Some measure success by salaries and titles. Others use a different yardstick altogether. Take the six professionals selected as our 2022 Rainmakers, for example. When asked about their proudest professional accomplishments, their answers ranged from the satisfaction of working with others “to accomplish something bigger than I could ever do alone” to mentoring younger colleagues and seeing them go on to greater glory.
So who are these Rainmakers and how were they chosen? As in the past, DC Velocity selected the 2022 Rainmakers in concert with members of the magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board from candidates nominated by readers, board members, and previous Rainmakers and DCV Thought Leaders. This year’s selections represent different facets of the business—practitioners, academics, engineering and tech specialists, and executives of third-party service providers and industry organizations. But as the profiles on the following pages show, they’re united by a common goal of advancing the logistics and supply chain management profession.
Starting July 1, we will release the name of one of our 6 Rainmakers each day. Check this spot daily to read about the other supply chain leaders we are honoring this year.
If you’d like to nominate someone for our 2023 Rainmakers report, please send your suggestions to DC Velocity’s group editorial director, David Maloney, at dmaloney@dcvelocity.com.
When Boyce Bonham graduated from high school more than 40 years ago, he was awarded a scholarship from Hytrol Conveyor Co., the business where his father worked. Although he says he wasn’t sure what he wanted to study at Arkansas State, he ended up choosing engineering, thanks to the encouragement of some of his teachers. That decision turned out to be the conveyor industry’s gain, as Bonham has spent the past 37 years overseeing the design of some of the industry’s most successful conveyor and sorter innovations.
Bonham has also been active in promoting industry engineering standards and best practices within the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) and MHI. He is listed as a co-inventor on seven issued patents and has spent his entire working career at Hytrol, where he currently serves as chief engineer.
“When Hytrol offered me a job after receiving a degree, my plan was one to two years and then move on; ‘After all, how interesting can conveyors be?’ was my thinking at the time,” he says. “However, Hytrol not only gave me freedom to design products to meet customer requests, but also allowed me to creatively add features beyond their basic needs. I have not been bored during my 37 years at Hytrol. I would definitely add, ‘Conveyors are way more interesting than I originally thought!’”
Q: How has the conveyor industry changed during your time in the industry?
A: Many things about the conveyor industry have changed during my time there, while some things remain much the same. The rates at which items are handled have risen, which has driven conveyor speeds up significantly. Demand for higher throughput rates has driven us to be much more creative with system design, including gapping and controlling the cartons. The type of products handled has also changed. Today, we are conveying items that once would have been considered nonconveyable because they were too large, too small, too heavy, or even too light. At one time, the products conveyed were cartons or totes, but now we are doing a lot of polybags, envelopes, and irregular items.
Q: What is the one work experience that you consider to be the most satisfying of your career?
A: Narrowing this down to one is tough, and it may depend on what day you ask me because I’ve had many very satisfying experiences during my career at Hytrol. Among the most satisfying is being able to work on a new product that brings newly developed and needed technology to the industry, and then being afforded the opportunity to personally take this product to the market in sales presentations, customer training, and industry events.
The timing of my roles within the company allowed me to do this with our E24 product family of low-voltage conveyors. Customer sustainability initiatives peaked at the same time we took it to market, which stimulated a tremendous interest in the product, and its acceptance was phenomenal. This whole product launch was very fulfilling and satisfying to me personally.
Q: You are active in a number of industry associations, including the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) and MHI. Why is this important to you?
A: Industry associations contribute to building a network of personal relationships with individuals throughout the industry, even with individuals working for competitors. This helps to strengthen the industry through sharing common challenges we all may face—and particularly in helping to develop standards. The standards may be design standards, safety standards, or best practices. The associations also help our end-users by providing a platform for sharing their upcoming challenges, based on their strategic initiatives, so our industry can develop solutions to help them advance at a faster pace.
Q: What advice would give a young engineer who’s considering a career in the material handling profession?
A: It is a great industry with a lot of opportunities. Whether it is designing products for manufacture, designing conveying systems, integrating equipment for the total solution, or working for the end-user of the material handling system, there will always be a need to move products. The methods will change, the products will change, demand will change; however, all of the changes will create an additional need for engineers to design the right material handling technology and solution. It’s a great opportunity for someone who wants to make a difference in society while learning what goes on behind the scenes in how things get to a consumer—happenings that the general public could never imagine.
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