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AR Racking Appoints US Director

Posted on by Keith McKinley

AR Racking has appointed Pablo Montes as the Managing Director of its North American subsidiary in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Montes has a long track record in AR Racking, having held the position of Technical Director for the past 13 years. AR Racking says his appointment will give impetus and greater coverage to projects in the US, a market in which AR Racking has reinforced its strategy with the opening of its office in North Carolina several months ago and which is mainly focused on the execution of large-scale storage projects.

“It is undoubtedly a difficult challenge because of its newness and the characteristics of the country and the market, but we have proven international experience and a sufficiently solid and reliable structure to expand horizons,” commented Montes.

So commences a new professional era in which Montes will bring to the fore his strategic vision, team management, product knowledge and long-term experience in management positions in AR Racking.

AR Racking has a commercial presence in more than 60 countries, with its own offices in the principal European and Latin American markets, as well as an extensive distribution network with which it works closely with to meet the storage needs of any company. Opening up the US market is yet another example of the international character of the company, whose export rate is around 85%.

Customer remains focal point for the future of intralogistics

Posted on by David Priestman

Over the past two years, many things have changed fundamentally in the industry, including purchasing and consumer behaviour. But this also means a door has opened for companies to walk through it and grab hold of new opportunities to optimize their business models. In the run-up to the recent LogiMAT event, Bernard Biolchini (pictured), Executive Vice President EMEA at Dematic, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of integrated automation technology, software and services for supply chain optimization, spoke about the new era.

Dematic believes it is key to understand that “the best way to help companies find the right opportunities is to constantly engage with their customers, working together and as closely as possible as they seek to fundamentally change their processes.

Q: Hello Mr. Biolchini. Dematic’s trade show presence this year is themed #bringiton. Can you briefly explain what this is all about?

Bernard Biolchini (BB): It means, mutatis mutandis, “We’re ready! Let’s embrace these new opportunities together!” We are sending a direct message to our customers: Let’s work together to take advantage of new opportunities that have cropped up over the last 24 months. Let’s stand together to tackle everything the industry faces in terms of new customer requirements, market conditions and technological issues.

Q: Sounds interesting, how did the new approach come about?

BB: We support our customers in every process, from a specific order to its delivery and while doing so, we engage in a dialog with them to better understand the logistics world from their perspective. Having in-depth conversations was an obvious outcome of the events of the last two or so years, where many parameters have undergone fundamental changes where there is no going back. That is why we have conducted extensive surveys and analysis. We have been talking about a new era lately, and we don’t just mean the industry, but all of Europe as well! It is no longer a luxury for companies here to just think about transformation, but a must for our customers to embrace automation and innovative technologies. Our answer: let’s work together to help you succeed in this new era.

Q: With what results?

BB: In our conversations with them, patterns began emerging. We began to identify opportunities to address new problems that had come up. Some may see them as challenges, but we see them as opportunities to make changes.

Q: Can you give some specific examples?

BB: Firstly, there is the potential of digitalization, particularly the growing importance of data- and cloud-based solutions. Our goal is to make our customers’ supply chains fit for the future through intelligent software and transparent data points. Data transparency is also key to another opportunity – meeting delivery deadlines by creating robust supply chains. Knowing which order is where, at any point in time, is a key building block of successful e-commerce businesses.

Q: What do you do when customers come to Dematic with disruptions in their supply chains?

BB: We bring together all of a customer’s data points. It ensures transparency, reliability and flexibility, but also the greatest possible planning security. In this context, the increasing uncertainty is not just about delivery deadlines, but also specific cost issues. It is the reason we want to be a constant and reliable partner for our customers and support them in optimizing their supply chains with autonomous picking systems, data-based solutions and intelligent software systems. Based on this view, we want to bring another opportunity to the table for discussion, which stems from our #bringiton campaign: efficient use of space. Spatially constrained warehouses in urban environments, for example, rely on high scalability of picking systems. Our multishuttle solutions or our Autostore systems can create real competitive advantages. However, the focal point for intralogistics of the future is not going to be on automation or digitalization. Most definitely not on technology implementation as such.

Q: Instead…?

BB: But if course on the customer! Understanding them and, in turn, their customers is the game changer for developing tomorrow’s technologies and solutions. It is precisely the focus of our thoughts and actions at Dematic. And so we are especially excited about LogiMAT 2022. We want to inspire our visitors with our new solutions, which we plan on presenting to them in an extraordinary way!

BREAKING NEWS: IFOY AWARD 2022 goes to six companies

Posted on by Keith McKinley

The winners of the IFOY AWARD 2022 have been announced: at the award ceremony in the BMW Welt in Munich, representatives of Jungheinrich, Locus Robotics, Noyes Technologies, robominds, SSI SCHÄFER and SYNAOS accepted the award, also known as the “Oscar of intralogistics”, from six laudators.

A laudatory speech was held by Steffen Bersch (Chairman of the Board of the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association), Jan-Dietrich Hempel (Managing Director GARBE Industrial Real Estate), Raimund Paetzmann (Vice President Real Estate & Logistics Network Expansion at Zalando), Julia Jocher (Project Management Group7), Udo Schmidt (Managing Director Cascade Europe) and Dr Michael Nikolaides (Senior Vice President Production Network, Logistics, BMW Group).

The IFOY AWARD is considered the most important intralogistics award in the world. In 2022, 12 international companies with 14 products and solutions competed in the 10th round of the award. “10 years of the IFOY AWARD stand for 10 years of outstanding innovations,” emphasises jury chair Anita Würmser. “In 2022, the finalists have once again presented top products in the competition that will shape the future of intralogistics in the long term,” she continues.

Jungheinrich won the IFOY AWARD in the “Special Vehicle” category with its ERD 220i double-deck stacker. The truck sets new standards for a safe, optimally protected and yet super-compact electric pallet truck, judged the jury. The performance was first-class and challenged the competition, the jurors added.

The winner in the category “Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV/AMR)” was Locus Robotics with its Locus Robotics AMR Solution. The collaborative AMR, with which retailers, contract logistics companies, but also industrial companies can greatly improve their efficiency, scored points with the testers and innovation checkers due to its high degree of innovation and its high market relevance in the light of the rapidly growing online trade and the demand for cost-effective solutions to increase throughput.

A total of three young companies qualified for the final round in the “Start-up of the Year” category this year with their innovative products and solutions. The winner in the end was the Munich-based start-up Noyes Technologies with its first robotically operated, automated and highly flexible nano-logistics system Noyes Storage for urban logistics. The IFOY Innovation Checkers awarded the solution the highest possible number of points in the categories of market relevance, customer benefit, degree of innovation and functionality/type of implementation. The fact that customers from almost all industries can benefit from significantly improved space utilisation with the help of the system also impressed the test team and the jury.

For the 10th round of the global competition, the Robotics + Automation Association within the VDMA entered the “Robot” category at the IFOY AWARD 2022 as a sponsor. Here, the Munich-based company robominds won with its AI-based robobrain.NEUROS – an industrialised operating system for intelligent robotics. According to the jury, the market relevance of a manufacturer-neutral and reliable robotics operating system with support for AI-based processes can be classified as very high.

The “Integrated Warehouse Solutions” category is one of the top categories at the IFOY AWARD. In the final, SSI SCHÄFER prevailed with its IKEA Project Flat Pack Picking. With Flat Pack Picking, the company had implemented an automated and turnkey system solution for the safe and volume-optimised palletising of heavy and large items. The use of gantry robots enables the efficient handling of a very heterogeneous range of articles. The IFOY testers rated the solution as well-engineered and interesting – also for other industries.

This year’s winner in the category “Special of the Year” was SYNAOS with its SYNAOS IMS – Vehicle Localization for the complete localisation of transport vehicles. “The simple real-time localisation of all types of industrial trucks with the help of this very convincing localisation system helps customers on their way to the complete digitalisation of intralogistics,” judged the IFOY testers. In the IFOY Innovation Check, the solution scored points for its high market relevance.

The International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) AWARD honours the best intralogistics products and solutions of the year. It has established itself as an indicator of cost-effectiveness and innovation and is considered the definitive international innovation award in intralogistics due to its technical expertise. The basis for the decision is the three-stage audit – consisting of the IFOY test protocol comprising around 80 criteria, the scientific IFOY Innovation Check and the jury test. The decisive factor is that the nominees are not compared with each other, but with their competitor devices on the market.

On the occasion of the IFOY TEST DAYS, all nominees went through the IFOY test series in March at the Messe Dortmund exhibition centre. For the third year in a row, numerous potential buyers were also on site at the TEST CAMP INTRALOGISTICS. The winners of the IFOY AWARD are chosen annually by an international jury of trade journalists – the UK is represented by Logistics Business News Editor Peter MacLeod. All IFOY test reports and Innovation Checks of all finalists can be found for free use HERE.

