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In Memoriam: Don Frazier - Frazier Industrial Company
Frazier Industrial Company is deeply saddened to inform our clients, friends and partners of the passing of our founder, Donald “Don” Frazier, on December 13, 2017 at the age of 93. He passed away peacefully in Arizona surrounded by loved ones.
Don gained his first experience in the material handling world while working at the Material Handling Laboratories in Boston, MA. It was through his early work for “Modern Material Handling” magazine and attendance at industry events that shaped his passion for material handling. After three and a half years with Material Handling Laboratories, he decided to start Frazier Industrial Company in July 1946.
The company was a small material handling equipment operation and, by the mid-1950’s, Don achieved the first Frazier patent, a break-formed metal rack connector. The company remained a “one-man shop” where rack components were built at a contract fabricator, and later erected on nights and weekends. Shortly thereafter, Don married Gretchen, his longtime sweetheart, who was instrumental in promoting Frazier and creating a solid brand. The two were happily married for over 58 years and had three children during this time.
Don was a voracious reader and felt strongly that “education is not a station at which you stop”. He continued to be active across industry associations and became President of the New Jersey Chapter of American Material Handling Society (AMHS) as well as a member of the newly formed Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI).
Frazier Industrial Company continued to grow organically into a national organization. After graduating from the Newark College of Engineering in 1964, Bill Mascharka joined Frazier. Bill had worked with Don at Frazier even earlier, helping after school and on weekends. By 1975, Don decided to turn over the company to Bill while Don continued as Chairman of the Board.
By 1985, Don served as the MHI Chairman and an emeritus member of the MHI Roundtable Advisory Committee. He was awarded the Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. (MHEFI) Reed-Apple Award in 1997 in recognition of his lifetime achievement in, and his extraordinary dedication to, the material handling industry. In 2009, the Don Frazier Material Handling Technical Training Center was dedicated as a fully functioning material handling laboratory educational program for high school, technical and community college students. Carlos Oliver, President of Frazier Industrial says, “Don’s place in the market is legendary due to participating in every trade show while alive. Everyone in the Industry knew Don. There was no better storyteller and teacher in the industry. His tutorials have become an industry standard”.
By the turn of the century, Frazier Industrial Company had expanded across the United States and into Canada and Mexico. Today, Frazier remains fully dedicated to its customers, their changing needs and continues as an agile organization. Frazier is considered “#1 in Rack”. Bill Mascharka, CEO commented; ‘his genuine passion for the industry and learning continues to beat within Frazier and across the industry. We are proud of our founding force, Don Frazier.” His legacy continues through Educational activity [visit www.mhi.org/mhefi] while his spirit shines with anyone who had the good fortune and opportunity to cross paths with Don along his amazing journey. Cheers!
Contact
Diane Domingues
ddomingues@frazier.com
908-876-3001x3001
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Centriq Group Announces Another Record Year with 27% Growth
March 02, 2018 - Global technology company Centriq Group, parent company of Voiteq and Cirrus Logistics, has announced strong growth in what has been another record year. Revenues have increased by 27 per cent, enabling further investment in people and products. Global headcount grew organically by 8 per cent and new product launches included VoiceMan Returns, CLASS Visualiser, VoiceMan Screen-to-Voice version 2, COST2SERV version 2 and additional VoiceMan Data Analysis visualisations.
Throughout its 17-year history, Centriq’s consultative approach, commitment to research and development, delivery of superior global service levels and team of dedicated and experienced Voice specialists, has enabled it to continuously achieve strong year-on-year growth.
David Stanhope, CEO of Centriq Group commented, “Having achieved so much in 2016, we’re delighted that 2017 has been another outstanding year for us. Our customers across the globe continue to face challenges in an ever-changing market and our continued growth is testimony to our people and the outstanding customer service that we consistently deliver.”
Voiteq continues to innovate by applying its deep understanding of supply chain business processes and enabling technologies. Utilising the expertise of the R&D teams in France and Germany, new innovative products such as VoiceMan Screen-to-Voice version 2 with cloud screen capture and highly optimised telnet screen processing enabling operations to rapidly and easily voice-enable any existing screen-based warehouse process without complex integration.
2017 saw strong uptake of VoiceMan Data Analysis which empowers customers with interactive visualisations of their operational data; supporting more informed decision-making for both short and long-term planning. Following successful deployment in some of the largest warehouses in the UK, Voiteq has released additional visualisations including multi-site KPIs.
Taking its innovation one step further, Voiteq released the VoiceMan Returns module to bring efficiency, compliance and visibility to the rapidly growing omni-channel returns market. With a configurable process engine, multimodal screen and voice interaction, and flexible integration, VoiceMan Returns addresses some of the key challenges faced by retailers and 3PLs in this area.
Cirrus Logistics further cemented the Group’s reputation for innovation, launching the CLASS Visualiser for VoiceMan. Seamlessly integrating with Voiteq’s VoiceMan Warehouse Execution System, Visualiser displays the real-time location and key information for each voice associate in an accurate 2D or 3D view of the warehouse. Heatmaps highlighting slotting opportunities or locations with high error counts provide valuable information to managers and supervisors, and historic activity can be replayed to aid training and troubleshooting. The CLASS Visualiser is also able to integrate directly with warehouse management systems.
In addition, Cirrus held their bi-annual CLASS User Groups in both the UK and Singapore. The APAC region continues to see strong growth for CLASS which is also available in Mandarin. Selected by over 20 universities, including 12 in China, CLASS is being used to train future supply chain leaders.
Centriq continued to provide world-class support to multi-national customers with successful roll-outs of numerous voice projects across North America, EMEA and APAC. The Group also saw key wins in all regions spanning retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and the 3PL market.
“2017 was another great year for us,” Stanhope remarked. “That said, we don’t forget where we’ve come from and are always working on exciting new ways to evolve our technology and help improve customer operations. We have ambitious plans for Centriq in 2018 and beyond, and we will continue to provide the highest quality solutions, expert teams and world-class support .”
Centriq Group delivers planning and execution solutions that connect the entire logistics landscape – improving business operations, enhancing user experience and supporting industry growth. Every year its solutions enable 30,000 operators across 350 distribution centres worldwide to overcome the continuous market challenges; keeping customers happy, operations efficient and the bottom line healthy.