Archive for the ‘Logistics’ Category:
Using a Rotary Car Dumper to unload cargo from railroad cars
A rotary car dumper or wagon tippler comes to use when one needs to unload cargo from certain railroad cars. A railroad car is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives. Examples of railroad cars which use rotary car dumper include hopper cars, gondolas or lorries.
A rotary car dumper holds the rail car to a section of track. It then rotates the track and car together to dump out the contents. They make gondola cars a better option than open hopper cars because hopper cars require sloped chutes in order to direct the contents to the bottom dump doors (hatches) for unloading. On the other hand, the gondola cars allow cars to be shorter, thus lowering their center of gravity, while carrying the same gross rail load.
When using this mechanism, the trains are equipped with rotary shaft tightlock couplings (AAR Type F) on one end. The end with the rotary coupler is marked with a colored stripe, typically white, red or yellow. The dumper rotates the cars on the axis of the couplers. The stripes on the car must all oriented the same way in order to avoid damage to the coupler when the rotary dump rotates.
Rotary dumping eliminates the wasted volume under the sloping bottoms of a traditional hopper car in addition to the fact that a unit train of coal (100 cars) can be unloaded in approximately two and a half hours using a rotary dumper. Another advantage of rotary dumping is that loads that have gotten wet and/or frozen can still be unloaded quickly. The reduced labor, demurrage, and risks from thawing frozen loads offset the higher equipment cost of a rotary dumper at somewhere around a unit train per week. When coupled in fixed pairs, the rotary car dumper can unload two cars at a time.
One can also use bottom dump cars with bottom doors, and back end hoes which unload gondola cars instead of rotary car dumpers.
Subscribe to the comments for this postDifferent categories of material handling equipments
One of the most important aspect of trading is material handling. Material handling equipments can be new or used. It becomes easier to choose used material handling equipment for your company, if it is clear that under which category the item actually falls. Some common categories of material handling needs of a particular establishment may be outlined as:
Automotive category includes trucks that are very popular in many industries. This category includes trucks and cranes, different conveyors like slides, wheels, rollers, chain, slat, flat belt, magnetic tape, buckets, and screw conveyors, hand trucks, platform and lift trucks and pallet jacks. As for cranes, jib, bridge, gantry cranes and forklifts are popular choice.
Positioning Equipment includes trucks that are used in relation to a material in one place for the proper processing position. Common examples include lift tables, dock levelers, ball roller tables, part feeder, air-film devices, manipulators, hoists and balancers.
Loading unit training equipment includes pallets, skids, tote pans, pallet boxes, crates, boxes, crates, containers and intermodal palletizer.
Other trucks Categories include identification and control instruments. Storage is to store, hold or buff materials used for a certain period. The most common machines found in this category are selective pallet racks, flow-through racks, pushback racks, sliding racks and stack frames. Identification and control of equipments include bar codes, radio frequency tags, magnetic stripe, machine vision, and portable data terminals.
Dematic’s conveyor system offers flexibility at PFSweb
As PFSweb operates with more than 2.5 million square feet of world-class distribution infrastructure, it needs to possess flexibility to flex and adjust its material handling and logistics solutions, while ensuring optimal performance for its clients. The company incorporates some of the most flexible and efficient material handling equipment available to DC managers.
One such material handling equipment which the company prides itself on, is the variable-speed modular conveyor system from Dematic Corp, the world’s leading supplier of logistics automation solutions, systems and service.
This conveyor system can convey toys of widely divergent weights and sizes on the same conveyor, ideal for the DC’s product line. The major advantage provided by this system is flexibility and modularity as the modular conveyor units can be unbolted from the floor and moved to fit a new process, if PFSweb needs changes.
“In the past, when we put a big conveyor system in, it was hard to change it or modify it for our changing business needs,” says the company adding, “This system was engineered to be extremely modular.”
The system is different from traditional conveyors as each conveyor section has its own control logic and internal wiring. These controls give the individual sections of the conveyor the ability to speed up or slow down. The Dematic variable-speed modular conveyor system also maintains user-selectable gapping between conveyable items. Without changing hardware, PSFweb operators can select a desired gap for maximum buffer, for sorting, or for proper pitch prior to an in-line scale. Operators can also select the speed from 70 feet-per-minute up to 400 feet-per-minute.
It also has the functionality to automatically turn itself off when it is not needed. Compared to conventional conveyor systems, it reduces power consumption up to 30 percent.
Automating and Streamlining Your Loose Case Receiving Process
It should be remembered that Receiving and Putaway operations are starting line activities and if proper attention is paid to these activities, it goes a long line in saving time, cutting costs, trimming inventory, speeding up service to customers.
Today, most product manufactures utilize automated UPC bar code print and apply case labeling methods to identify SKUs. By ceasing on that opportunity, the receiving process for the top DC performers takes on a new look.
For container and common carrier loose bar-coded carton receipts, an integrated conveyor system process can automate and streamline receiving. This practice is commonly referred to as flow-through or cross-dock and works well for many retailers, especially door-per-store operations.
Here, the product is placed on a conveyor (that extends into the receiving trailer) at the receiving dock, scanned, and electronically assigned to an outbound order/shipment. A bar-coded shipping label is automatically printed and applied to the carton. The material handling system routes the carton to the shipping sortation system. The shipping label is scanned and the product is sorted by customer and/or shipment and routed directly to the shipping dock where it is taken from the conveyor and palletized or floor-loaded directly into the shipping trailer.
Thus the handling of materials is minimized as the carton is handled once at the receiving dock and once at the shipping dock. Except for cartons which are rejected for some reason, the carton/order/shipment does not require any operator intervention within the distribution center. In addition, the inventory is never waiting for processing in the distribution center as it is on its way to the retail outlets where it will be available for sale.
Loose case product that is not needed immediately to fill orders is conveyed to the shipping sorter where the cases are scanned and automatically sorted by SKU to palletizing stations for staging and/or putaway into inventory.
Checking and inspection of case goods or full pallet loads can be limited to random audits except for vendors that have known quality issues.
The use of printer/applicators expands on the benefits that material handling equipment provides. Newer technologies also allow the systems to generate and apply labels with more data at higher throughput rates over a wider range of package sizes.
To sum up, maintaining a Competitive Receiving Operation is Key to Higher Productivity and Customer Service Levelsand as such, businesses should always be on a lookout for options which would lead to better performance and results.
Radiant Logistics opens a new Airgroup office in San Antonio
Airgroup operates as wholly-owned division of Radiant Global Logistics, Inc. and services a diversified account base including manufacturers, distributors and retailers through its North American network.
Radiant Logistics, Inc., a domestic and international logistics services company, today announced opening of a new Airgroup office in San Antonio, Texas which will operate as a new exclusive agent location and leverage the Company’s robust technology platform and global network to provide domestic and international freight forwarding and logistics services.
Sandra McDow has been chosen to Airgroup-SAT and she says, “We are very excited to be joining Radiant and the Airgroup network. As a group, the Radiant/Airgroup team has a real appreciation for the needs of the local owner/entrepreneur and a clear and achievable plan for building a world class logistics organization. The platform, in terms of people, process, technology and network is unique in the marketplace and represents a compelling opportunity for me and my team. We are looking forward to leveraging our own strengths along with the capabilities of the Radiant network to bring additional value to our customers while enjoying the benefits of participating in an organization that, through its status as a public company, gives us the ability to work as shareholders and participate in the value that we help create.”
Ms. McDow continued: “Through years of dedicated services, our entire San Antonio crew has developed some very strong relationships with our customers, vendors and associates around the globe. Our customers have always remained our top priority whether they were here in Texas or abroad and this philosophy has been the key to our success. As we look to keep pace with the needs of our customers, our service offering is extending beyond the physical movement of goods to include a robust information reporting capability that provides our customers with timely, accurate information around the world. Radiant’s technology platform is already proving to be a great differentiator for us in the marketplace as our customers are gravitating to the web-based transportation management and in transit visibility tools now available. This is only the beginning of our efforts to deliver heightened value added capabilities around our core transportation services.”
