Information and Tips
Material Handling White Papers

 

TriFactor shares some thoughts on how to help reduce costs, increase capacity and improve the accuracy of your distribution facility.

Ways to Improve Material Handling Efficiency

 
Critical Factors when Choosing an Order Picking System

 

Planning a Warehouse or Distribution Center

 

Choosing a Conveyor System

 

Other Material Handling White Papers

TriFactor Articles

Articles in trade publications that Feature our Client Partners projects, TriFactor and articles written by TriFactor's staff. 

 

How to Effectively Slot your Warehouse/DC By TriFactor's Paul Hansen and Kelvin Gibson and featured in The National Provisioner

 

Top Ten Most Costly Conveyor Maintenance Mistakes by TriFactor's Tom Betts and featured in Food Manufacturing

 

More Articles

Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association

Electrical Control Design For Material Handling Systems

One of the main advantages of designing a material handling system with TriFactor is their in-house electrical engineering capabilities.  TriFactor electrical controls and software engineers bring a wealth of experience in designing and implementing complex conveyor systems.  With skills ranging from electrical power design, PLC programming, industrial networking, Human Machine Interface (HMI) programming and UL508(a) certified industrial control cabinet design, TriFactor's does not need to rely on subcontractors to fulfill these vital roles of their projects.  We believe that having these core competencies as a part of our solution process is critical since our experience have shown that a majority of projects' success is hinged upon proper system controls and well thought out testing and acceptance plan.

Additionally, our electrical engineering staff understands the needs and have successfully developed solutions that interface our customer's Warehouse Management System (WMS) to the material handling equipment inside the distribution center.  We have integrated with many types of WMS solutions in order to ensure that inventory is real time and accurate, orders are picked efficiently, replenishment is done prior to stock out, and manifesting and shipping is precise.  On top of that, we routinely provide custom reporting services so that operators and supervisors can monitor and track the performance of their distribution operations.

Our highly trained staff of Electrical and Controls Engineers is experienced in some of the most sophisticated technologies that are being utilized in today's ever-changing, electronic-rich environment.

Controls Design Elements

  • Controls Review - Needs analysis / Design Study / Design Build
  • Control Systems Design - Platform Selection and Configuration
  • Detailed Sequence of Operation
  • UL Panel Design & Fabrication
  • One Line Diagrams 
  • Electrical Wiring Schematics 
  • Field Device Site Layout 
  • Network Layout and Design: Fiber optic and fieldbus systems ie. Ethernet, Profibus, CANbus, DeviceNet, ControlNet, Remote I/O, DH+, Modbus, MELSECnet, A/SI).
  • PLC Programming and Documentation: Allen-Bradley, General Electric, Mitsubishi, Modicon, Koyo, Fanuc, Westinghouse, Omron, Reliance Automax
  • PC Programming and Documentation: VisualBasic apps in multiple operating systems.
  • Human-Machine Interface Development and Documentation: Allen-Bradley, InTouch, Xycom, General Electric, Eaton, Mitsubishi. Wonderware
  • Detailed System As-Wired Drawings
  • Operations, Safety and Troubleshooting Training