Astro Chemicals Controls Material Handling And Shipping

Astro Chemicals, Inc. is a major regional industrial chemical distributor serving all of New England and parts of upstate New York. It services companies in the electroplating, metal finishing, plating and waste treatment industries, as well as other industrial and municipal areas. Part of a heavily regulated industry, it is monitored by several Federal and State agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Transportation (DOT). As a result, Astro must be meticulous in the handling and labeling of the over 1,000 products that it distributes from multiple suppliers.

Since Astro repackages from bulk into non-bulk containers, its labels need to be large, easy to read and durable. The company produces hundreds of different label designs for 5, 30, 55 and 350 gallon containers, as well as bulk storage containers. Because of the amount of information required and the size of the containers, the company has standardized primarily on 8½" X 14" color labels printed on a vinyl top-coated stock. The labels include the familiar DOT safety label symbols.

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