DC Velocity - July 2017

NEW LOGISTICS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
EDITED BY DIANE RAND rollouts

Steel rack guard: Material handling equipment and safety products maker Wildeck Inc. has introduced a new family of structural steel end-of-aisle rack protectors to guard against fork truck impact at rack aisle corners in busy storage facilities, warehouses, and distribution centers.

The new units are available in three models: the Wilgard XT, Wilgard MT, and Wilgard LT. The XT rack protectors have been designed for heavy-duty rack protection in high-traffic areas, while the MT models are designed for medium-duty rack protection and can provide an adequate barrier to forklift impact in everyday use. The LT rack protectors are intended for lighter-duty rack protection and provide a low-cost alternative to no rack protection at all.

Wilgard rack protectors are anchored directly to the concrete floor, not to the upright, and can help avoid serious damage by deflecting fork trucks or heavy carts that may cut corners when turning down aisles, the company says.

All three versions are available as individual right- or left-side rack protectors, or as a unitized “double-headed” protector that guards the entire rack width. The rack protectors are easy to install with the included anchor bolts, the company says.

(Wildeck, www.wildeck.com)

Rack protector: Sentry Protection Products has unveiled its Rack Sentry Contour, a redesigned rack protector featuring a more space-efficient design. The Contour features round edges and a slim profile that’s designed to reduce the footprint and increase the amount of rack clearance available to forklift drivers, while still offering a secure fit to rack uprights.

Tapered arms on the Contour reduce the rear face by more than 90 percent, making it almost “invisible” to forklift drivers exiting the rack area. When protecting half-depth rack uprights, these hinged arms can be shortened to maintain a strong, secure fit. The new design also fits over beam connector hardware.

The Contour can be installed or removed in seconds, no tools necessary, the company says. Manufactured with a proprietary mix of flexible polymers, the Rack Sentry Contour is available in sizes to fit 3-inch, 3.25-inch, 3.5-inch, and 4-inch rack uprights.

(Sentry Protection Products, www.sentrypro.com)

Steel racking system:

Frazier Industrial Co. has introduced the Ergo Deep Reach structural steel storage system, an update of its classic Ergo Beam design. While the classic Ergo Beam is mounted to the upright approximately waist high, the Ergo Deep Reach is mounted just a foot off the ground. Developed in response to customer needs to lift heavier objects with greater leverage, the Ergo Deep Reach offers the same 16- to 22-inch opening for access to hard-to-reach rear cartons that the Ergo Beam provides, while also creating a path from one side of the racking to the other.

Made from four-inch structural steel channel with one-eighth-inch recessed web, the system can be retrofitted into existing structural pallet rack systems, provided that certain design criteria are met. Standard pallet supports are used for the Ergo Deep.

Designed to be ideal for first- and second-level order picking applications, the Ergo Deep can improve picking productivity, prevent work injury, and reduce product damage, the company says. (Frazier Industrial Co., www.frazier.com)

Carton flow solution: Unex Manufacturing has developed a carton flow solution that users can retrofit to their existing racks. Designed as an alternative to problem-prone plastic wheel rail systems, the durable Unex Shelf Track system is engineered to work with any shelf or accessory already in use at the customer’s site.

Unex Shelf Track drops easily into existing racks and shelves to provide sturdy, efficient, and accessible pick points for workers. According to the manufacturer, the system uses steel roller lanes that provide 300 percent more surface area than is possible with plastic wheel rails to reduce carton imprinting and eliminate product hand-ups.

The Shelf Track wheel beds offer superior flow from one end of the rack to the other, and allow for 90 percent left to right usage of the bay, according to the company. They also allow users to reslot as they see fit, eliminating the need to rearrange plastic wheel rails to make sure different-sized cartons don’t drop between them.

The wheel beds allow cartons to flow forward when the carton in front is removed, eliminating the need for workers to reach into the rack to pull them forward, which can cause stress on the workers’ backs. (Unex Manufacturing, www.unex.com)