Middle Atlantic Products launched this week Forward, a family of installation solutions that are aimed at speeding up and simplifying the building or AV gear racks. With Forward’s new rackrail, integrators can go without a drill and install the family’s blank and vent panels, cable management, lighting and other rack solutions without tools, completing the project in a fraction of the time while delivering an optimized system.

Forward was born from Middle Atlantic’s years of research of top integration pain points that the company solicits from its integrator community. The result is an accessory and options line designed with the entire system lifecycle in mind and built upon industry-leading products that integrators have depended on for decades. The rackrail, when coupled with Forward options, allows integrators to achieve reliable rack layouts easily and with less time, labor, and hardware. The new rackrail will ship standard in the BGR Series and additional enclosures in the near future, enabling integrators to add the Forward accessories and options they need to achieve even greater efficiency.

• All-New Rackrail: In a rack, space is finite, which is why Middle Atlantic has transformed the traditional rackrail into a multi-purpose solution. Forward Rail features a new take on the conventional L-shaped design, providing two planes of mounting possibilities: First, the front face of the rail features a square hole designed to engage with Forward blank and vent panels and horizontal cable management options by simply clicking into place without tools or hardware. In addition to this hardware-free functionality, the rail maintains the 10-32 tapped holes for rack screw mounting of equipment. Second, the side of the rail is punched with Middle Atlantic’s patented Universal Hole Pattern. This feature allows for vertical cable management from top to bottom or from one rack unit to another throughout the enclosure.
• Forward Lighting: Research indicates black racks in dark closets are one of the most common complaints from integrators. With Forward lighting, technicians no longer have to use one hand to hold up a flashlight or phone and perform intricate work with the other. Forward lighting mounts directly in any of the horizontal slots alongside the rackrail brackets (typically where the Lever Lock engages), providing a flexible, 0-RU lighting solution that mounts vertically and shines at an optimal 45 degrees. It also includes an IR sensor to switch on automatically when the door opens and a dimmer to adjust the brightness.
• Forward Cable Management and Power Bracket Solutions: Neat and tidy cables are critical for ensuring reliability and creating systems that can be quickly and easily serviced and upgraded as components evolve, but threading zip ties and Velcro strips is a laborious, often frustrating process. The Forward cable management accessories offer limitless cable routing flexibility — including horizontal and vertical solutions that range from simple C and D rings to full-height grids that engage with the rackrail brackets — without the need for tools. Likewise, the family’s power bracket slips into rackrail bracket slots and accepts any button-mount power strip, such as Raritan PDU solutions and Middle Atlantic’s PDT Series.
• Forward Blank and Vent Panels: Much time can be spent screwing panels in to achieve the best rack layout. With Forward, integrators can now accomplish this in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. The Forward blank and vent panels simply click into the new rackrail.
• Forward UPS Base: A UPS is vital on every job, but installing one can be a challenging, two-person job due to its size and weight. The Forward UPS Base eliminates this problem with a 2200VA Premium Series UPS that comes preinstalled and ready to plug in out of the box.

See it in action in this quick video:

Middle Atlantic Products Forward line is here.

Here’s a video we shot about Forward at InfoComm 2019: