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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 postRadiant 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.”
Posi-Plus unveils its articulated telescopic model, the 600-50-A
At the 2009 International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition (ICUEE), Canadian manufacturer, Posi-Plus, took pride in unveiling its new and the biggest articulated telescopic model, the 600-50-A, which offers a huge material handling capacity, coming in at 2,000 pounds and being the company’s first articulated model.
The 600-50-A has an 8-degree slope certification, a 36.5-foot side reach, 400-pound single bucket capacity and an 84-inch jib with a 60-inch hydraulic extension. “It works well in low and high temps,” Bigras said.
The machine has the capacity to perform up to par in -40 degrees to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It also features a fully proportional feather touch control, a 250-degree continually rotating jib, 55-foot platform height with a 60-foot working height and a 24-inch platform lift.
Speaking on the occasion, Normand Bigras, vice president of sales and marketing for Posi-Plus, reflected on the fact that material handling machines are in high demand for the company, accounting for 80-85 percent of sales. “They have a high capacity, are strong and durable and last up to 25 years.”
“We did a survey (with customers) to create this new unit,” Bigras said. “(Customers) wanted big capacity.”
Carts and trucks used to reduce manual workforce
Material handling products have now become the call of the day for a variety of industries as they improve workplace efficiency by supporting various material handling purposes including storage and transportation of materials in and around the location.
One such material handling product which can be used to reduce physical and manual workforce needed for carrying and transporting the manufactured products or the materials used for manufacturing purposes from one place to another is carts or trucks. Apart from eliminating the risk of physical injury, they also bring about maximum speed and efficiency in the workplace.
Trucks and carts are cost-effective and efficient means used for transportation of heavy loads of materials from one location to another. Trucks are generally used for transporting materials or products to some other nearest location in the warehouses. Two-wheeled ones are the most commonly used ones in the worksites. They are designed with easy to clean smooth surfaces, user-friendly grip handles and high loading capacity. Quiet casters and plastic constructions eliminate loud noise while in use. These are found in models of hand trucks, cube trucks, platform trucks and more.
Material handling carts are basically used for storage and handling. Depending on the needs, they come in different sizes, finishes, colors and models like electric, luggage and utility carts. There are special garbage carts used for transporting waste materials that pile up in workplaces.
Material handling products ensure greater productivity and reduce extra expenses for your industry. They have now become indispensable ones in refineries, farm, warehouses, shipyards and other industrial centers.
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.
Using Conveyor systems for movement of materials
In the material handling industry, one equipment which is undeniably the best choice for transferring load from one place to another is the conveyor system which helps expedite the movement of materials between people or automated equipment or between people to automated equipment. Be it wood, metal, cardboard or plastic, a conveyor system can be used efficiently to move every kind of material.
Right from warehouse operations to manufacturing, commercial and distributive applications, a conveyor system comes to help everywhere. The range of industrial sector where this equipment is widely used includes airport, cement, environment, manufacturing, sugar processing etc.
A conveyor system offers many advantages including better space usage, flexible product routing, reduced manual material handling, increased production output and reliable and cost effective solutions.
Depending on the materials to be transported, the application and the industry where it is used and different usages, there are various varieties of conveyor systems which can be classified as belt conveyor, gravity conveyor, hytrol conveyor, unit load conveyor, roller conveyor etc. These systems run on power or gravity and its major components include drivers, pulleys and belts.
For maximum productivity, one should choose the right conveyor system depending on the weight, form, width, and height of the product to be handled.
Toyota Material Handling ranks first in Reed Research Survey
In a recent Reed Research Survey, Toyota Material Handling USA Inc. was honored with the first rank for the quality, reliability, durability and value of its parts. The study came to this decision after examining lift truck parts sold in the last year, as well as planned purchases for the coming year, attributes of products, and the service and maintenance of lift trucks. Results showed the same four categories that Toyota Genuine Parts garnered high marks in were the most important when evaluating products for possible purchase.
The independent third-party firm surveyed more than 250 Modern Materials Handling readers including plant managers, as well as warehouse and corporate management within manufacturing and distribution facilities in a number of businesses, including automotive, food and beverage, machinery and wholesale trade.
“Customer satisfaction is a cornerstone of Toyota’s philosophy, and it’s rewarding to see customers recognize the world-class quality, durability, reliability and value of Toyota Genuine Parts,” says Brett Wood, president of TMHU.
With this ranking comes the news of the retirement of Chairman and CEO Shankar Basu who will retire after spending almost a decade with Toyota. Wood, a 20-year industry veteran who has served as president of the firm since 2008, will succeed Basu.
MHEDA to host its Rental and Used Equipment Business Conference
The Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association is the only national trade association which is targeted towards improving the proficiency of the independent material handling equipment distributors.
The popular Rental and Used Equipment Business Conference of MHEDA (The Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association) will be hosted on September 17-18, in Chicago at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare Hotel. The conference will run for a span of two days and targets the needs of Rental and Used Equipment Managers, Operations and Business Managers of Material Handling Dealerships. The conference will help the managers maximize their profits by helping them manage their Rental & Used business equipments during tough economic times. There will be seven different MHEDA dealership owners and managers to conduct and lead the conference by sharing their insight and experiences. Roundtable discussions and a panel discussion are also incorporated.
The cost for attending the program is $699 per registrant and this amount allows two breakfasts, two lunches, dinner and tour at Atlas Lift Truck and all refreshment breaks besides entry to the conference. Travel and Lodging is not included. The Crown Plaza Hotel provides complimentary transportation to and from O’Hare International Airport.