Editor’s Note: This program is being discontinued.
A simple idea that leaves a lasting impression on customers and the planet.
Last week Dell Technologies announced its ambitious 2030 Social Impact Plan as part of the Progress Made Real initiative. Among many inspiring goals, the plan outlined our commitment towards eliminating waste, and keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible. The end goal is one we all have an interest in: advancing sustainability and protecting the planet for our collective future.
To help drive these commitments forward while also helping our customers with large IT deployment challenges, our Extreme Scale Infrastructure team has been working behind the scenes on a simple idea: a reusable container for shipping large scale orders of IT equipment that eliminates the need for packaging (i.e. corrugated cardboard, foam or plastics). We’re calling this the Transportation Tote.
While most are familiar with multi-packs and other environmentally friendly shipping options, the Transportation Tote is unique in the volume of servers it can hold and its reusable design. The Transportation Tote is a 40U rack enclosure made of steel that can be reused for hundreds of shipments, similar to a shipping container.
A single Transportation Tote can hold up to 40 PowerEdge 1U servers, eliminating up to 520 pounds of packaging per shipment. Without all the packaging generally required for shipping, customers can:
- Reduce their carbon footprint by reducing the number of shipments and doubling or tripling the number of servers loaded on a truck
- Save time and money by eliminating the need to recycle and dispose of packaging materials
- Increase speed of deployment by simply removing servers from the Transportation Tote and directly installing them without the need for staging or unpacking.
While the sustainability piece is huge, equally important is ensuring the protection of the IT equipment during transit. This is where we were able to leverage our experience and expertise shipping integrated racks around the globe. Building on those best practices, the Transportation Tote design includes shock and vibration dampening to ensure protection of the IT gear during transportation. It’s also designed with casters, so fully loaded Transportation Totes can easily move into trucks and data centers without the need for pallet jacks.
Transportation Tote Enters Pilot Stage
We are excited to get the Transportation Tote in your hands. As we continue to finalize the operational logistics, we will be running a limited pilot with select customers starting early next year. If you’re ordering large shipments of PowerEdge servers and are interested in learning more about the Transportation Tote pilot program or our rack integration capabilities (this is where we deliver fully integrated racks quickly and consistently around the globe), please have your account managers reach out to the Extreme Scale Infrastructure team to learn more.
