Bins, Containers, & Totes
Bins, containers, and totes organize material at three scales. Small parts bins hold fasteners, fittings, and components at the point of use on shelves, benches, and louvered panels. Containers, totes, and trays carry parts between workstations for kitting, line feeding, and staging. Bulk containers move pallet-size loads by forklift or pallet jack, and the ones carried here are rated roughly 1,200 to 5,000 lb. CustomMHS carries all three from Akro-Mils, Quantum, LEWISBins, Kadon, MFG, Buckhorn, Monoflo, Orbis, Davco, and other manufacturers.
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Small Part Bins
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 Industrial Containers, Totes, and Trays
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 Bulk Boxes and Bulk Containers
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The best choice starts with how the container behaves in your workflow. For small parts bins, access decides it, since hopper fronts give the fastest picks, shelf bins hold more volume with better dust protection, and drawer bins fit the most SKUs in the least space. For totes and containers, the deciding question is what happens when the container is empty. Stack only suits containers that stay loaded, nest only suits empty storage, and stack and nest does both at the cost of a little interior volume. For bulk containers, collapsible models save trailer and floor space when empties travel or are warehoused, while rigid models give the most strength for the money when containers stay in place.
A few specifications are easy to miss. Parts have to fit the inside dimensions of a bin, not the outside dimensions in the catalog, and a bin sized for about two to four weeks of consumption stays easy to lift and keeps old stock from hiding. Bulk containers carry two ratings, load capacity for what goes inside and stacking capacity for what the container can carry on top, and the stacking math has to include the container’s own weight. Food contact applications call for FDA approved resin, and that approval can attach to a specific resin and color rather than a whole product line, so confirm it for the exact model.
Product Lines
Small parts bins in hopper front, shelf, drawer, and wire mesh styles, with the louvered panels, rails, and bench racks that hold them; industrial containers and totes including divider box, straight wall, attached lid, stack and nest, stack only fiberglass, and nest only styles, plus conveyor, assembly, and ventilation trays, part wash baskets, and wire baskets; and bulk boxes and containers in collapsible, rigid, metal, and wire basket constructions.
Selecting the Right Type
♦ Item size and handling, choose small parts bins for components picked by hand, containers and totes for parts that move between stations, and bulk containers for pallet-size loads handled by forklift or pallet jack.
♦ Access, choose hopper fronts for pick speed, shelf bins for volume and dust protection, and drawer bins when many SKUs share a small footprint.
♦ Empty behavior, choose stack only for strength, nest only for compact empties, or stack and nest when containers cycle between full and empty, and choose collapsible bulk containers when empties travel.
♦ Material and environment, choose polypropylene for general use, fiberglass for heat, ESD containers for electronics, and FDA approved resin for food contact with the color confirmed.
♦ Size and load, measure parts against inside dimensions, weigh a representative full load, and check the rated capacity plus the container’s own weight before stacking.
Where Commonly Used
Bins, containers, and totes are used at workbenches and assembly lines for hand picking, in kitting and line-feed operations where parts move between stations, in warehouses and distribution centers for staging and storage, in food, pharmaceutical, and electronics plants that need FDA approved or ESD materials, and in receiving, processing, and shipping areas where bulk containers carry heavy loads.
CustomMHS carries bins, containers, and totes from the brands on this page. All purchases include the manufacturer’s factory warranty.