Every once in a while a new invention comes along that stirs your imagination. You begin to see hundreds of ways to apply the principle, and wonder how such a simple idea could have been overlooked in the past. The Spiramatic classifier fits this description. Simply, it is a ring of spiral roller gravity conveyor with a pitched tangential run-off section. It works just like a garden hose – you just point it in the direction you want, and it spouts materials in that direction. From a feature on a conveyor that acts like a hose

Would it simplify a materials handling problem if you had a mechanical eye that could reach out and bring you a picture of what was happening at some remote point? It might help you direct or control a handling operation with much greater efficiency. Industrial television can do just this. From a feature on television

Nearly every plant or warehouse must store a certain number of items, which are light enough to be handled manually, but are too bulky to be put into conventional shelving. In some plants you will see such items on pallets in pallet racks, or even in cantilever racks. What you should specify are racks designed especially for intermediate-weight products, which can be manually handled. We call then bulk storage racks. To some manufacturers, they're known as wide span shelving. From a feature on bulk storage racks

Take a highly stable straddle-type orderpicking truck that can lift a load over 33 feet high. Add a side-shuttle attachment that can handle a full pallet load 69 inches high. Put four of these trucks to work in 20 narrow aisles, between 39 feet high conventional pallet racks. What have you got? A practical high-rise system for high-volume storage. From the system of the month

"We live in an age of rising competition and growing options for consumers. This presents American industry with great challenges and great opportunities. Our country's position in the global economy depends on our ability to make steady advances in product quality and productivity." With these and other videotaped comments, Vice President Dan Quayle congratulated the three winners of the first Productivity Achievement Awards, sponsored by Modern Materials Handling. From News & Trends

To keep pace with industry's growing reliance on the data in bar coded labels on shipping containers, new global standards will significantly expand the information carried on those labels to include carton size, weight, serial number, dating, purchase order number, and even postal code. A maximum of 44 characters is allowed using UCC/EAN code 128 symbology. From News & Trends