AIT CRATE BROCHURE

CRATE

The Most Advanced Shipping Platform in the World

CRATE™ is a smart, reusable, modular, collapsible, connected crating system for shipping server cabinets, high-tech electronics, medical equipment, robotics/automation, and other high-value commodities. Our proprietary features include Global Tracking and Condition Monitoring; Compact Integrated Design; Easy On-Site Assembly; Customizable, Flexible Platform with Tool Free Cargo Attachment; Reusable, Green, Clean, and Environmentally Friendly; and collapsable to less than 30% of Assembled Size for Return and Storage. CRATE™ was developed by: Logistics Advanced Research Center (LARC) in Nashville, TN.

Compact Integrated Design

Global Tracking & Condition Monitoring

Lower Cost & Stronger Than Wood Crates

Fast, Easy, Onsite Assembly (3-4 minutes)

Customizable, Flexible Platform

Reusable, Green & Clean

Lighter, Stronger, Faster, Cleaner, Greener, Smarter, Less Expensive

UltraLightLid

Safe and easy to assemble

Smart Available built in realtime communications and sensor array.

Strong

Hollow double walled design is lighter and stronger than wood packaging

Protective

Using "Ablative Engineering" techniques CRATE™directs energy from vibration and shocks away from the cargo inside.

ModularDesign

Can be configured for pallet, 1, 2, or 3 + tier layouts

Engineered Solutions Advanced

ShockTech™Pallet

Reduces vibration and heavy shocks

GlideTech™

Fast, Easy, tool-less fixation system On-BoardRampSystem

StackTech™

Sidewalls stack, disassembled crate <less than 30%

CRATE

A platform made to protect the most advanced and important products in the world.

Protect it.

Using "Ablative Engineering" techniques CRATE™ directs energy from vibration and shocks away from the cargo inside. The hollow double-walled design is lighter and stronger than wood packaging all while protecting from penetrations into the cargo compartment of the CRATE™.

Each CRATE™ can be equipped with full sensor and communications arrays that monitor in real-time Location, Temperature, Tilt, Humidity, Shock (Impact), Vibration, Altitude, and Light for complete end-to-end visibility in transit.

LARC’s StackTech allows the sidewalls and lids to nest and stack on top of the pallet base when not in use. The disassembled unit is less than 1/3 its fully assembled size for easy, cost-effective return and storage.

Lighter, Stronger, Faster, Cleaner, Greener, Smarter, Less Expensive

With GlideTech it is possible to mount thousands of different types of cargo to a single platform. From Data Servers and Consolidations, Robots, and Medical Equipment to High-Value Goods, all can be attached fast, easily, and securely!

The solution allows quick and easy attachment of different load fixtures, tie-downs and, ramping systems to accommodate multiple types of cargo in seconds using tool-free lockdowns.

ShockTech Pallet TM

Each ShockTech Pallet uses 18 state-of-the-art polymer shock absorbers embedded in the risers. These provide advanced shock control, vibration isolation, and dampening with results superior to foam, neoprene, and silicone.

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StackTech allows the sidewalls and lids to nest and stack on top of the pallet base when not in use. The disassembled unit is less than 1/3 its fully assembled size for easy, cost-effective return and storage.

5 FOLDED/STACKED POSITIONS RETURN

LTL RETURN 75%+ Volume Reduction

SecureTech

SecureTech includes physical accessories like steel locking bars and "chain-of-custody" sealed covers that make our CRATE almost impossible to open in transit and the inclusion of cutting-edge tracking and condition monitoring technology through our partner TIVE, that provide complete visibility into the actual location of your valuable cargo and a view of critical information like vibration, tilt, shock and tamper sensors that add strong layers of security to your shipment.

Stronger & Better Protection

LARC has conducted extensive testing on the CRATE™ at the FedEx and Clemson University Packaging Labs up to 3,000 pounds of load under the highly demanding ISTA 3B protocols. Reports are available on request. The testing included:

Drop tests from 8” high on corners and edges

Vibration at various frequencies

Impacts against a wall

Tilt test at 22 degrees

Forklift blades impacting the wall and risers

Rumble strips

Ablative Engineering

Using a design concept we call "Ablative Engineering", CRATE™ was specifically engineered to absorb and disperse shock, vibration, and impacts so that internal cargo stays protected. Unlike wood or paperboard packaging, CRATE™ uses a flexible double wall system to protect against penetration damage from forklifts, while specially engineered latches stretch and flex to allow energy from shocks to be absorbed and move around the CRATE™ protecting the valuable cargo inside.

View Testing Results

PackagingScience

CRATE Better for the Environment

Better for the Environment

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LARC's CRATE™ was designed specifically to help companies achieve their environmental goals. By aggressively pursuing the core ideas of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, our products have a dramatic positive environmental impact. Just one use of our three-tier CRATE™ to move a server cabinet will save an average of two timber trees, 3 gallons of fuel and will significantly reduce the release of CO2 and the need for using toxic chemical or energy-intensive heat treatments on lumber used for building wood and fiber packages. Additionally, our products are made to be 100% recyclable at end-of-life.

What is the Circular Economy?

The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended.

In practice, it implies reducing waste to a minimum. When a product reaches the end of its life, its materials are kept within the economy wherever possible. These can be productively used again and again, thereby creating further value.

This is a departure from the traditional, linear economic model, which is based on a take-make-consume-throwaway pattern. This model relies on large quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy.

Also, part of this model has planned obsolescence when a product has been designed to have a limited lifespan to encourage consumers to buy it again.

CRATES CLEANED, REPAIRED STORED

Circular - Full Spectrum Logistics

CRATES DELIVERED TO ORIGIN

Single Point of Contact

CRATES PACKED ON-SITE

Faster & More Efficient

Standardized Processes

Fast, Easy Loading & Unloading

CRATES FOLDED DOWN, LOADED & RETURNED (LTL)

CRATES TRANSPORTED ELECTRONICALLY TRACKED AND MONITORED CRATES UNLOADED

High Visibility & Security

Better Cargo Protection

Better for the Environment

Typically Less Expensive

"Movement for Good", an initiative of the Logistics Advanced Research Center (LARC), is dedicated to helping prevent human trafficking and exploitation. Our goal is to inspire a consortium of logistics, transportation, and supply chain companies to provide resources to organizations working to eradicate this worldwide epidemic. To start the momentum for change within our industry, LARC has committed that a portion of the proceeds from every product we sell will be donated to the International Justice Mission, whose goal is to end slavery in our lifetimes and bless those affected by human trafficking by empowering them with hope for the future. Join us as we endeavor to end this evil.

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

time for trees

Did you know that a single tree can offset up to 1 ton of CO2 in its lifetime? And, using just one LARC's three-tier CRATE™ versus a single-use wood crate will save two timber trees from being cut down. Saving those trees can have a tremendous impact on the environment, but we can do even better! Imagine if instead of just reducing the number of trees felled for packaging, we actually increased the number of trees each time our CRATE™ was put into service! We think that makes a lot of sense too. Therefore, for each new CRATE™, we lease, through our "Time for Trees" initiative LARC will work with The Arbor Day Foundation to plant one new tree.

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