The IFOY AWARD is sponsored by the Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association and the Robotics + Automation Association within the VDMA. IFOY partners are Messe Dortmund and leading forklift attachment manufacturer Cascade. The IFOY AWARD’s pallet partner is CHEP, a world market leader in the pooling of pallets and containers. The logistics real estate partner is GARBE, the logistics partner is LTG. Trailer partner is Fliegl Fahrzeugbau. Event partner is the BMW Group. The IFOY organisation is based in Ismaning near Munich.

The IFOY AWARD is under the patronage of Dr. Robert Habeck, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

The application phase for the IFOY AWARD 2023 starts on August 1, 2022.

IFOY 2022 WINNERS IN BRIEF:

ERD 220i, Jungheinrich

Locus Robotics AMR Solution, Locus Robotics

Noyes Storage, Noyes Technologies

robobrain.NEUROS, robominds

IKEA Project Flat Pack Picking, SSI SCHÄFER

SYNAOS IMS – Vehicle Localization, SYNAOS

 

Improved Outlook for Sales, Lowered Expectations for Orders

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Despite a promising start to the year and a positive development in sales, Interroll is lowering its outlook for operating profit in the first half of 2022.

With a good start to the 2022 financial year, Interroll had initially assumed a further recovery trend in the markets following the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly improved availability of materials. However, the supply chain situation again deteriorated in the second quarter of 2022, related in part to the strict COVID-19 lockdown in China. In this context and due to the war in Ukraine, Interroll also noted a number of project postponements by customers and end users. This is due to their impaired supply chains, postponements in installation or short-term adjustments in investment activity. It should be emphasized that, with a very high order backlog, project cancellations for Interroll have so far occurred only to a very limited extent.

The price increases implemented in 2021 will also have a delayed effect due to the continuing high order backlog. The operating result announced for the first half of 2022 on the occasion of the publication of the 2021 annual results on March 18, 2022 will therefore be lower than in the second half of 2021. Due to a time horizon that is difficult to assess with regard to normalization of the situation, Interroll is currently refraining from providing an outlook for the full 2022 financial year. In the medium term, however, the company sees all fundamental trends for global demand for material-handling solutions remaining intact and is appropriately prepared for future growth with a leading technology platform and capacities.

Racking Aids Warehouse Expansion

Posted on by Keith McKinley

PFERD-Rüggeberg S.A., a leading brand in grinding tool solutions for treating surfaces and cutting materials, has extended its logistics warehouse in Júndiz, Álava, Spain entrusting in the industrial storage specialist AR Racking for the advice, design and installation of the warehouse extension.

PFERD’s ongoing commitment to quality and improvement processes have led to the recent extension of one of its 8 production centres worldwide. Located in Júndiz (Álava), AR Racking has installed an adjustable pallet racking system in the 2,500 m2 warehouse. PFERD’s priority was that this extension would provide it optimum stock control and agile warehouse operations. Adjustable pallet racking (or selective racking) is a very versatile system and also allows immediate access to all the unit loads. This installation has provided PFERD with a capacity for almost 3,200 pallets which took AR Racking just 2 weeks to complete. Watch the video here.

According to Juan Zubieta, PFERD’s Planning and Purchasing Manager, “AR Racking offered us a solution in line with our needs to continue improving and to be more competitive in an incredibly demanding market, and the truth is that the project was completed in full conformity and with a high-quality service”.

AR Racking provides comprehensive industrial storage support, advising on and planning the installations, delivery times, product and installation instructions. Mikel Bilbao, AR Racking Sales Executive commented that “the solution installed will optimise the loading and unloading operations, reducing times, which will allow PFERD to provide a better customer service”.

PFERD, German multinational, is one of the most important manufacturing companies internationally. It currently has more than 2,000 employees worldwide and is present in more than 100 countries.

AR Racking is part of the Arania Group, an industrial group of companies with extensive experience and scope, and with a multi-sectoral activity based on the transformation of steel that dates back more than 80 years. AR Racking provides the market with a wide range of solutions with high certified quality standards and a comprehensive project management service. AR Racking’s industrial storage systems stand out for their innovation, reliability and optimum efficiency.

St. Modwen Logistics’ £18.1m investment supports regeneration

Posted on by Keith McKinley

St. Modwen Logistics, a leading logistics developer and manager, has delivered on Basingstoke (Hampshire, UK) and Deane Borough Council’s aspiration for the regeneration of Viables Business Park, Basingstoke, with an £18.1m investment which saw the property company build 190,000 sq.ft of manufacturing space for LevertonHELM – a joint venture between Leverton Lithium and HELM AG. Leverton Lithium was founded in Basingstoke over 45 years ago, and as LevertonHELM it will occupy the whole of St. Modwen Park Basingstoke, comprising three warehouses and two retail pods, which will be used as staff refectories.

