Thursday, January 31, 2008

Material Handling Resources, Trade Publication Links & Glossary of Terms for Material Handling and Pallet Racking.

Easy Rack is commited to servicing the material handling industry. Our comprehensive product offerings are designed to fufill every challenge facing manufacturers, distributors, and warehouse managers in today's dynamic marketplace. In addition, we have extensive resources such as trade publication links, helpful material handling resources and industry specific glossaries to educate and assist our clientele.

Our many storage units will transform the unused vertical cube of a building into new space that in many cases eliminates the need to move. Our wide selection in material moving equipment enables companies to find the right tool for the right job and thus eliminate safety and lighting problems and time delays by making it simpler and faster to move supplies around the building.

Our material handling and storage products fall into five major categories, each of which targets a specific area of moving products and supplies or more safely and efficiently storing them:

1. Material Handling Equipment
2. New & Used Pallet Racks
3. Industrial Shelving
4. Storage Racks
5. Ergonomic Equipment & Supplies

Easy Rack is one of a handful of online material handling web sites to provide such an extensive array of products and services. Our commercial and industrial product knowledge is deep and supported by some of the most seasoned and professional installers you will ever find.

Why not give call us toll free at 888-776-3720 or contact us online to start the process? We would be delighted to assist with design and development as well as prepare a detailed cost estimate that includes installation for some items, if needed. Read what people are saying about us.

Easy Rack is your "One Stop Shop" for commercial and industrial supplies, commercial parking lot lighting, modular buildings or any material handling equipment!

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Sunday, January 20, 2008

Visit Easy Rack for Helpful Information on Commercial Lighting, Pallet Racking and Material Handling Industry Terms.

Knowing the right terminology, the right slang words and understanding the lingo of any industry, will give you a leg up on the competition and give you "The Power of Knowledge".

According to Wikipedi, the term knowledge is used to mean the confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose. At Easy Rack, we have that understanding of the material handling business, the pallet racking industry as well as the commercial lighting business and offer the following information as a courtesy to our customers.

The following are some of the valuable educational and interesting information you will find in our industry specific glossaries by visiting the Easy Rack:

Commercial Lighting & Parking Lot Lighting Terms
Commercial lighting includes both artificial light sources such as light fixtures and natural illumination of commercial warehouses from daylight. Artificial commercial lighting is designed in today's market for specific applications such as parking lot lighting, security lighting, warehouse lighting, loading dock lighting and commercial decorative lighting.

Here are a few common commercial lighting examples:

Ballast - A device used with an electric-discharge lamp to obtain the necessary circuit conditions (voltage, current, and waveform) for starting and operating; all commercial HID and fluorescent lighting fixtures require a ballast for proper operation.
Color Rendering Index (CRI) - This is a scientific measurement of the balance between the wavelengths making up any “white” light. This is an index from 0-100 measuring a light source’s ability to render color accurately. The lower the color temperature, the warmer or more yellow is the appearance. The higher the color temperature, the cooler or bluer is the appearance.
High Pressure Sodium - These HID bulbs contain a sodium gas and produce a yellow/orange light. They are very bright, and last up to 24,000 hours. They are not good for color rendering and are best used as security flood lighting fixtures.
Light Loss Factor (LLF) - A factor used in calculating illuminance after a given period of time and under given conditions. It takes into account temperature and voltage variations, dirt accumulation of luminaire, lamp depreciation, maintenance procedures and atmospheric conditions.

Material Handling & Logistical Terms
Bulk material handling systems are typically comprised of movable items of machinery such as ramps and conveyors, pallet stacker's, fork lifts, hand trucks, pallet trucks, gantry and jib cranes, drum handling and various loading dock equipment combined with storage facilities such as small businesses, commercial warehouses or shipyards.

