modern Equipment 101: Totes and containers A primer for warehouse/DC managers 34 J ANUARY 2 0 1 1 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com Solving the puzz le Don’t take totes and containers for granted. These seemingly simple products are key components in the materials handling process, ensuring a smooth, efficient and safe flow of goods through the entire supply chain. By Lorie King Rogers, Associate Editor hat’s made of plastic, has six sides and is brightly colored? If you said a Rubik’s Cube, Wyou’re both right and wrong. If you said reusable plastic bins, totes and containers, you’re right. Unlike the puzzling toy, bins, totes and containers offer clear solutions. Available in hundreds of sizes and configurations—and found throughout the supply chain— reusable plastic bins, totes and containers bring many benefits to the materials handling table. From reducing packaging waste, to maximizing product protection, to optimizing inventory management through standardization, returnable boxes generate dramatic cost and efficiency returns. But with so many choices, how do you choose? Before you answer that question, Joe Borer, marketing manager for Buckhorn (www.buckhorn- inc.com) says you will need to ensure a good closed loop system. “First and foremost, you have to make sure you can get the containers back. If you can’t, you won’t realize the cost savings.” With your closed loop system in place, you carefully consider which returnable you need. “Ask yourself the proper questions for the proper container recommendation,” says Nathan Franck, new mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / J ANUARY 2 0 1 1 35 modern Equipment 101: Totes and containers product development manager for Rehrig with product protection, says Norm interfaces, and other special require- Pacific (www.rehrigpacific.com). For Kukuk, vice president of marketing at ments for specific applications like example: What’s the use temperature Orbis (www.orbiscorporation.com). To food safety, cleanliness and identifica- range? Is a lid needed? Will the container get product safely from one point to tion needs,” Kukuk says. interact with automation? How long do another, you have to understand what’s you need the container to last? required of the product from the time Manufacturing and assembly “Study all of your handling needs, it’s manufactured to when it reaches its Totes, bins and containers are all incor- and get input from someone experi- ultimate destination. “Considerations porated in manufacturing and assembly enced in the field,” Borer says. “They include product protection, parts per operations. Small parts for assembly are can point out contributing factors that container, trip distance, supply chain organized in bins captive to the facility. will help you make the right decision.” velocity and proximity to destination, Totes storing work-in-process are also Figuring out what’s right starts ergonomics, airflow, materials handling captive as they travel through different workstations. Internal totes tend to stack and nest. Tote and container suppliers Efficiency comes from being able to stack Company Web Site Phone number them when full or condense them when empty. These totes, often with footprints Akro-Mils www.akro-mils.com 800-253-2467 of 24 x 16 inches or 20 x 12 inches in a Amatech www.amatechinc.com 614-252-2506 variety of heights, are sized to product Atlas Material Handling www.atlasmh.com 847-678-3450 shape and weight considerations. Buckhorn www.buckhorninc.com 800-543-4454 Non-captive totes and containers Carico Cowin www.caricocowin.com 800-466-6738 make the rounds in a closed loop sys- C.R. Daniels www.dandux.com 800-933-2638 tem—trucked from a supplier’s facility full of components and arriving just-in- Decade Products www.decadeproducts.com 877-999-6229 time to the assembly line. Diversi-Plast Products www.diversi-plast.com 800-828-6114 The majority of totes are straight wall Endural www.endural.com 800-854-0553 style and modularly designed so that Flexcon Container www.flexcontainer.com 908-871-7000 when they are fitted together, the smaller Georg Utz www.georgutz.com 812-526-2240 footprints combine to form a unit load equivalent to the standard pallet foot- InterMetro Industries www.metro.com 800-992-1776 print. The load is typically topped with a IPL www.ipl-plastics.com 800-463-0270 cap and secured to prevent shifting. LewisBins+ www.lewisbins.com 877-975-3947 Similarly, larger containers carry Meese Orbitron Dunne Co. www.shipshapecontainers.com 800-772-7659 larger parts and stack together for trans- Molded Fiber Glass Tray www.mfgtray.com 800-458-6050 port. Because the standard footprints Monoflo International www.miworldwide.com 800-446-6693 are so established, users generally have a choice of off-the-shelf totes and con- Nexel Industries www.nexelwire.com 800-245-6682 tainers from a variety of suppliers. Norseman Plastics www.norsemanplastics.com 416-745-6980 