5/6/13: Preparing for Summer
April showers bring May flowers… but summer heat can leave your conveyor beat! As we approach the summer months you may begin to notice some components of your conveyor system struggling to keep up or even wearing out altogether. It is normal for rising temperatures to take a toll on items like power supplies, rubber or polyurethane bands and belts, and items that already generally heat with use. Here’s a quick list of just a few things you can do to make sure you are prepared for the additional strain on your warehouse equipment.
-Periodically check to make sure all fans and filters are clean, including those under your conveyor at each local control box.
-Create as much ventilation in your warehouse space as is reasonable- add box fans to areas that generate a lot of heat, or consider leaving extra dock doors open throughout the day.
-Store battery operated equipment in a cool area of your building.
-Know that power supplies, control cards, and other electric and logic components are easily affected by temperature. These may just need to cool down sometimes, or they may overheat to the point of no return -it is a good idea to have extras on hand!
-Consider how much of your conveyor is running at any given time and see if this can be decreased to meet your needs more specifically.
-Keep plenty of spare o-bands on hand -these can stretch, dry and crack in extreme heat!
-Keep a well-stocked spare supply of all plastic, rubber, and polyurethane parts.
-Remember that even more valuable than your equipment is your team. Making water more readily available to those from receiving to shipping and everywhere in between will maintain their productivity and well-being
- as well as those of your business!
Xact Warehouse Solutions is here for your equipment needs in all seasons. Please contact us today to see how we can help prepare your facility for summer!
4/8/2013 Featured Vendor: Interlake Mecalux
One of our favorite sources for steel racking is Interlake Mecalux. Interlake Mecalux is a manufacturer of pallet rack, drive-in rack, cantilever rack and many more material handling solutions available to you through Xact Warehouse Solutions. 
Pallet Rack in New Jersey (top), and Tunneled Pallet Rack in Alabama (bottom).
Many Interlake Mecalux products are available via Quick Ship, with an even more extensive selection available on a made-to-order basis. Request a quote today!
3/25/13: U.S. Veterans in U.S. Logistics
As American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan dwindles, more and more members of the armed forces return home and prepare for a new season in life. Some of these men and women will continue domestic military careers but many seek a fresh start in the private sector. In this month’s edition of DC Velocity senior editor Toby Gooley illustrates the how veterans may be some of the best prepared supply chain logistics employees.
Gooley reports that, proportionally, more veterans are unemployed than the rest of the U.S. population. As many of you already know, the material handling, warehousing, and supply chain logistics industries are hard-pressed to find suitable employees, and it is estimated this gap will only grow in the coming years. ”Clearly, this is a first-class opportunity to match talent supply with employer demand,” according to Gooley.
“Clearly, this is a first-class opportunity to match talent supply with employer demand”
Mr. Gooley spoke with former Army officer and Iraq vet and current veteran transition specialist Jason Dozier of the nonprofit organization Hire Heroes USA to get some insight into the lesser-known talents veterans may possess. He found that military persons with overseas deployment under their belts are often experienced with equipment management in multiple and far-reaching locations. Additionally, the distribution and freight tasks set before many service men include inventorying, containerization, and personally seeing to the distribution of supplies. This can also be the case for U.S. based military personel, many of whom are familiar with field logistics terminals, warehouses, shipping docks, forklifts and more.
Globally desirable traits can be found in those who have served in the military as well. Many veterans have developed their leadership skills, a strong work ethic, adaptability, and are quick problem-solvers. These individuals possess the necessary interpersonal and communication skills to work well with upper management as well as those they are tasked with leading. Veterans truly are an under-tapped resource of seemingly custom-trained potential supply chain professionals.
If you are interested in recruiting veterans, check out local and state veterans agencies, contact organizations such as Hire Heroes USA, or advertise in military publications. Click here for the complete article Hire Our Heroes… the right way as well as other ideas for networking with veterans.
3/12/13 Blog: 10 Ways to Repurpose a Pallet
18th century English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge is perhaps best known by his Romanticized tale “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in which sailors lament “Water, water, every where, and all the boards did shrink; water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink.” Perhaps more fitting to the material handling industry would be “Pallets, pallets, every where, and these boards never shrink!” Not to worry, we’ve compiled a list of ten great ways to make your extra pallets useful again!
