The Material Handling Blog

When it comes to procuring industrial equipment, we have to look at what option is best for our companies. Many businesses often seek to save as much money as possible when it comes to acquiring this type of equipment. Some businesses have available capital to invest in purchasing new equipment, while others prefer leasing.

Goods to person automation is an ever growing field that represents a revolution in the material handling industry – eliminating the costly and time-intensive process of having operators travel throughout the warehouse to pick. There are many options out there, but all of these technologies are representing only half of the goods-to-person concept.

Our Bastian Solutions Conveyor brand flighted conveyor merge may sound like some sort of fancy, new piece of technology that uses cutting-edge controls to parse products at lightning speed through the air. Well, it’s actually much simpler than that. In fact, it kind of removes the need for controls. And fancy technology. It’s really quite simple.

With MODEX 2016 right around the corner, I took some time to speak with our Atlanta regional manager, Brian Ulanch, on the growing opportunities and benefits of doing business in Atlanta and the importance of hosting one of our industry's biggest shows.

With increasingly high customer expectations in the world of order fulfillment, many distribution and warehouse managers are searching for ways to improve throughput, accuracy, and efficiency. To help, we need look no further than the best-in-class Goods-to-Person (GTP) technologies that are changing the face of order fulfillment.

As we wrap up the month of love and get even farther into 2016, maybe you’re asking yourself, “What can I do for my employees to make 2016 even better for them?” One place to start is ergonomics.

Peace of mind, organization, simplicity. These are things we all strive for in life, and of course within the four walls of a warehouse or distribution center. To achieve these goals in your operation, here are 3 steps for implementing proven intelligent technology into your current process.

There are various types of singulators, and they can handle everything from boxes to specialty products, or in this case, circular/cylindrical items. One of our newest projects coming off the production floor is a singulator designed to efficiently handle heavy tires during the manufacturing process. Read: New Singulator Handles 60-Pound Tires

One of the key aspects of a robotic machine tending system is part positioning. It is critical during the design process to understand the interface between the part, machine center, and robot.

One of the most challenging and often times dangerous items to handle and store are beer and wine kegs. Not only are they awkward and heavy, but their round, oblong shape leads to very inefficient storage. In addition, the rapid expansion of the craft beer industry has led to a significant increase in the number of keg SKUs requiring storage. With wine makers also jumping on the keg bandwagon, the number of wines being distributed in kegs is also rising. As more beer and wine distributors must handle kegs, it's important to do so properly and safely. Below are a few helpful solutions for your keg handling needs.

The Journal of Commerce reported that big-box distribution facilities of 500,000 to more than 1 million square feet are leading construction activity. These large-scale, modern warehouses give top retailers and distributors the economies of scale of operating under one roof, whether serving as national distribution centers or regional distribution facilities.

Every year the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals produces a “State of Logistics Report”. The 26th annual report, released last June, analyzed U.S. logistics in 2014 and gave a prediction for what 2015 would have in store. Here's a look at some of the key stats and tips on how logistics companies can respond.