Customized dunnage is often used Orbis www.orbiscorporation.com 800-890-7292 to protect the contents. When emptied, Quantum Storage Systems www.quantumstorage.com 800-685-4665 the dunnage stays inside the container, Rehrig Pacific Company www.rehrigpacific.com 800-421-6244 also eliminating the need to collapse. Remcon Plastics www.remcon.com 800-360-3636 “Reusable packaging supports many ISO-certified and six sigma operations Rotonics Manufacturing www.rotonics.com 310-538-4932 by protecting incoming parts and out- RPP Containers www.rppcontainers.com 800-945-8304 going products from damage,” says Tegrant www.tegrant.com 800-756-7639 Orbis’ Kukuk. “Expensive components Schaefer Systems International www.ssi.schaefer-us.com 704-944-4500 and finished products are safe in heavy- Thermodynamics www.okpallets.com 800-627-9037 duty, durable plastic containers with Trienda www.trienda.com 800-356-8150 customized interiors that protect deli- cate assemblies from damage.” Unifuse www.unifuse.com 845-889-4000 For closed loop systems between Universal Package Systems www.universalpackage.com 812-937-3605 manufacturing operations, maximiz- 36 J ANUARY 2 0 1 1 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com modern system report modern Equipment 101: Totes and containers ing trucking efficiencies is important. more volumetric efficiency Manufacturers shipping product to than a nestable tote, depend- DCs want to cube out trailerloads, then ing on the height. Alternately, bring the maximum number of empty, when the tote completes its collapsed containers back to be refilled. circuit and comes to the end of the line empty, nestables Automated systems/storage are more compact and can Facilities with automation—particu- be handled more easily. Reusable plastic totes and containers in a closed larly those with mini-load automated The most common foot- loop systems can provide cost savings as well as storage and retrieval systems (AS/ print is a 24 x 16 inch tote. environmental benefits. RS)—incorporate reusable plastic totes Although there are many stan- as the standard unit load to maximize dard, off-the-shelf totes in this size avail- age 12 months, so time and expense will their investment, especially for moving able, custom totes are frequently created be saved if your automation system is built and storing product from the receiving for these applications. But customization around a standard sized tote. dock to the primary pick location. can be expensive. “Don’t overlook the importance of a There are two different philosophies Buckhorn’s Borer points out that creat- proper container design before an auto- about which style works best: Stackable ing a new mold could cost several hundred mated system is installed,” says Rehrig and nestable. Stack-only totes optimize thousand dollars. Additionally, testing and Pacific’s Franck. “Custom container cube in the system, yielding 10% to 20% production times for a custom unit aver- designs may be cost prohibitive in cer- A tote by any other name… ou say pop, I say soda. Milk base footprint smaller than the top units can only be moved by pallet shake vs. frappe. No mat- opening. This allows the units to be jack or fork truck. Sidewalls can col- Y ter what you call it, it’s nested inside each other when empty. lapse down into the container when all good. Here are definitions to Stackable totes have an identical foot- empty, or they may not, depending make sure we’re all speaking the print top and bottom, and feature an on the design. same language. integrated lip that prevents shifting The walls may be designed with Bin: A box used for storage and when stacked. openings or drop doors to permit organization of small parts prior to use Flap lids may be attached to the easier access to contents, and unat- in manufacturing and assembly, fre- top of the tote, hinged on either long tached lids or covers are sometimes quently with a hopper (or open) front. side and meeting in the middle when used. Containers stack when full or Bins are generally stackable and may closed (commonly found on nestable empty, with capacities ranging from feature an integrated tab in the back totes), or they may be separate from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds. that permits them to be hung from a the totes. Dimensions vary based on Less common are nestable bulk louvered storage unit. They may be industry and application. Maximum containers, typically used for bulk constructed of solid or corrugated capacities range from 40 pounds ingredients, and bulk packs with a plastic. Often found in workcells, for totes handled by humans to 80 collapsible corrugated plastic side- bins rarely leave one area. Lids are pounds for totes handled by auto- wall unit sandwiched between a pallet incorporated in clean environments. mated systems. base and top cap. Dimensions range from 3 x 3 inches Container (also called a bulk Dimensions vary by industry and to 24 x12 inches.