SPACEPAC Industries offers SmartCrates SP64 series
SmartCrates SP64 series available at SPACEPAC Industries is a reusable plastic crate for perishables.
The SmartCrates SP64 series has been designed to improve product protection and enhance supply chain security. In addition to reducing damage to perishables in transit, the display ready SmartCrate reduces breakage by reducing handling at the point of sale. A removable wall transforms the crate into a counter-ready display, providing presentation and easy access to items.
With a patented ventilation for rapid cooling of perishables, the SmartCrates are ideal for storing fruits, eggs, milk, meat, frozen items, bread and even pastries/ pies.
The reusable plastic containers come with interlocking tabs for compatibility with common footprint corrugated containers. Contoured walls for even more cube utilisation with bulk filled product. In addition, each crate has a large placard area for point-of-purchase displays, which aids easy identification of contents.
The SmartCrate features a simple 2-step assembly that makes it quick to collapse and reusable. SmartCrates's innovative features were driven by the extreme demands of the produce industry for high volume use of low cost crates, optimized for space utilization full and empty, and to achieve savings on long shipping routes.
48 x 40 GMA Pallet Compatibility
All SmartCrates are designed to optimise the use of a standard GMA pallet, which further adds to space utilisation during both full and empty load.
Cross-Stacking
Another value adding feature of SmartCrates is cross-stacking. Cross-Stacking features permit much greater interlocking of layers of full crates on a pallet load than simple column stacking in other normal crates. This can reduce or eliminate the need for secondary packaging to secure the load.
High Cube Utilisation
Since the SmartCrates collapses flat, it also offers increased volume efficiency and higher return ratios, which help achieve savings on long shipping routes. Hand-held RPCs are used to replace single use containers to reduce packaging cost and waste. Traditional nestable RPCs have an inherent disadvantage in cube utilisation due to space lost with taper required for nesting. SmartCrates overcome this limitation with thin straight walls and in some cases contoured walls to maximise cube utilisation, closing the gap with traditional containers.
High Return Ratio
SmartCrates dramatically reduce storage and return shipping costs by reducing space utilisation of empties. All return ratios are not created equal: return ratios for nestable containers are calculated as the ratio of the container height to exposed collar height when nested. This does not take into account the volume occupied by the first container on a stack. In addition to generally larger return ratios than nestable, return ratios for SmartCrates are a true ratio of set up to collapsed height.
Stacking Strength & Durability
SmartCrates have strength where it counts, in the corners to resist column load in stacking. The vertical walls and reinforced corners of a SmartCrates have far greater stacking strength than nestable containers of similar size. The flexibility of SmartCrates is their strength. The key to limiting damage in abusive environments is to give with the impact rather than resist it. The modular construction of SmartCrates also reduces maintenance costs.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Producers and distributors are interested in the reusable containers because they are compatible with RFID technology that can be embedded for cold chain monitoring and tracking. The cost of implementing RFID on one-time use containers is prohibitive; however, it is feasible to incorporate the technology on reusable containers which offer a return on investment over time.
Special SmartCrates for eggs (#SP64):
A specialized version of the collapsible, reusable plastic containers for whole egg transportation is available from Spacepac. This product is designed to meet the growing demand for designer eggs and the need for improved supply chain security, hence the increased interest in reusable containers for the egg industry. SmartCrates for eggs is the industry’s first reusable, collapsible plastic container for transporting eggs from egg grading stations to retailers or food service users. Because the cost of the designer eggs is higher, egg producers want added product protection. The plastic crate has advanced cooling vents that extend the life of the product, and its rigid plastic walls carry all the weight of the load to protect eggs in transit and storage, ensuring better protection of its contents.
5-Sep-2006