DC Velocity - January 2011

Bottoming out: Akro-Mils, a supplier of storage, organization, and transport products, introduces a smaller size bin and new rack design for its Easy Flow Gravity Hopper system. The new smaller, lighter 31620Blue hopper has a 6-gallon holding capacity.

The Easy Flow Gravity Hopper, with custom rack, allows for greater capacity in sorting and stocking work cells and storage and assembly areas. The custom rack and bracket systems keep inventory, work-in-process, and parts off the floor and safe from damage.

Features include a compact and space-saving vertical design, large angled top openings that allow for easy filling, and a first-in-first-out (FIFO) sliding divider shelf that allows for proper lot rotation. (Akro-Mils, www.akro-mils.com)

Sea faring: Horizon Lines, a domestic ocean shipping and integrated logistics company, is launching express intermodal container service from China to key inland U.S. cities with the new Five Star Express (FSX) trans-Pacific liner service.

Horizon Lines will now offer some of the fastest inland transit times in the industry, including 15-day availability in Kansas City from Shanghai and 16-day availability in Dallas, using scheduled intermodal rail service from Los Angeles every week. The carrier also will offer express inland service to Chicago, Memphis, Atlanta, and Charlotte using on-dock rail connections to avoid drayage fees on the West Coast, saving customers time and expense. Horizon Lines plans to expand the inland express network to other locations throughout the United States next year.

Horizon Lines is able to offer a cost-effective inland service because of operational synergies with the carrier’s domestic U.S. shipping network serving export customers to Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. Delivering imports inland to these markets will provide a more stable supply of containers in locations where many shippers are struggling to find available container capacity. (Horizon Lines, www.horizon-lines.com)

rollouts

Sound the alarm: Erich Industries now offers a new Safety Sentry Warning Signal Alarm that significantly improves loading dock safety by alerting anyone nearby of a vehicle backing into the dock position.

The Safety Sentry uses a 105dB siren and strobe light combination system in sync with proven industrial motion-sensing technology. The highly durable design, which is rated NEMA 4, is constructed with UV resistant poly-carbonate using liquid tight strain relief connections. (Erich Industries Inc., www.DockSafety.com)

Picture this: FRESCO (Freight Rate Exchange for Shipping Containers) is a new information and exchange service launched by Linescape, an online provider of ocean container shipping schedules for shippers and freight forwarders worldwide. The new service enables companies seeking to book a shipment on a specific route to seek a quotation from multiple logistics service providers with a single request, ensuring that users receive the most competitive prices. And since FRESCO does not represent either party, users can be sure that they are getting the best possible offer, directly from the logistics provider. (Linescape, www.linescape.com)

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Breaking the ties: Printer manufacturer Tharo Systems now offers a stand-alone label printing station for use with its H-Series thermal/thermal transfer label printers. Once label formats are downloaded from a computer, the new printer station can be operated remotely to perform many software functions, with no computer attached.

Users simply download label formats, graphics, and databases to the printer’s Flash Memory (or a CompactFlash Card), disconnect the printer from the PC, plug in a standard PC keyboard, and take the printer to another location. Using the keyboard, the user can then enter data, specify the number of labels to print, and merge database information into the desired format.

The solution is well suited to companies that face space constraints, operate in harsh environments, or want to avoid the cost of an additional computer, the manufacturer says. (Tharo Systems Inc., www.tharo.com)