NEW LOGISTICS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
EDITED BY ERICA MAC DONALD AND SEAN MALONEY
rollouts
Have a seat: The new Model 4450 three-wheel
sit-down counterbalanced truck from the
Raymond Corp. is engineered for productivity,
energy efficiency, and enhanced performance
in a variety of material handling applications.
Designed for the smooth transport of
products and stacking of pallets, the
Model 4450 features a short head
length that reduces turn radius, making it well suited for work in
tight spaces. The Model 4450 can handle capacities of up to
4,000 pounds.
The new model offers selectable travel speeds to enable the
operator to properly adjust the truck to the work environment. For
example, an operator can easily reduce travel speeds while
unloading a trailer and switch to higher speeds for long-distance
transport.
For added flexibility, the Model 4450 allows for easier integration into mixed fleets through a common battery compartment. It
also enables battery access from either side of the truck, making
battery changes easier and faster.
The Model 4450 includes Raymond’s ACR System on both the
drive and lift systems to ensure energy efficiency, reduce maintenance costs, and provide consistent truck performance as the battery discharges. It also features a four-cylinder mast that eliminates
the center free lift cylinder to allow operators to clearly see the
load for more efficient travel, handling, and stacking. (The
Raymond Corp., www.raymondcorp.com)
Hearing is believing: Motorola offers a new rugged mobility solution aimed at improving the productivity of warehouse workers.
The solution includes the new WT4090 Voice-Only Wearable
(VOW) terminal and the RCH50 rugged cabled headset. This easy-to-use solution can replace paper-based processes with voice-directed solutions in demanding environments—in the warehouse,
in the freezer, on the loading dock, or on the factory floor.
Built on the success of Motorola’s WT4090 wearable mobile
computer, the WT4090 VOW is a hands-free, voice-directed, task-specific tool that offers comprehensive wireless network connectivity, high-power processing, and rich voice capabilities that can
improve productivity and reduce errors. The device’s robust voice
features include support for voice recognition, text-to-speech
engines, and Voice-over WLAN (VoWLAN), providing warehouse
workers with up-to-the-minute information. The WT4090 VOW can
be customized for business needs by its three fully programmable
keys, keeping operations simple. When paired with the RCH50 or
a headset from one of Motorola’s partners, the tools offer an
affordable, versatile, and complete voice-directed solution.
The RCH50 headset is lightweight and enables hands-free voice
communications, even in rough environments. The noise-cancel-ing, waterproof microphone offers superior acoustics that enable
real-time voice communication. (Motorola Inc.,
www.motorola.com/RCH50)
Power miser: For real energy savings in the warehouse, companies need to look at controlling drive power, recycling wasted energy, reducing movement, designing processes more efficiently, or
adapting the performance of the entire system to the actual
demand. To meet these needs, viastore systems has developed
viastoreblue, an energy-efficient solution that evaluates each individual component as well as the entire warehouse. Viastoreblue
may be implemented as an older facility retrofit or on a warehouse
provided by others.
Energy can be saved, for example, by reducing the drive power
in periods when the maximum performance is not required, or by
switching the system into a standby mode. Energy can also be
regenerated within storage/retrieval (S/R) systems. The energy
that is radiated as heat in the braking resistor while the S/R
machine is braking or lowering may be reused by adding a unit to
refeed the energy back into the system’s base and hoist.
Reducing movement within the warehouse can also save energy. Goods that are high movers can be located near the center of
a pick aisle for the most efficient use of energy. Viastoreblue can
also optimize the cargo capacity of trucks by planning how the load
is to be stacked. (viastore systems Inc., www.viastore.com)
Print without a PC attached: Tharo
Systems offers the H-400/H-600 Series
thermal transfer, bar-code label printers.
These printers are available in 203 or 300
dpi and feature a durable all-metal construction with a cast aluminum center wall
for added strength. The units’ large media
windows allow for easy viewing and monitoring of supplies.
Another advantage of the new series is that no
PC is needed for printing operations. The user simply downloads
the label formats to the printer’s Flash memory, unplugs the printer from the PC, plugs in a standard PC keyboard, takes the printer
to another location, and starts printing.
Standard features include a high-speed USB 2.0 interface for
fast data transfer and a real-time clock for time and date stamping
of labels. (Tharo, www.tharo.com)
Know when to fold ’em: Compact Container Systems introduces
a new industrial-grade 40-foot, high-cube foldable container
designed to reduce backhaul shipping and storage costs. The
FOLDX 40-HC features a compact design that allows four containers to be stacked in the space of one standard container, reducing
backhaul costs by up to 75 percent. Valuable slot space is freed up
to provide shippers with more revenue opportunities per trip.
The FOLDX 40-HC is quickly folded in minutes with a two-person
team. As many as seven empty FOLDX containers can be handled
and lifted simultaneously. The FOLDX 40-HC has been designed
and tested to withstand the industry’s critical dimensional and stress
factor tolerances. It is fully compatible with existing intermodal handling equipment and meets the existing ISO/CSC container standards. (Compact Container Systems, www.compactcontainers.com)
