Archive for the ‘Equipment’ Category:
Shopping for a Forklift?
– By Pushpa Sathish, Staff Writer
Buying the right forklift depends on a combination of various choices, from selecting the class of lift truck to deciding on its life-cycle cost. William Atkinson offers a few helpful pointers on the Logistics Management website.
He takes the prospective buyer through the different steps in the process, starting with a tutorial on the eight classes of lift trucks as classified by the Industrial Truck Association (ITA). He details the pros and cons of choosing an electric or internal combustion engine, and stresses that the choice should be based on the type of storage module used and the items that will be stored.
Capacity and height have to be considered, besides the decision on whether to buy a new one or make do with secondhand offerings. Atkinson says life-cycle cost of the truck should play an important part in the buying decision, instead of just the upfront cost.
Follow this link for an in depth guide to buying a forklift truck.
Subscribe to the comments for this postKirloskar Venture into Material Handling
Kirloskar Toyota Textile Machinery (KTTM) Pvt Ltd announced its entry into material handling equipment business in India. The company will import material handling equipment manufactured by Toyota at Takahama in Japan and market them in India. The company has set up a centralized spares and service center at Jigani near Bangalore. It is opening a showroom and customer training facility. KTTM is the first joint venture between Kirloskars and the Toyota group for manufacturing ring spinning machines.
Read my previous post titled “Deployment of Material Handling Modeling Software” to know more about deployment of material handling modeling software.
Raymond Offers Efficiency Truck Brigade
Lift trucks are simply getting their act right. The latest news has been about the new 4700 Series four-wheel by the Raymond Corporation , which is a sit-down electric lift truck for better maneuverability and prompt responsiveness than any other in the league. It is said that the new Raymond 4-wheel AC lift trucks are to promote operator efficiency and comfort with élan translating the overall productivity to grow high. In the material management, the hard task comes in terms of time consumption on learning newer techniques but Raymond promises simple learning and operational benefit for the operators. The trucks can offer wider operator compartment with intuitive ergonomic controls. Laced with Raymond’s exclusive ACR System, trucks would come with lower maintenance cost. Also, this new truck will be easy to maneuver by experienced and new operators.
Going by the company, trucks have feature of efficient load handling, where operators can fit in more task in a single shift with variable capacities from 3,000 to 6,000 pounds, and 36- or 48-volt configurations; 4700 series fits virtually in any application. Raymond’s has tried to put uniqueness through better steering system, with dual powered counter-rotating AC drive motors, which gives the 5,000-pound Model 4700 C50HM the advantage of perfect circle steering. The designs though are leading to better maneuverability but there has been no emphasis on what major changes have been taken into consideration w.r.t . other trucks found in operation apart from the highly lauded ACR System for both lift and drive performances. The truck comes with controls that make operation quite effortless. Color-coded levers for lift-lower, tilt and sideshift are provided to add punch. Fingertip controls and bidirectional floor-mounted pedals have also been added.
Accu-Sort’s Hands Free Recording Comfort
Hand scanning is a tedious process. But not anymore thanks to Accu-Sort Systems, Inc. . The company has introduced a latest version of camera and decoder - AccuVision HandsFree CCD - that will offer faster and easier application solution. The CCD technology meets the need of demanding high-speed hand sorting applications and thereby, provides a low-cost solution for greater processing in applications where packages are scanned by hands.
With a first pass read rate of more than 99 percent compared to 90-96 percent for lasers. It is obvious then one should always pick laser ones over HandsFree. But according to the company, HandsFree provides accuracy that of a laser scanner at low price with additional quick set-up and low maintenance assurance. Also, the gadget going to increase throughput by 50 percent in many applications because operators do not need to pause to hand scan an item.
HandsFree by Accu-Sort is the smallest linear and 2D reader with a footprint that easily fits on a production line or hand picking area, providing the coverage needed to accommodate a variety of products without having to relocate the camera. HandsFree also has a large depth of field, which is ideal for hand induction. But there are many who are already using laser based reader for the purpose and they wouldn’t go for this newer version for the sake of low cost. AccuVision decoder for Mid-Range Cameras, incorporates robust decode software. Hence, the system reads 2D and linear bar codes on stationary or moving objects. The best part is that one doesn’t have to pick up the recorder in hand for product identification. The decode software and integrated LED illumination ensure that HandsFree delivers the best possible read rates even on poor contrast and damaged bar codes in any orientation.
