Monoflo International

MODEX 2024 is in the books — and what a show it was! This year, we went bigger and better than ever before. We unveiled a brand new 2800 SF booth displaying our latest cutting-edge designs for the world of reusable transport packaging. We had a Japan Steel Works America, Inc. machine and FANUC America Corporation robot crafting Monoflo automation containers with In-Mold Labeling (IML) and real-time barcode verification. We hosted a soulful live performance from rising southern rock band and Monoflo family members The Red Clay Strays. And, most importantly, we had a tremendous time reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. A big thanks to everyone who joined us during this special week!

Take a look at our fully automated process of manufacturing a BC 4844.5 Bulk Container for one of the largest automotive companies in the United States! This AIAG-approved product is the workhorse of today's leading automotive and durable manufacturing companies. The high-pressure injection molded, two-piece compression heat-welded base is the most durable on the market. Our flex-hinge design — engineered with no fiberglass or metal — offers complete protection and easy assembly/disassembly. Moreover, this container features the same interior dimensions as traditional 48” x 45” bulk containers, but with a reduced outer footprint — allowing for a pack-out capacity of 252 containers in a 53’ truck. That means more load volume per truckload for our customers and fewer trucks in their supply chains. Increased efficiency. Lower transportation costs. Higher sustainability. The Monoflo BC 4844.5 Bulk Container is a win-win-win.

Check out this #MonofloInTheWild as our friends at McLane Company, Inc. deliver products to a 7-Eleven in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City! 🗽 McLane — one of the largest distributors in North America — operates more than 80 distribution centers nationwide and delivers over 10 billion pounds of merchandise to customers annually. Monoflo's collaboration with McLane began almost 25 years ago, and we take great pride in our relationship with this industry-leading partner. These containers have made thousands of trips from source to store and remain in impeccable condition thanks to our next-generation design, engineered to outlast and outperform the rest of the market. By replacing the metal hinge pin and reinforcing several key impact areas, our distribution container is the safest, strongest, and most cost-effective design today. The 100% plastic design also ensures that these totes are the easiest to recycle. Once these containers reach the end of their useful life, we will buy them back and repelletize them in our state-of-the-art reprocessing facilities located in Virginia and Kansas. No one manufactures more reusable transport packaging to help safely, efficiently, and sustainably move products from source to store than we do — because we move the products people need every day. 🇺🇸

We’re firing on all cylinders at our Virginia HQ today, crafting an order of RP 4840 Rackable Pallets for one of the leading pet product manufacturers in the nation. These versatile pallets are engineered to handle a variety of storage applications — from specialized blast freezer edge racking to routine distribution and warehousing. Thanks to a hygienic, USDA-approved one-piece flow-through design, these pallets can be easily cleaned and sanitized. And, for more enhanced tracking capabilities, the rackable pallets are equipped with two slots that enable RFID tags to be added either during manufacturing or after delivery. Proven. Versatile. Durable. With a 100% recyclable composition and the industry's leading strength-to-weight ratios, our pallets are unparalleled when it comes to quality and performance.

In the world of reusable transport packaging, fractions of millimeters matter. We employ the FARO Technologies Quantum Max ScanArm system, a portable coordinate measuring machine with advanced non-contact laser scanning capabilities and an 8-axis rotary table, to ensure that every product we manufacture is crafted to our customers' exacting specifications. Many of our products require more than simple point-to-point measurements. So, we gather millions of data points with laser scanning to verify that the design measurements precisely match their corresponding CAD models. This process ensures that every product meets its design intent with the utmost confidence before it leaves our facility. Our commitment to delivering the highest quality reusable transport packaging to our customers is unwavering — and we are proud to continuously invest in the latest state-of-the-art technology to do so.

This Monday, we are utilizing one of our fully automated, fully electric production cells to craft an order of AS/RS 700x500 Automation Trays for one of the largest supermarket franchises in Canada. 🇨🇦 Our team has meticulously engineered these AS/RS 700x500 Automation Trays to meet the exacting specifications required by this customer, ensuring the seamless movement of non-conveyable items on high-speed conveyors within their automated warehouses. In this state-of-the-art production cell equipped with In-Mold Labeling (IML) technology, the trays’ barcode labels are placed directly into the mold during the manufacturing process, where they are seamlessly integrated into the plastic as the Japan Steel Works America, Inc. machine crafts the trays. About 15 seconds into the video, you will see a FANUC America Corporation robot programmed to apply the barcode labels onto a WITTMANN USA End-Of-Arm Tool (EOAT) before the manufacturing of the trays, as simultaneously our real-time barcode verification system ensures that the trays from the previous cycle have a matching and sequential label set. Our IML manufacturing process eliminates the risk of the labels peeling or becoming damaged when the trays are in use. This is critical for cold storage applications — such as grocery distribution — where traditional adhesive labels may be affected by temperature variations. With nearly 10 million automation trays manufactured to date, we continue to leverage the latest cutting-edge technology to craft our products with faster cycle times, increased efficiency, and superior quality. Monoflo is proud to be North America’s largest supplier of intralogisitcs packaging.

This week, the Automation and Automotive Monoflo Sales Teams convened at our headquarters in Winchester, Virginia.  Our Executive Team met with Business Unit Directors and Key Account Managers to align on our strategies, activities, and vision for the remainder of 2024. It is always a thoroughly enjoyable and productive time when some of our remote sales team join us at our HQ!

Today, we are pouring the concrete floor at our recently expanded Stonewall facility in Winchester, Virginia! Next up, we will prepare the area for the installation of our brand-new injection molding machines and overhead crane. Follow along as we convert 30,000 SF of warehouse space into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility fit for our industry-leading reusable transport packaging designs.

Our fully plastic Distribution Containers have saved millions of pounds of metal for customers like Dollar General. Since these containers are significantly lighter than those made with metal hinges, our customers have reduced their shipments by millions of pounds — and saved millions of pounds of CO₂ emissions. By replacing the outdated metal hinge with a plastic hinge, our Distribution Containers are safer, stronger, lighter, and more cost-effective than the rest of the market. Since these totes contain no metal, when they reach the end of their extended useful life, we repurchase the containers, recycle them in our reprocessing facilities, and close the loop by turning the recycled material into new, superior-quality totes. No company manufactures more reusable transport packaging to help safely, efficiently, and sustainably move products from source to store than Team Monoflo.

This is what it looks like when our team changes the product color between two orders of Bulk Containers! To make this change, we flush out the old color by pushing the new material into the machine while it is running. The result of this changeover not only looks cool — it is for a good reason, too. We never shut down for color changes. Instead, our team creates an unbroken chain of one colored product to another, driving down our cycle times, lead times, and, consequently, the costs of our products. And when the changeover is complete, the result is the sharpest-looking colored containers in the industry — relied on by North America's leading automotive and durable manufacturing companies.