3. Take Unwanted Pallets to a Pallet Buyer
4. Or Have a Pallet Buyer Pick-up Your Unwanted Pallets
5. Paint Up a Picture Perch from a Pallet 
7. Hire an On-site Pallet Grinder for a Day 
10. Check Out the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association for more information about cost-effective, environmentally-friendly use, resuse and disposal of your wooden pallets!
Featured Vendor: Incord
Incord is a manufacturer of safety net solutions and is our first source for many kinds of safety equipment. Offering a multitude of applications, Incord is a versatile and copmrehensive source for warehouse safety netting as well as barriers, partitions, conveyor guarding, mezzanine guards, rack guard netting, and cart nets. 
In addition to meeting many and varied needs in the warehousing industry, Incord provides safety netting for playgrounds, sports, theatrical environments, residential use and more. In 2012, Incord was privleged to contribute to an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition project. Incord created a custom climbing hammock which was then installed in a foster home filled with children who were blessed by the additional play space. 
Xact Warehouse Solutions is proud to provide quality material handling equipment from creative vendors like Incord. Please contact us for your custom safety netting solution!
Itoh Denki’s booth at ProMat 2013!
Featured Vendor: Nashville Wire
A national provider of industrial and residential wire products, Nashville Wire has quickly taken the lead among our preferred wire deck vendors. The variety of styles available made Nashville Wire a one-stop shop for a multitude of 2012 Xact Warehouse Solutions projects.
A Standard U-Channel waterfall wire deck. Xact Warehouse Solutions looks forward to utilizing Nashville Wire products and services in 2013 and invites you to explore their website!
Post-Sandy Supply Chain Support
As children return to school, power returns to many homes and businesses, and people begin the long return to normalcy, Superstorm Sandy’s destruction remains scattered about the northeast United States. Thanks to many in the supply chain industry, there has been rapid movement to bring aid to those in need and to jump start the economy throughout the region. With some freight carriers arriving the day after the storm, Lynn Adler of Reuters.com asserts that many lessons learned from Hurrican Katrina are proving invaluable to the economic and infrastructural recovery from Sandy.
“By the time Sandy hit, trucking and logistics companies had topped off gas tanks, bought or rented back-up generators to power distribution and fueling centers, and shipped relief and manufacturing supplies to the Northeast that customers would need after the storm. During the storm and in the days after, these companies and East Coast railroads diverted shipments away from the hardest-hit areas and found alternative delivery options for customers.”
-Lynn Adler, Reuters.com
We are blessed to be part of this industry and to work with and for companies who are so committed to rebuilding, both physically and economically. We would like to extend our thanks to both our vendors and customers who have been effected by Sandy for your continued patience, perseverance, and flexibility. Your businesses and your families remain in our prayers and we remain at the ready to assist you with your material handling operations.
Rack Protection
It can easily be said that an individual, a group, or even an idea is only as good as the legs on which it stands. The same is true for your warehouse. If your equipment is not reinforced it is vulnerable. Leaving your equipment vulnerable leaves you, your employees, your product and your business vulnerable.
To protect the integrity of your warehouse we recommend a prepared approach -rack guarding. From bollards to guardrail we offer an abundance of rack protection solutions. We understand that each warehouse has unique needs and we would be happy to assist you in choosing the perfect resolution to meet yours. Accidents happen and damaged racking can result in lost time, decreased productivity, damage to other equipment or even an unsafe environment for workers.
Don’t let damages slow you down, contact Xact Warehouse Solutions today and let’s work together to protect your warehouse- and you.
Vendor Appreciation
As a national integrator, we work not only for customers from all over the country, but with vendors in dozens of major cities as well. When we choose to give our business to a vendor, we are not just selecting the highest quality goods and services at the most effective cost. We are also trusting our vendors to provide our customers with the same fantastic service we do.
A customer recently came to us praising the service technician we had sent to repair their conveyor. He was struck by the technician’s efficiency, professionalism, and courteous, thorough explanation and walkthrough of the work he had completed. On Xact Warehouse Solutions, as well as our vendor, he said “I have nothing but good things to say about you guys, thank you.” This kind of feedback never gets old. We LOVE hearing about our customers’ positive experiences with our vendors.
All of this is to say “thank you”. We would like to thank our vendors who work so diligently to provide us with the best storage, equipment, conveyor and service solutions. It is so exciting to pass on to our customers the incredible value we receive from partnering with such dedicated individuals. The rapid response time, fair pricing, and competent service we receive from vendors like Coastal Conveyor Services in Rock Hill, SC are essential components of our business. Coastal, we have nothing but good things to say about you guys.
