It’s official! ABCO Systems is proud to announce that we are teaming up with FETCH ROBOTICS to provide Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) solutions to our customers nationwide! This partnership combines Fetch Robotics’ world-class, dynamic robotics solutions with ABCO Systems’ unparalleled customer service and proven engineering and implementation capabilities, and we can’t wait to take our customers’ warehouses to the next level! For turnkey and extensible systems, join us at the cutting edge of e-commerce fulfillment – give us a call today!
More about FETCH ROBOTICS: One of the fastest growing robotics companies in the world, FETCH ROBOTICS is the pioneer of On-Demand Automation, providing the only solution that deploys Autonomous Mobile Robots for the warehousing and intralogistics markets in just hours (versus days or weeks). Learn more about the exciting array of product offerings here.
More about ABCO Systems: As your material handling system partner, we are committed to bettering your business. We provide a wide range of solutions from e-commerce to full-fledged automated warehouse design and implementation.
To learn more about ABCO Systems and FETCH Robotics contact us at 201-429-0580 or [email protected]. We look forward to helping you maximize your space and improve your business practices with the material handling solutions that work the best for you.
This month, we are featured in the Construction in Focus Magazine.
ABCO Systems is a market authority in solutions for warehousing and distribution center automation. From the pre-design phase to construction and automation, the company delivers the best quality and service with more than three decades of experience in the field. From their headquarters in Belleville, New Jersey, the ABCO team serves customers across the United States, with a concentrated presence along the East and West coasts.
“Our goal and focus have always been about doing the right thing by the customer first. That’s how we built the business,” says owner and Chief Executive Officer Seth Weisberg. And it keeps growing. Following prudent and sustained growth, it recently opened a second office in Ontario, California, and is looking to expand into Mexico, Atlanta, Chicago and Texas.
Every client’s project is treated as a unique opportunity to shine. The approach has paid off in several ways. The company appears on Inc. 5000 magazine’s 2017 list of fastest-growing companies, followed by achieving eleventh place in weekly business journal NJBIZ’s list of fifty fastest-growing companies in New Jersey, which was no mean feat in a year like 2020.
Read the rest of the article in Construction in Focus Magazine HERE.
Contact us at (201) 507-0999 or at [email protected] for more information.
ABCO Systems Print and Apply Solutions – Panther Industries.
Increase Throughput and Reduce Labor Costs.
Partnered with Panther Industries, ABCO Systems can incorporate Panther labeling automation solutions to maximize your throughput. Supporting e-commerce, retail, distribution, logistics, and mail-order pharmacy markets, a labeling automation solution from Panther Industries is designed to move your items through your system – fast. Specifically, the Predator system which can label packages of varying heights – in motion – with incredible speed and accuracy.
Operational efficiency within warehouses and distribution centers is pivotal to success especially in the current environment. ABCO Systems is here to help your operations become aligned with the systems needed to increase throughput and accuracy and improve processes to have your fulfillment center achieving excellence. ABCO Systems provides Print and Apply systems as standalone and fully automated conveyor systems. Print and Apply systems are extremely beneficial in the shipping and manifesting process.
Typical Print and Apply systems include a barcode scanner to identify the particular parcel, a print/apply machine, conveyor for inducting, labeling, and discharge, a verification scanner to read the printed label, software to merge data, and communicate with the host system, and shipping software as required. Warehouse automation solutions such as Print and Apply will provide enormous benefits in order fulfillment, speed, accuracy, and overall cost savings. Print and Apply solutions provided by ABCO Systems are an effective way to remove the increasing expenses associated with rising labor costs.
The industry-leading Predator top apply all-electric print-and-apply solution from Panther Industries will increase your throughput, reduce expenses, and decrease waste or loss due to human error.
Key Features of the Predator Labeling System
100% electric servo drive (no compressed air)
High speed applicator – up to 200 IPS
Adaptive Touch technology provides light touch during label application process
Adaptive applicator automatically adjusts to carton height, ensuring accurate and consistent label placement
Label application distances up to 58” (tamp), or 18” (swing arm)
Remote-mounted 7” touch screen display
OEM print engine design for off-the-shelf replacement
Error reporting for fast, efficient troubleshooting
Whether you ship hundreds or thousands of packages per day, your operations need speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Together, with Panther Industries, ABCO Systems will provide leading print and apply technology solutions for superior printing and seamless integration.
ABCO Systems realizes the increasing pressure our customers are facing in an effort to maximize efficiency, reduce costs and streamline processes. Our goal is to provide services, products, and solutions to help your business thrive and meet your customer’s needs. With the rise in e-commerce, increasing costs, and the need to be competitive with high service expectations, ABCO Systems has partnered with Storeganizer for a solution to optimize space and decrease costs of operations within your warehouse, and increase picking efficiencies.
Optimizing the cost per square foot and organizing order picking as efficiently as possible are ongoing challenges in warehouse management. Pallet racking works well for high-volume, fast-moving items, but may lead to a big waste of space when it comes to smaller, slower moving inventory items. This is where Storeganizer comes in. This innovative, high-density storage system provides a slim fit storage solution that is ideal for small, slow moving items.
Based on a concept of vertically stacked, multi-row high quality pockets, Storeganizer limits the costs per square foot. Storeganizer is a solution designed to fit your inventory and workflow. With a wide range of sizes and options, items can be stored in various pocket dimensions. Pockets are barcoded and/or colored to minimize picking errors. Although lightweight themselves, these columns can support up to 250 pounds as standard, with a 10-year warranty.
Populating one bay in a rack, a Storeganizer is designed to accommodate small items in columns of suspended, easy-to-access vertical pockets. Storeganizer helps to optimize space; requires minimal investment as it uses existing racking; and enables quicker picking with less bending or lifting. The use of Storeganizer will not just improve the use of storage space; it will also optimize the order picking process. By streamlining this time-consuming and labor-intensive process you will earn back your modest investment in no time.