QC Software Material Handling Systems
QC Navigator provides the critical link between the non-real time host and the real-time Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) based material handling system. It coordinates the various real-time control devices to accomplish the daily workload. At each decision point, QC Navigator determines the most efficient routing of the product and transmits directives to the Equipment Controllers to achieve the desired result. If you are looking for a perfect material handling system, QC Navigator may be the right choice for you.
Use of Conveyor Cleaner in Material Handling
If you are looking for a cleaner in your material handling applications, the new conveyor cleaner from Flexible Steel Lacing Company (Flexco) may be an ideal solution for you. It provides consistent cleaning performance, long operating life and low maintenance in tough applications. The product is known as the Mineline MMP Precleaner. The MMP Precleaner features the TuffShear blade that provides optimal blade tip tension on high-speed, high-load conveyor applications. The Precleaner has self-contained Quick Mount Tensioners (QMT) store sufficient energy to keep the blade powered to the belt. The new product is expected to give a new lease of life to Flexco’s series of products as well as fulfill the customer requirements.
General Hydrogen’s Hydricity Pack Power Systems
General Hydrogen’s Hydricity Packs are complete fuel cell systems. They directly replace lead-acid batteries in industrial vehicles and other applications. Hydricity Packs generate electrical power through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. They also produce only heat and pure water vapor in the entire process. Hydricity Packs can be used indoors.
The function of Hydricity Packs is unique. In the beginning, hydrogen from the storage tank and air from the atmosphere are humidified before entering the fuel cell stack. The humidified gases pass through the fuel cell stack and produce electricity, heat and water. Excess water vapor and heat produced in the process are exhausted through a radiator into the atmosphere. The electricity produced by the stack is conditioned to the required current and voltage. It is then delivered through the outlet to the lift truck motor or other electric load. An energy storage bank provides supplemental power when energy is required for lifting. Finally, when the hydrogen fuel is used up, the hydrogen storage tank is refilled by the operator using General Hydrogen’s fueling system.
Mobile Storage Unit Patented by Material Handling Equipment Distributor
Ergonomic Solutions, Inc. has developed and patented the SmartPick Storage System, an automated mobile storage unit. Ergonomic Solutions is a distributor of material handling equipment. The SmartPick Storage System is an automated storage and retrieval system that provides dense storage with 100% accessibility.
According to Ergonomic sources, they have developed an automated mobile storage unit that solves all the classic storage problems. SmartPick can automatically move one or a group of storage racks to give the picking crane access to products stored on standard pallets.
New Plastic/Metal with Electrostatic Separators from Bunting Magnetics
Bunting Magnetics has launched new plastic-series and metal-series electrostatic separators that let users extract small particles from recycled material. Separating two types of plastics or metal from a non-metal mixture will effectively remove, clean or recover material depending on the users’ needs. The dry process EKS and KWS Series Separators from Bunting can be integrated into an existing recycling operation.
Sorting plastic production waste, separating unwanted contaminants in plastics or producing new product from valuable raw material is easy and user-friendly. The separators rely on the differences in the static charging behavior of various plastics. They can take a mixture of two plastic types and produce a clean plastic separation for each.
New Toyota Material Handling Distributorship
Prolift Toyota has given its distribution rights to Toyota Material Handling SA. Toyota Material Handling SA will be the official distributor for Toyota, the BT Lift Truck products and Raymond industrial equipment in South Australia. The new company is located in the previous Prolift Toyota premises at 83 Gavon Road, Gepps Cross, South Australia. Toyota Material Handling, Victoria has integrated the BT Lift Truck product range into its portfolio. Both the centers at Sout Australia and Victoria have the facilities and experience to support customers of all Toyota Industrial Equipments. Toyota Material Handling (Victoria) operates from two locations in the Melbourne metro area.
Toyota Material Handling offers a range of options to customize its forklift products for cold-storage environments, according to the type and brand of machine (Toyota, BT and Raymond), the customer’s working environment and the product being handled.