Robin Kiefer 
November 17, 2015 
Plastic Bins – Hard To Find, But Easy To Love!
Bins, Bulk Containers, Plastic Skid Boxes; What’s The Diff?
Locating a plastic bin supplier online can take some doing. The material handling world knows this product by many different names. Try googling “plastic bins” and “plastic containers”- you’re more likely to find products suited to refrigerating leftover meatloaf, optimizing home closet space, and sorting out fasteners alongside your garage workbench. Bed, Bath, and BeGone!
These residential bins and containers share common nomenclature with industrial plastic bulk containers, but that’s where the similarities end.
What Makes Plastic Bulk Containers Special?
Bulk containers, or container bins, are industrial strength shipping boxes specially designed to safely transport both raw materials and finished goods along the different stages of the supply chain.
Reliable plastic bulk containers are essential to any industry that cannot afford waste and inefficiency as products are transported from the manufacturing plant to the floor of the retail store.
Returnable Container Bins
Closed loop distribution, processing, and manufacturing systems rely on returnable, reusable packing to limit replacement cost and improve throughput.
Return Ratio?
Collapsible Bulk Containers are particularly helpful due to their high Return Ratio. Once a container bin has unloaded at its destination, it can be consolidated with other empty bins into a smaller cargo area and returned to the start of closed loop- the beginning of the supply chain.
Return Ratio calculations are made by taking the ratio of the number of collapsed containers that can be shipped in the space of one upright container.
The greater the return ratio, the greater the return shipping cost savings.
Example: A 3:1 container return ratio means that three containers can be shipped in the space of one container during return shipment.
Bulk Containers Are Strong
Broken containers can halt production and distribution of products, resulting in angry customers, lost business, and inflated manufacturing costs.
A proper plastic bin is formulated from tough polyethylene and polypropylene resins to create a tough, shatter-resistant bin that will not fail during transport and storage.
And durability doesn’t necessary mean that the plastic pallet boxes are overweight; some bulk containers are made from high-density structural foam and can be lifted with one finger!
Bulk Containers Are Stackable
Stackable Bulk Containers allow shippers to optimize costly transport and storage space, limiting costs for more profitable operations.
Bulk Containers Have ForkEntries
Bulk containers that include 4-Way forklift & pallet jack fort entries allow them to be quickly and securely loaded and moved without delay or spillage.
What Industries Use Bulk Containers?
The automotive, food processing, and agricultural industries rely on bulk containers to provide reliable material movement.
Plastic containers are a natural choice for handling food processing since they can be steam-cleaned for simple sanitization.
Just The Beginning
Thanks for reading our quick introduction to plastic bins and containers.
No matter what you call them; shipping boxes, plastic skid boxes, bulk bins etc, One Way Solutions can help you find the best container for your needs, at an unbeatable price.
How have plastic containers helped you meet your material handling challenges?
Please share your comments- we’d love to hear from you!
About Robin Kiefer
Robin Spencer Kiefer connects customers with solutions and products. Robin is the Digital Marketing Manager of One Way Solutions.
Thanks for this information on plastic bins and containers. Didn’t know there are such useful things that can be done with them. Anyways Robin, nice reading your take on plastics.