The Material Handling Blog

Historically, intralogistics software providers have been known for providing very customized solutions to meet the unique needs of their various manufacturing and distribution center clients. Being in the industry for over 70 years, Bastian Solutions has identified various universal industry processes and created a standardized product suite with offerings in addition to providing customized solutions all under our proprietary software brand, Exacta®.

The economic market landscape is a whirlwind of change, driven by an expanding population and evolving local and global demands. Amidst this flux, businesses grapple with the challenges of adapting to shifting consumer expectations, soaring rental costs, intensifying competition and the quest for optimal storage solutions, particularly in India's bustling market. Navigating these complexities demands more than just traditional approaches—it requires a strategic embrace of automation. What was once considered a luxury has now become a business imperative. The question is no longer “Should I automate?” it is now “When and how much should I automate?” Recognizing this shift is crucial for companies aiming not just to survive, but to thrive in this dynamic environment.

In warehouse automation and material handling systems, companies typically fall into two categories: manufacturers (OEMs) or integrators. Manufacturers are known for creating the hardware and technologies that power warehouse automation, while integrators specialize in bringing these diverse components together into a cohesive, functioning material handling system. At Bastian Solutions, we often encounter the question, 'Are you an integrator or a manufacturer?'

When people hear the term 3PL, they might ask questions such as: “What is a 3PL?” A 3PL or third-party logistics is a business that provides logistics operations to other business. These value-added logistic services include:

The festive or peak season is one of the busiest times for companies, especially those in the e-commerce and retail industry sectors. With the holidays here, consumer demand for products significantly spikes both in volume and quick fulfilment requirements. With continuous festive promotions and sales, it is understandable that there is an increase in orders with more customer expectations, so it is crucial to have efficient and reliable warehouse material handling systems in place to handle the festive season demand. Determining the specific requirements of your business during the festive season is essential to ensuring a smooth and successful operation.

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, automation has become an integral part of various industries, ranging from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and transportation. With warehouse and distribution center material handling automation's widespread adoption, ensuring the safety of workers, equipment and the public is of paramount importance. To achieve this, various safety devices are employed to minimize risks and prevent accidents.

The world of automation is more complicated than it has ever been, with several emerging technology options and configurations now readily available with more to come. What we know, however, is that creating a foundation for long-term resilience relies on adaptable automation. Together with data-backed system integration you can overcome business challenges to meet objectives now and, in the future, reaping better ROIs. This means taking a detailed look at the processes before a package leaves the warehouse.

In this fast-paced industry where customers are looking for the fastest delivery and using multiple channels to complete their purchases, brands need to be nonstop active. Today, almost all consumers check reviews and compare prices both online and offline before making a purchase.

With the boom in the ecommerce market, companies will have to optimize outbound processes in order to keep up with the race and continue to meet customer expectations – correct orders with on time fulfilment. Let's look at how.

For decades, conveyor systems have been crucial for warehousing and logistics operations. Conveyor systems are used in all fundamental warehouse processes to transport raw materials out of storage to the production line, move products into other storage devices, and move final product into packaging lines, or transport packaged products to shipping. It is the most basic automation for anyone in the facility to transfer materials between long distances on varying elevations.

Goods to person and goods to robot solutions are trending topics when it comes to distribution fulfillment but what about heavier and larger pallet transport? Pallet monorail systems are one of the fastest and most efficient ways to transport pallet loads throughout a facility. This technology goes by many different names including “Electrified Floor Track System (EFTS)”, “Electrified Monorail System (EMS)”, or sometimes just “Monorail.” In the most general sense, a monorail system is comprised of two key elements: - Track - provides guidance and power - Trolleys - physically move the pallets along the track system; self-propelled The scalability makes them a great investment, less than a roller conveyor system, and an option worth considering. Below we take a look at standard ways this solution can optimize your operations.

Due to the rapidly expanding industry of ecommerce, ease of installation and maintenance of conveyor systems is exceedingly critical to remain competitive in today’s material handling market. The more complicated the system, the more of an impact this can have on its design and success as a solution. In material conveyance terms, sortation is one of the most complicated problems out there. Typical medium rate sortation requires AC power, DC power, and pneumatics for successful sortation of packages up to 75 pounds in weight. They provide rates up to 300FPM at 85CPMwith a maximum sorter length of 150ft. Bastian Solutions’ conveyor team has now developed a solution that provides the same speed at 90CPM, an unlimited maximum sorter length, and requires nothing but low-voltage DC power for operation, all while offering competitive pricing; the Modular Sorter.