St. Modwen Park Basingstoke provides LevertonHELM with the modern and larger space needed to scale up its production and manufacturing of battery grade Lithium chemicals in Europe. It will also provide additional capacity for the growing needs of its global customers, allowing for an expansion of 20kMT (kilo metric tons) of high-quality lithium chemicals.

The deal demonstrates St. Modwen Logistics’ commitment to ensuring businesses have the space they need to grow and prosper in their local area, bringing much-needed investment and jobs. LevertonHELM’s new buildings come with a range of sustainability features as standard including an EPC A rating, rainwater harvesting, EV charging points and PV solar panels.

Polly Troughton, Managing Director at St. Modwen Logistics, said: “At St. Modwen Logistics we are committed to providing our customers with the space and support they need to succeed. Working closely with the local authority, we are proud to be investing in the redevelopment of the site, which supports LevertonHELM’s continued growth and expansion, helping create local jobs and generating economic growth in and around Basingstoke.”

David Hicks, CEO of Leverton Lithium, said: “The lithium industry is developing rapidly and we are delighted to be joined by HELM AG as our company continues to grow. This manufacturing space will help us respond to market demand and support our operations as we provide large-scale manufacturing of battery grade chemicals.”

Acting Leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Councillor Simon Bound, said: “I am delighted that Leverton Lithium and HELM AG have demonstrated their confidence in the borough with this significant investment worth tens of millions of pounds. As well as creating and protecting many high-tech skilled jobs, it is great to support a company that is focused on reducing the world’s use of carbon and helping to lead the way to a more sustainable future – something that we are committed to achieving locally.”

“Basingstoke is a great place to invest, and we are delighted that we have been able to work with St. Modwen Logistics to create new high quality employment space in this strategic location which will be vital for the borough’s economic recovery.” Andrew Newman, joint letting agent for Hollis Hockley, said: “It’s great that we have been able to work with St. Modwen Logistics, LevertonHELM and the council to secure such a fantastic result. LevertonHELM has secured a prime campus on which to manufacture lithium and the redevelopment will not only generate revenue, but also bring more jobs directly and indirectly to the Borough.”

AR extends household items warehouse

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Logística de Menaje S.L., part of the Grupo Marcos Larrañaga y CIA which operates in the household items sector for hospitality and households with the Lacor and Ibili brands, chose AR Racking to carry out the extension of its logistics centre located in Alegría-Dulantzi (Álava, Spain).

Completed at the end of 2021, the extension to Logística de Menaje’s warehouse is a continuous innovation process to adapt to the needs of its customers to offer a premium quality service in terms of design, production, logistics and administration. The storage systems specialist AR Rackinghad previously completed in 2020 an initial optimisation phase of 3,540 sq m of the warehouse.

In this second phase of the project, the extension covered a total of 1,445 sq m of the intermediate stock warehouse, installing the AR Shuttle semi-automated storage system. This solution with motorised pallet shuttles has enabled maximum exploitation of both the floor and height space to generate a storage capacity for 4,961 pallets, on top of the 12,960 obtained in the installation of 2020. In total, this amounts to almost 18,000 positions for storing household products.

Compact racking equipped with AR Shuttle make up a high-density storage system, enabling great use of the space and reduction of the work aisles of the forklift. In fact, it is the motorised pallet shuttles that transport the unit loads autonomously inside the racking structure.

Complex and custom design in 4 weeks

The project had to consider complex development limitations that necessitated a detailed floor and height design, which thanks to the perfect execution of AR Racking’s civil engineering and engineering work ensured its success.

Of note, too, were the tight deadlines managed to get the warehouse operational as quickly as possible, executing the installation of this second extension phase in just four weeks. The initial phase was developed in seven weeks.

In the words of Menaje’s Logistics Director, Yolanda Ocio: “Having the facilities up and running in record time allowed us to continue with our daily business operations adapting to the storage needs that arose.

“This intermediate stock area installed with the AR Shuttle system acts as a buffer from our shipment area and allows us to store a high number of references in a very reduced space.”

From AR Racking, Xabier Rica, Project Manager and Sales Representative for the Northern Region, stressed: “The joint work with Menaje S.L.’s logistics managers was key to developing the project according to its specific storage needs, and fully optimising the available space through the construction of the warehouse and design of the storage system.”

CLICK HERE to watch a video.

