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66 DC VELOCITY NOVEMBER 2013 www.dcvelocity.com
Packaging takes center stage
Here’s a roundup of some of the more notable logistics-focused
solutions showcased at Pack Expo 2013 in Las Vegas.
Pack Expo may not be a logistics or
supply chain trade show per se, but
many of the products and services
showcased at this year’s event in Las
Vegas had a decidedly logistics focus.
In fact, a common theme at the show
was how automated tools could speed
up the flow of materials through the
supply chain.
As Chris Cole, president and CEO of
material handling company
Intelligrated, noted in a conversation
on the show floor: “Productivity is
what sells well in this economy.” And it
is harder and harder these days to
increase that productivity without
investing in automated solutions, especially with higher labor costs—even in
China—looming on the horizon. “It’s
very clear that major companies are
not looking to add bodies,” Cole said.
Interest in
automation is also
being driven by retailers’ desire to
boost accuracy, says Cole. He pointed
out that as more and more retailers
expand their e-commerce operations,
their tolerance for error gets smaller
and smaller. “If a retailer was still just
shipping from a DC to one of its stores,
a 95-percent order accuracy rate would
probably be acceptable,” he said. “But
when shipping directly to a consumer,
that simply isn’t good enough.
Retailers need to be much, much clos-
er to 100 percent order accuracy, and
that is where automation can play a
very important role.”
What follows are just a sampling of
the solutions—automated and nonau-
tomated—that took center stage at this
year’s Pack Expo.
Spiral conveyor: At Pack Expo 2013,
AmbaFlex showcased the SpiralVeyor
SV300 Slim Line, a compact version of
its popular SpiralVeyor spiral conveyor.
According to AmbaFlex, the Slim Line
is the most compact spiral elevator on
the market, making maximum use of
the space between structures and
floor and ceiling beams. As a result, it
is suitable for operations looking to
save floor space and keep aisles and
working areas free.
The Slim Line was developed at the
request of packaging line integrators
that were seeking an elevator with the
advantages of a spiral conveyor but
with a much smaller footprint. Most
packing lines are long with narrow
aisles in between. A traditional spiral
elevator has a diameter of nearly 6. 5
feet and does not fit in such narrow
aisles. The Slim Line spiral conveyor,
however, has a diameter of less than 4
feet, allowing it to fit seamlessly into
the packaging lines.(AmbaFlex,
www.ambaflex.com)