Radiant’s Chairman and CEO, Bohn Crain, remarked, “We are very proud to have Sandra and the rest of the San Antonio organization join the Radiant/Airgroup team. We are working very hard to drive continuous improvement across the Company and we remain keenly focused on attracting quality operations like our new Airgroup-SAT station which will continue to strengthen our overall network and help drive our continued organic growth.”
The emerging trends in WMS systems
The warehouse has changed its form from a static storage facility to a unit which uses virtually real-time data to closely match supply to demand, eliminate the need to hold excess inventory, and increase the flow of goods throughout the supply chain. A such there is a greater need these days to have a warehouse management system (WMS) to manage company’s postponement strategy to delay the customization of products until after the products, or a set of common components, have left the manufacturing plant.
The software market for WMS has consequently become more and more competitive and as such the packages are competing with each other to address more and more customer needs such as more intricate advanced shipping notice (ASN)/radio frequency (RF) receiving, lot/expiration control, location/carton selection, wave building, labor planning, advanced kitting, wave templates, material selection, compliance labeling, picking/packing, cluster/batch picking, serial number capture, catch-weight capture, cycle counting, task management, replenishment, container tracking, cross docking, report generation, shipping paperwork, automated rule checking, carton selection, etc.
Now-a-days, a typical WMS solution has evolved from merely storage and retrieval of inventory to strategies which increase throughput and productivity by managing a full range of warehouse resources to effectively manage common warehouse business processes and direct warehouse activities. The typical functions addressed by a WMS system include the following:
1. The receiving function which encompasses the physical receipt of material, the inspection of the shipment for conformance with the purchase order [i.e., quantity and damage], the identification and delivery to destination, and the preparation of receiving reports
2. The put-away function which involves removing the material from the dock (or other location of receipt), transporting the material to a storage area, placing that material in a staging area and then moving it to a specific location, and recording the movement and identification of the location where the material has been placed.
3. Order picking which includes selecting or “picking” the required quantity of specific products for movement to a packaging area (usually in response to one or more shipping orders) and documenting that the material was moved from one location to shipping
4. Staging and consolidated shipping which involves physically moving material from the packing area to a staging area, based on a prescribed set of instructions related to a particular outbound vehicle or delivery route, often for shipment consolidation purposes
5. Inventory cycle counting where inventory is counted on a cyclic schedule rather than once a year.
Thus, WMS applications traditionally automate activities that fall within the four walls of a warehouse, such as receiving, put-away, serialization, picking, packing, and shipping.
How to get a well-designed warehouse that suits your needs?
When building or re-engineering distribution centers, you need a detailed planning process to ensure they meet return on investment expectations. For this, you need to follow seven basic steps when planning a warehouse or distribution center.
1. The first step involves defining goals and objectives which include minimizing warehousing operating costs, maximizing picking productivity, or simply providing the best customer service.
2. Consult your staff by conducting personal interviews with those dedicated to all major functional areas within the process. If those interviewed can’t identify areas of opportunity for improvement in their department or area, you should look to interview more from that department or functional area as there is always room for improvement.
3. Collect information and data about existing space for the new facility which should include accurate drawings showing column sizes and locations, dock and personnel doors and locations, ceiling height restrictions, and ceiling girder/joist construction.
4. After collecting data about the space and the inventory, conduct an analysis with the following questions like how well does the product flow into, within, and out of the facility, is the storage system and area large enough to accommodate the inventory including any required safety stock, what type of conveying and sortation equipment will be used, what are the staffing requirements, etc.
5. Create a detailed project plan which includes start and end dates for all tasks, as well as availability of resources. Once the plan has been developed, it should be reviewed and checked to be sure the timeline is realistic and attainable.
A well-designed and well-planned warehouse or distribution center is a principle key in keeping you ahead in this business world. With each careful step from start to finish, the result will be a facility that operates efficiently, uses space effectively, maintains cost control, and in the end achieves its ultimate goal of meeting expectations.
TriFactor to guide through ‘Critical Steps in Properly Planning a Distribution Center’
TriFactor, LLC, a leading provider of integrated material handling systems, is sponsoring a seminar focusing on the seven critical factors in successful warehouse and distribution center planning. Craig Bertorello, Vice President of Operations at TriFactor, with 16 years experience in designing and implementing material handling systems is presenting the seminar.