Safety is critical to the continuing function of your daily operations. Accidents can happen anywhere to anyone – a trainee, a worker who takes a wrong turn, or even an experienced operator having an off-day. Efforts to protect your racking systems not only helps to reduce damaged merchandise but it also helps ensure the safety of your valued employees.
Forklift accidents can result in pallet rack damage, costly repairs, downtime, damaged inventory, and injury to workers. Rack protection is essential to maintaining your inventory and key assets because they keep the structure safe at various impact points.
No matter the size of your storage facility, pallet rack protection will increase your productivity and eliminate damages due to narrow aisle for trucks, lifts, and individuals encountering sensitive rack uprights. These factors are important particularly when you consider the damage a forklift can cause. ABCO provides the most suitable protector or guard for your pallet rack to ensure safety and no damages.
ABCO welcomes the opportunity to visit you and assess any at-risk products. There are several ways to protect your racking. The rack aisle protector, rack post protectors, wire mesh rack guards, and floor angle guide. These all offer protection to the most vulnerable parts of your warehouse and business. They can be formatted into the size and shape to fit your protection needs. ABCO helps to protect your inventory, investment, and your valued employees.
Contact us here for all of your rack protection needs.
ABCO Systems sells used material handling equipment. In fact, ABCO Systems sells an awful lot of used material handling equipment. We have over an acre of outdoor secure storage conveniently located just outside of the NJSEA. We also have 30,000 feet of indoor storage space. Used material handling equipment is an integral part of our business and that is why we continue to keep such a large stock available at all times.
However, as the culture of logistics and distribution changes, I do wonder about the future of installing used systems. The logistics culture is evolving, and the validity of used systems appears to be changing along with it.
First and foremost, logistics professionals are realizing now more than ever, that distribution centers are not cost centers, as they were seen in the past, but rather they are a way to create long term cost savings. With the increasing cost of commercial/industrial space and the increasing minimum wage, one of the most obvious ways of saving money is to design an “optimized DC” that utilizes the cube, creates lasting efficiencies and has a logical and clean product flow.
Expectations have changed dramatically. Distribution and how quickly customers receive their purchased goods is the new race that is constantly being improved upon. Customers want their product in a timely manner. The speed and accuracy which is essential to moving a product through a DC is being realized as an essential part of todays evolving business model.
The interesting part about all of this though, is that it is just the beginning. The change in culture is all relatively recent. The shifts in the distribution model are all very recent. When you look at the changing landscape you can see that we are just starting to scratch the surface.
Because of these shifts, logistics professional are realizing that a truly optimized DC is going to be designed based on the business model of each and every distribution end-user. There are endless criteria that will be relevant to each business and their distribution requirements. The chances of finding a used material handling system that will save money over the long term based on true engineered solutions is slim.
Depending on what the end user is looking for, while slim, it is most certainly still possible. However, much of the shift is lending credibility to the fact that the majority of distribution centers do not have one single material handling solution. For example, pallet racking is extremely common in a DC. However, while in the past, pallet racking was often a one size fits all solution, most DC’s today are going to have pallet racking for their bulk storage and still require pick faces, along with conveyance, packing, staging etc. On top of that, the once simple pallet rack solution is getting more specific as well. Heights of buildings, along building column placement, along with weight capacity, along with shelf levels all have a part in how the DC will operate in both the short term and continue to save money in the long term. The days of finding the closest match, with the lowest cost, are ending. Adding a few more rows or racking, or another pallet level or even pick locations below the bulk storage can literally save tens of thousands of dollars over the years and create greater efficiencies.
Saving a few dollars by installing a used system could very well cost far more over time by not installing the “right” system. Used conveyance was very common in the past. Today, there are so many details that make a conveyor or sortation system applicable for an operation that finding a used solution almost guarantees that you are sacrificing something.
While we are talking about cost, there is also not that much of a savings. Typically, the only savings available comes from the actual equipment itself. Whether conveyor, pallet rack, or GOH, the engineering, the freight, the installation all costs the same. Specifically with conveyor or sortation, there is still the cost of the electrical work, the panel and the safety requirements. That still all costs the same.
So while there might be a savings in actual material, when you add up everything, it is a marginal savings at best. A used 8’ pallet rack shelf beam typically sells for approximately $15. A new 8’ pallet rack shelf beam costs approximately $19. A project with 5,000 pallet positions is likely going to cost around $300,000. The savings on the used beams is minimal.
On top of that, used material handling equipment comes with its own set of problems. Stickers, damages, rust, to name just a few. Specific to conveyor, it is a mechanical system and it is not typically possible to know the quality of the system you are getting, how well it was maintained and how much it will cost to make it work right again. The same way you wouldn’t want to buy a used car with no service history, buying a used conveyor comes with an awesome amount of uncertainty.
We won’t stop selling it because it is certainly still relevant in many applications. However, over the years, we have become much more of an engineering company that is building solutions that are tailored for each customer to save money over the long term. The right system will undoubtedly save money over the marginal savings of used equipment.
In addition, the distribution model is now clearly a part of the business. For many thriving businesses such as 3PL’s the distribution is the business. For manufacturers doing their own distribution the same philosophy applies. The material in the building is a showcase and helps create a better atmosphere for employees along with a better visual for potential customers. A look into any of the big distribution centers of today will show you a clean, well organized operation.
In conclusion, there are clearly applications where used material is still needed and will still save money. But as time goes by that need is going to continue being reduced. The model will continue to trend towards greater efficiency, space utilization, safety and an overall coordinated effort to provide better customer service.
ABCO Systems designs and installs distribution centers. Contact us for all of your warehouse needs.
