Business-class trucks

Highlighting its Freightliner Trucks Business Class M2, Daimler Trucks North America LLC’s Freightliner trucks offer the M2 106 and M2 112, which both feature best-in-class visibility with a 2,500-square-inch windshield and have numerous manual, automated and automatic transmission choices, the company says. With a wheel cut of up to 55 degrees, the trucks can navigate narrow city streets or tight loading zones, it adds. The M2 106 and M2 112 also have been designed for easier maintenance and service, keeping downtime to a minimum. Adding to the value of ownership, Freightliner’s customer support offers a network of more than 300 dealers across North America and a 24-hour assistance hotline that will keep customers operating at peak efficiency every day, it says. These features help drivers deliver more products to more customers, the company says.

Daimler Trucks North America LLC, 4435 N. Channel Ave., Portland, Ore. 97217; 503/745-8000; freightlinertrucks.com.

Two become one

Douglas announced that its intermittent-motion Invex IM wrap-around case/tray packer and its VS-25 shrink-wrapper now are fully integrated, creating a compact and economic solution for customers seeking the flexibility of a full case pack or tray pack with shrink wrap for their mid-range applications while still offering flexibility and innovation to meet customer expectations. The case packer and wrapper combination can pack and wrap up to 25 packages a minute on a single platform that makes changeover fast and easy, it says.

Douglas Machine Inc., 3404 Iowa St., Alexandria, Minn. 56308; 320/763-6587; douglas-machine.com.

Going robotic

Combi Packaging Systems partnered with Motion Controls Robotics to release a new robotic solution for end-of-line packaging operations. The new RCE Robotic Random Case Erector combines a Fanuc M20iA/20 six-axis robot with multiple case magazines and a bottom flap folder with an integrated 3M tape head. John Fisher, chief executive officer and president of Combi Packaging Systems noted in a statement that the company chose to integrate the system with a robot because of the expanded role robots are playing in case-packing and palletizing operations. He also said that the system is ideal for fulfillment centers and contract packagers who can benefit most from the downtime and changeover time savings and ergonomic issues prevented by removing manual, repetitive tasks. The new robotic case erector also can be paired with vision technology to assign, verify or track lot or serialization numbers to cases.

Combi Packaging Systems LLC, 5365 East Center Drive NE, Canton, Ohio 44721; 800/521-9072; combi.com.

Taking control

Charles Ross & Son’s Ross SysCon PLC-based Control Systems are designed for sequential control of a wide range of automated processes including mixing, pumping, chemical dosing, water treatment, fractionation, heat exchange and others. Designed to monitor multiple process variables such as temperature, pressure, power loads, weight and flow at high speeds, these controls can be tailored to match specific system requirements, the company says. Featuring responsive color touchscreens with clear graphics, Ross SysCon PLC-based Control Systems improve batch-to-batch consistency and reduce operator errors while simplifying information collection and reporting, increasing process safety and optimizing overall efficiency, it adds. These control systems are available in a National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 12 version or NEMA 4X stainless-steel version for washdown applications.

Charles Ross & Son Co., 710 Old Willets Path, Hauppauge, N.Y. 11788; 800/243-7677; mixers.com.

Solutions that stick

To meet the adhesion, durability and wash requirements of bottlers, Videojet created two new ink innovations — V420 and V528 — for its 1000 line of continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers. Utilizing a unique adhesion promoter and binder chemistry, these new inks offer exceptional adhesion in variable environments and condensing conditions as well as the benefit of easy code removal with a caustic wash, the company says. V420 and V528 specifically are formulated to withstand the challenging conditions that bottles are exposed to, including temperature-variable filling conditions as well as hot, humid and wet environments, it says. Their unique chemistry helps ensure rapid drying and exceptional adhesion in high-speed bottling applications, it adds.

Videojet Technologies Inc., 1500 Mittel Blvd., Wood Dale, Ill., 60191; 800/843-3610; videojet.com.

 

Sorting through data

Sage Clarity offers its One View for Supply Chain Metrics suite of apps to help companies cope with the challenge of information overload. One View subscribes to different approaches, including shallow-dive analytics, themes of metrics grouped into mini-apps, and real-time capabilities, to provide solutions for performance-improvement initiatives, the company says. By building a platform for multiple devices and offering pre-build metrics with a goal-attainment framework using these approaches, organizations quickly can obtain analytical insight about topics such as customer deliveries, profitability, costs and other key performance indicators and collaborate on performance improvement in real time, it says. The system also can help different departments, including executives, quality, operations, logistics, supply management and finance, view the analytics and collaborate with other workers or teams around the world about the data by using any iOS or Android-based device or most major browsers.

Sage Clarity LLC, 20 N. Wacker Drive, 12th Floor, Chicago, Ill. 60606; 800/809-3042; sageclarity.com.

Tipping the scales

Mettler Toledo announced new capabilities to replace existing load-cells in non-Mettler Toledo scales with Powercell PDX load cells through its new vehicle-scale conversion kits. Conversions can save companies the expense of replacing the entire scale and improve the scale’s performance, the company says. A Powercell PDX conversion also can provide savings by reducing downtime, maintenance and weighing errors, it says. The conversion kits are designed to make the changeover to a Powercell PDX quick and easy and are tailored toward specific brands of non-Mettler Toledo scales, including Avery Weigh-Tronix Model FCTS, Fairbanks Type S Lever, and Rice Lake Survivor OTR, allowing Mettler Toledo technicians to perform the conversion with minimal downtime, it says. In addition, Powercell PDX load cells are proven to maintain their accuracy despite changing environmental conditions, it notes. Built-in predictive diagnostics verify the performance of each load cell and simplify maintenance, and the load cells operate without junction boxes, which are the No. 1 cause of vehicle-scale failure, it adds.

Mettler-Toledo LLC, 1900 Polaris Parkway, Columbus, Ohio 43240; 800/836-0836; us.mt.com.

A new way to serve shots

A client of InventHelp has created a new way to serve shots in bars, restaurants and nightclubs. The Shottie paddle features shot-glass holes for serving as many as 10 shots and a bicycle bell to call attention to the shot serving. For added branding, the Shottie is available in different shapes, colors and designs and can be decorated with various logos, including sports team logos. The Shottie is made of dishwasher-safe plastic, measures approximately 12-16 inches long and 10-12 inches wide, and comes with shot glasses.

InventHelp, 217 9th St., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222; 800/468-3684; inventhelp.com.