Defense logistics agency issue - KMI Media Group

Pickett, marketing director for AAR Mobility
Systems. “We are always looking for lighter
weight, lower cost materials that support mission
requirements.” At the same time, AAR is
working side by side with customers to address
their growing desire for alternative energy and
energy generation/storage in shelter systems.
“We are collaborating with industry partners
that complement our mobility platforms to
leverage a strong integration experience” for
green energy, Pickett said.
The push towards lighter weight and
increased durability is affecting containers
of all sizes. In response to a call from special
operations and others for lighter cases,
Cases2Go, a distributor of top quality shipping
cases, and partner Dynamic Innovations
created Carbon Armor cases, a line they
rolled out in mid-2011. The cases leverage
the unique characteristics of carbon fiber
reinforced plastics, an advanced composite
using continuous fiber in a thermoplastic
matrix. Carbon Armor is half the weight of
aluminum with six times aluminum’s torsion,
tensile and strength. It is twice the
strength of steel.
“When I look down the road, I don’t
see anything replacing this technology,” said
David Root, president of Cases2Go.
In addition to the growing demand for
lighter weight, Root said his customers, like
the customers of shipping container manufacturers,
are increasingly requesting EMI/
RFI shielding on Cases2Go products. While it
isn’t yet possible to integrate an effective EMI/
RFI lining during the production of plastic
or fiberglass, Cases2Go’s Carbon Armor cases
offer an optional expanded metal mesh that is
co-molded with the carbon fiber case wall to
provide EMI/RFI shielding.
“Case design is in a constant state of movement
with the evolution of technology,” Root
observed. Today, cases are lighter, stronger
and more technologically advanced than ever
before. At the same time, they are shrinking.
“There’s a trend toward smaller,” said Root.
“Everything is compressing in size.”
Smaller size, unmatched durability and
electronic equipment protection are the hallmarks
of Pelican Products Inc.’s new Pelican
HardBack Series, cases made to protect
devices such as laptops, tablets, e-readers
and other small electronics. “We are targeting
digital survival with this series,” said Dan
Klepacz, product manager, worldwide government
market for Pelican, a leading manufacturer
of reusable transport cases for all
environments. “The HardBack Series is travel
armor for computing devices.”
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Answering a call from customers
for sleeker, more stylish
products, Pelican worked
in a design partnership with
BMW DesignWorks to create
the cases. They combine BMW’s
design prowess with wellknown
Pelican features such as
crush resistance, a watertight
seal and an automatic pressure
equalization valve that prevents
vacuum lock, making the cases
easier to open at any altitude.
They also include anti-scratch
foam inserts to protect delicate
electronics.
As cases and containers get
more technologically advanced
and the equipment inside them
becomes more advanced, the
military is taking a harder
look at how to keep track of
everything. While many cases
already include passive RFID
tags, Klepacz said the past two years have seen
growing demand for GPS and active RFID tags
that can reveal case contents at a distance
and/or enable a case owner to pinpoint the
geographic location of his case.
In response, Pelican “is looking into this
capability more, trying to figure out how to
integrate it, investing more money in it and
working with outside companies to figure out
the best solutions,” said Klepacz. The capabilities
of these advanced tags go far beyond
inventory and location. “If there’s a shelf life
to a part, you could tag it and it would send
out a signal when it’s coming to its end of life,”
explained Klepacz. “Or if you have weapons in
storage, the tag could signal when there’s too
much humidity. Or if you are transporting
medical gear that is temperature sensitive, the
tag can send a signal when interior temperatures
are nearing their limits.” Advanced tags
also can measure shock, vibration and other
motion for sensitive electronic equipment.
In response to another military challenge,
the problem of stacking cases of different
sizes, Pelican last year launched its Inter-
Stacking Pattern (ISP) Case. The system is
compatible across six different case sizes, from
4 to 25 cubic feet of storage. “Normally, case
ribs prevent containers of unlike size from
stacking. We came up with a pattern that,
no matter what size case, it will stack,” said
Klepacz. Undercuts also make the case useful
once it is deployed. For instance, a printer
shipped in one of Pelican’s ISP cases can be
removed at its final destination and the case
David Root
Dan Klepacz
transformed into a table for
the printer. This multi-use
functionality cuts down on
shipping requirements, ultimately
saving the military on
inventory and shipping costs.
“The business of military
cases definitely has evolved
with all the green initiatives,”
said Klepacz. This year, Pelican
will roll out 45 new cases
and lighting products, a sharp
increase from the dozen or so
it typically averages.
The military’s search for
green shipping solutions goes
all the way down to the packaging
on the products it uses.
Brian Koester, vice president
of engineering for Advanced
Military Packaging, a division
of AD Inc., said last year he
received a letter from TACOM
that explained how the military
was going green and asking suppliers like
AMP to evaluate the packing materials they
are using.
“We can’t get entirely away from polymers,”
said Koester, “but we are now trying to
use more corrugated products.”
Koester explained that polymers such as
polyethylene and polystyrene provide the best
cushioning but don’t break down in landfills.
Corrugated products, though they break
down in landfills and are effective in some
cushioning applications, don’t rebound once
compressed and so can’t entirely replace the
environmentally-unfriendly polymers. Take
an 80-pound hydraulic pump, for instance.
“We have to put it in a vapor-proof bag, like a
bag of potato chips,” he explained. “In the bag,
we have to cushion the pump so it is protected
from impact and at the same time won’t puncture
the bag. We are trying to look for more
corrugated solutions to accomplish this.”
Currently, Koester is examining a new
corrugated product similar to cardboard but
with a thin wood facing. “It would add extra
strength and would be disposable,” said Koester.
If the material passes Koester’s evaluation,
he will seek to get it TACOM approved, further
boosting the command’s percent of green
packing. O
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