rollouts
Plastic pallet: CTC Plastics has introduced a plastic pallet made from a plastic resin
created from old tires. The pallets contain Lehigh Technologies’ Micronized Rubber
Powder (MRP) made from end-of-life tire material. The entire pallet is made from
100-percent recycled materials. According to CTC, the pallets perform as well as
those made out of virgin material but cost less.
CTC Plastics also provides a guarantee to buy back damaged or end-of-life plastic pallets, which it then reuses to create the next generation of plastic products.
(CTC Plastics, www.ctcplastics.com)
Enhanced TMS: Software developer
Descartes Systems Group has unveiled a number of enhancements to its transportation
management system (TMS).
The system now has a Fleet and For-Hire
Vendor Allowance Planning module that
allows users to evaluate supplier transportation allowances versus fleet pickup costs. This
helps to reduce transportation costs and maximize fleet utilization.
The system also now has an integrated
transport planning and small-package execution functionality. This functionality extends
beyond simple small-package carrier selection
and includes detailed rating and manifesting.
In addition, U.S. exporters using Descartes’
solution for small-package shipments can
now automatically file with U.S. Customs and
Border Protection’s Automated Export System
as part of their shipping process. (Descartes,
www.descartes.com)
Floor-level
palletizer:
Columbia Machine’s floor-level
hybrid palletizer, the FL3000-R, combines a
robot arm with a conventional palletizer
design. The high-speed palletizer can palletize
more than 80 cases per minute, based on pattern. It is able to achieve this high throughput
while also providing the convenience and
access of a floor-level palletizer.
The FL3000-R features Columbia’s hybrid
palletizer technology, known as R-Factor. This
technology uses a ControlLogix programmable
logic controller (PLC) to manage the function
of the robot arm and the basic machine. As a
result, personnel are no longer required to
learn and work with proprietary software for
the robot arm. Instead, they work with familiar
PLC controls. This allows them to easily understand and maintain the system. In addition, it
increases reliability and pattern-forming capability, according to the manufacturer.
The FL3000-R also comes with Columbia’s
safety package. This includes features like fall-en-case detection, which prevents hoist damage in the load building area.
All Columbia palletizers are built in the
United States and are backed by 24-hour customer support and parts service. (Columbia
Machine, www.palletizing.com)