Here are a few common material handling examples:

Carousel - Material Handling Equipment designed to bring product to picker so that the picker can remain stationed in a designated picking location without traveling. Ideally, order information is loaded or automatically transferred into the carousel system, and multiple orders are picked by multiple pickers at one time. Types of carousels include horizontal and vertical.
Dock Leveler - A plate at the dock door entrance that raised and lowered either manually or hydraulically to accommodate trailer floor heights. Dock levelers come in many shapes, weight categories ans sizes.
Hand Truck - Western hand truck is a device used to transport goods manually with wheels within the side rails. The Eastern hand-truck is similar except the wheels are outside the side rails. Easy Rack has a wide selection of steel and aluminum hand trucks and ergonomic carts.
Pallet Jack - Material handling equipment consisting of pallet forks on small wheels that are used in the warehouse to move cases of product. Standard, all terrain and big wheel pallet trucks are available from Easy Rack.

Wooden Pallet & Pallet Racking Terms
A wooden, pallet sometimes called a skid, is a flat transport structure that supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, pallet jack, or other jacking device. A pallet is the foundation of a unit load design, which can be as simple as placing any type of goods on a pallet and securing them with either metal strapping or stretch-wrapped plastic film.

Here are a few common wooden pallet examples:

National Wooden Pallet and Container Association - A national association with the goal of promoting the design, manufacturer, distribution, recycling and sale of pallets, containers and reels.
Pallet Jack - A hand-propelled, wheeled platform, equipped with a lifting device for moving palletized unit loads.
Shipping Pallet - A wooden or plastic pallet designed to be used for a single one-way trip from shipper to receiver that is disposed of after use.

Easy Rack began with the vision of solving the problems of overhead that result from time delays, insufficient space, and facilities outgrown by business expansion. Many companies try to make do with older, outdated tools, or they feel that they must conserve their procurement budgets until the last minute. This often slows down workers, and can result in certain instances in worker injuries, worker compensation claims, and potential liabilities for companies. Often, at other times, companies feel compelled to move once they determine they have outgrown their facilities. This, of course, costs a tremendous amount of money, and it also results in production downtime.

Give us a call toll free at 888-776-3720 for advice, a quote or just to talk about the material handling business! There is an easier way to save space, time, and money with the help of Easy Rack.

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Sunday, January 13, 2008

Logistical Glossary Terms and Descriptions of the Material Handling Industry and Tranportation Sector.

Every industry has a special language of it's own and commercial transportation is no exception. The transportation sector has a language full of specialized terms and nick names for various items and procedures as does the pallet rack industry. As material handling experts, Easy Rack has compiled a partial glossary of logistical terms to help you understand and decipher what these material handling industry professionals are saying and what these terms mean. This by no means is a complete logistical glossary, but a fair representation of the most commonly used transportation and warehouse industry terms.

Here are a few examples from the Logistical Glossary we have selected for your viewing enjoyment:

Back Haul - When an outbound shipment is delivered, instead of returning empty, a load is picked up from a destination near the final stop-off and then returned either back to the warehouse or a Consignee location near the loading dock facility.

Bottleneck - Traffic or congestion in an area of the warehouse due to poor planning or insufficient resources. Commercial warehouse lighting can also contribute to these conditions.

Dock Plate - A movable metal plate that is placed between the warehouse dock door and a trailer or rail car and makes it easier/smoother to access a trailer or rail car with a forklift or similar equipment. Dock plates come in a multitude of sizes to accommodate any size dock condition.

Flow Rack - Racking equipment that allows for the product to be stocked in through one side and removed for order fulfillment purposes from the other side. Products stored using Flow Racks are naturally allocated via FIFO based on the racking equipment design.

Dock Leveler - A leveling dock plate that adjusts to the height of a trailer.

Pallet Jack - Material handling equipment consisting of pallet forks on small wheels that are used in the warehouse to move cases of product.

Master Pack - A carton containing a specific number of product, items in a container or multiple case quantities.

Easy Rack has been selling all types of all types of material handling supplies and equipment for years. This includes new and used pallet racks, industrial shelving, storage shelving, ergonomic equipment & supplies, commercial warehouse lighting, and even modular buildings.

Whether you conduct business in Fayetteville Arkansas, Tampa Florida, San Francisco California, Chicago Illinois, San Antonio Texas, St. Louis Missouri, Jacksonville Florida or even Tempe Arizona, Easy Rack will gladly assist you with electric pallet trucks as well as loading dock equipment for handling materials.

Contact us toll free at 888-776-3720 and let us assist you today! Check out some of the product reviews from our many satisfied customers or visit our material handling blog.

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