The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) named The Raymond Corporation as a finalist for its 2020 Supply Chain Innovation Award (SCIA). Raymond earned this recognition for their work with Broome-Tioga Workforce New York addressing the need for more skilled warehouse labor at distribution centers in the Southern Tier of New York State. The program included working with SUNY Broome Community College and Broome-Tioga BOCES, to create a holistic educational experience that included Raymond’s Virtual Reality Simulator that offers engaging, hands-on learning for a more prepared workforce.
The Raymond Virtual Reality Simulator gave job-seeking individuals at Broome-Tioga Workforce New York a better understanding of the skills they needed to succeed as a forklift operator and better prepared them for their new career paths. Program participants embraced the virtual-reality learning, saying that it offered them engaging, realistic and enjoyable experiences before moving to the job site.
“The industry-wide labor and skills gap has brought unprecedented challenges to warehousing, supply chain, and distribution centers,” said Dave Norton, vice president of customer solutions and support at The Raymond Corporation. “Our partnership with Broome-Tioga Workforce New York demonstrates that innovative instruction methods, such as virtual reality, can help attract and retain the next generation of material handling professionals.”
The next stage of the SCIA competition is a presentation that will be held at EDGE 2020 LIVE, a virtual conference on Sept. 20-23, 2020. A panel of judges, along with conference participants, will hear innovative solutions and real-world results from the six competition finalists. On Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. CST Jack Kaumo, Raymond’s director of iWAREHOUSE® Technology Solutions; and Steve Gorr, application manager for iWAREHOUSE Solutions, will share how the program with Broome-Tioga Workforce New York addressed industry labor challenges with innovative solutions. Winners of the competition will be announced on the last day of the conference.