The seminar titled, “Critical Steps in Properly Planning a Distribution Center,” will benefit companies who seek to change the layout of their current warehouse or planning a new warehouse or distribution center. The topics to be covered in the seminar range from product storage to increasing throughput, process flow and slotting analysis, and more. Attention will also be given to determining storage and picking dominance by use of a seven-step process and a 10-point planning checklist.
Says Bertorello, “By focusing on a layout that fits storage and activity levels, you can reduce construction costs that occur from mistakes. This seminar will show how to position your company for projected future needs and to get the highest return on investment through efficient design. It is for those considering a new facility or re-engineering an existing building.”
The seminar will be held at two locations; Wednesday, October 21 at the Radisson Hotel, 4700 Salisbury Road in Jacksonville, FL, and Wednesday, October 28 at the TriFactor Learning Center, 2401 Drane Field Road in Lakeland.
Mobile lift tables or stationary lifts – Which is better?
Mobile lift tables, owing to their flexibility and the fact that you can move them where you want them, are being increasingly used in many assembly and repair operations, printing or assembly industries, pallet breakdowns in distribution and various other material handling areas. They are the best option when you need to lift and move something and if you need to frequently reconfigure work areas.
Considering all the above facts, the question arises that when should you choose stationary lift table over mobile or vice versa?
The first consideration is the collapsed height because it must match a conveyor line or other handling equipment. Portable lift tables trade that low collapsed height for portability. The collapsed height factor is so important that many lift manufacturers have specific, low-profile lift table lines that get down to 1.9″ just to ensure they can meet the demand for very low profiles.
Another factor to be considered is stability. Mobile lift tables are somewhat less stable than stationary ones and so you need to be particularly careful to center the load on the scissor lift because here off-center loads will be less stable than they are on fixed-position lifts.
Cost is another factor as mobile lifts are more expensive than equivalent stationary lifts. This increased cost owes to the fact that they must be better-built and more carefully engineered. Parts of the structure must be load-bearing and the casters and wheels must be correctly specified.
Again, relocating stationary lifts in case of a line reconfiguration is relatively easy to disconnect and reinstall. Also stationary lifts, in general, have higher capacities and a larger range of sizes, power options, and available accessories.
In spite of all the above factors, mobile lifts are better than stationary lifts where they are used correctly and where they meet the specific needs of the organization. Stationary lifts are better in terms of cost and capacity but they cannot be moved like the mobile lifts.
Increasing importance of Automated Guided Vehicles in distribution operations
Automated Guided Vehicles have been around for over 50 years. These battery-driven, unmanned vehicles, are supposedly the simplest form of robot but ironically they have not found a strong place in distribution operations although they provide added benefit of doing away with human operators using traditional material handling equipment such as fork trucks or pallet jacks. As recently as 2006, according to statistics from the Material Handling Institute of America (MHIA), only one of the 102 AGV system deployments in the US was in a purely distribution center application.
The primary reason which can be attributed to the unpopularity of these AGVs is the lack of actual and/or perceived flexibility in the distribution process. Where distribution centers are much more dynamic with variable movement paths, manufacturing, movement paths are often very static and repetitive. This is the reason why traditional AGV technology is comparatively popular with manufacturing processes.
However, recent trends have shown a growth of AGVs in distribution owing to the change in labor and demographic trends, added with recent technology advances. Laser-guided systems have increased overall AGV flexibility, as have new control systems capabilities.
Several AGVs providers have introduced new AGV systems for automated trailer loading and unloading, using new sensors and control systems that enable them to much more flexibly deal with pallet handling issues inside the trailer.
AGV technology in distribution can be applied to following processes:
Unit load/pallet movement from receiving to drop areas, from drop areas to staging locations, from reserve to forward pick drop zones. It can also be applied to unit load pallet movement of materials to postponement/work order processing areas and from work order processing areas to staging. Replacement of pallet jacks for case picking with automated movement can be done via AGVs. AGVs can also be helpful in case and piece picking in which the goods are automatically delivered to stationary pick stations, transport of mix-SKU pallets from shrink wrap area to staging and automatic trailer loading and unloading.