise if any additional questions need to be answered. I apologize that I didn't review that more thoroughly before releasing my version of the survey.

3. Specifications: The team members were also supposed to collect all their standard pallet drawings and send to John Clarke at VTU for analysis. To date he has only received specs from IBM, AMP, Compaq, and Intel.
Based on this limited study, there were three 1200x1000's, three 48x40's or 40x48's, two 800x1200's, and one each of 42x42, 48x45, and 48x42.
ACTION: All EIPS members to collect their pallet specs and send to John asap but not later than 5/12/99.

Completion of items 2 and 3 is critical before any progress can be made on developing a meaningful test protocol and set of performance requirements.

4. Transportation Unit Size Verification: To ensure that we accurately assess the space efficiency of various pallet footprints we need to verify the most common truck, container, and air pallet sizes. Paul Russell has placed related information on the website. This data needs to be verified and also considered with regard to "usable" footprint as opposed to absolute footprint which is sometimes how that data is represented. For instance, air pallets are typically 88x125" and 96x125"; however, we cannot utilize 100% of that footprint. The same may be true for truck and ocean containers sizes. Volunteers were solicited to follow up by mode....

Ocean: John Hayward
Air: Ron Johnson
Surface Europe: Erich Guenter
Surface USA: John Bridges
Surface Asia: Tabled for now (note: Japan uses side load canvas style trucks, China uses tricycles and trucks).

Next time we need volunteers, these folks are "off the hook".

Next Meeting, Thursday, May 20, 1999 same phone number and time. Goals at that meeting are . . . .

a. To review analysis of the surveys (Bob Sanders)
b. To review analysis of the pallet specifications (John Clarke)
c. To review data from the transportation unit size verifications (ref. #4).

Thanks for your continued support and ACTIVE participation.



Regards,


Bob Sanders
IBM Corporation