Hoppecke batteries help make waterways greener

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Industrial battery specialist Hoppecke is widely acknowledged for its expertise in logistics. Increasingly, however, its batteries are powering an ever-broader range of machinery, equipment and vehicles, including narrowboats.

Hoppecke is partnering with Isle of Wight-based Hybrid Marine to develop diesel-electric hybrid boat engines that improve energy efficiency whilst also reducing emissions.

Hybrid Marine has been designing and manufacturing hybrid propulsion systems for canal boats, commercial barges and sailing boats, including fast offshore catamarans, since 2002. It sells its award-winning technology to boatbuilders, supplying a complete solution for new custom-built boats. Hoppecke recently collaborated on Hybrid Marine’s 100th system with diesel engine manufacturer Beta Marine, subsequently fitted to a canal boat designed and built by Braidbar Boats.

Hoppecke has created a 48V lead acid battery pack, comprising 24 cells with a  capacity of 775Ah. When no mains connection is available, the battery provides sufficient energy to power all typical domestic appliances through a large inverter. Consequently, most craft can eliminate gas and implement an electric galley. The large battery bank also provides the ability to cruise almost silently for prolonged periods. One customer observed that “when the engine is running you are in a boat; when using electric drive, you are in the countryside”.

Says Hoppecke’s General Manager Stuart Browne: “We’re all more conscious of our impact on the environment so it’s no surprise that the boating community, including key industry stakeholders, is keen to reduce pollution across our waterways. Innovative hybrid drive technology offers significant economic and environmental advantages without denigrating people’s enjoyment of the boating experience.”

Using cells and other components from stock, Hoppecke builds and installs these special batteries at the boatyard. Hybrid Marine first connects the diesel engine to its hybrid propulsion system and then links this to Hoppecke’s battery before commissioning the complete engine.

Graeme Hawksley, Managing Director at Hybrid Marine, says: “With a hybrid drive the boat’s propeller can be driven by the engine using fuel, such as diesel, or stored energy from the battery bank with the engine stopped. When the engine is running the extra load of the hybrid generator makes the engine operate with higher efficiency, providing better fuel economy and less emissions.

“Once the batteries are charged the hybrid switches to emission free electric drive. Partnering with Hoppecke and capitalising on its expertise means we can clearly demonstrate how energy efficiency is enhanced during low to mid-power cruising, when the hybrid is running on battery power.”

 

ZipLink belts help reduce downtime

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Working closely with OEMs and end users, Ammeraal Beltech – a leading manufacturer of process and conveyor belts with a well-earned reputation for developing innovative belting solutions for a wide range of applications across many industries – has developed a truly revolutionary concept in belting design, the ZipLink range of belts.

These belts feature a specially designed linking mesh carcass that can be fitted with a selection of different top-cover materials, including natural rubber, carboxylated rubber, Silam, Teflon, Nitrile, SBR and cotton/felt fabric – the choice of top-cover material depends on the application.

The greatest benefit from the ZipLink belt is less downtime. Thanks to the belt’s innovative linking mesh, it can be quickly and easily spliced without the need for special tools, presses or other equipment, without lengthy production stoppages or the need to call in specialist services. After installing ZipLink belts, many end users found that the time and the personnel they required to change belts was less than half of what they’d had to devote in the past.

Furthermore, the special ZipLink construction eliminates points of weakness after repair. There’s no loss of strength at all in the “splice” area because the mesh carcass has simply been linked up again. This means a reconnected ZipLink belt is as strong as it ever was, and will last longer than belts that have been seamed or fused when spliced.

The logistics industry is one of the main sectors to benefit from this breakthrough. Parcel sortation facilities often have many short belts installed in awkward places where it’s often very tricky or even dangerous (in the case of hot-splicing) to carry out a splice or install a new belt. In many cases, time-costly disassembly is required.

ZipLink belts can be replaced in minutes, and that’s not all. The ZipLink range was designed to meet just the requirements present in a number of sortation belting applications, including general and inclined transport, gapping, live roller, strip merge, and high-speed merging.

BEUMER showcases new pouch technology at LogiMAT

Posted on by Keith McKinley

BEUMER Group‘s BG Pouch System can meet the growing demands of e-commerce fulfilment – and the combination of retail and D2C. The operator benefits from simplified returns handling because dynamic buffering eliminates the need for re-storage and picking. The sorter increases throughput by 25% compared to conventional pocket sorters. It requires little space and is suitable for a wide range of items – from high-tech to high heels. BEUMER Group presented the BG Pouch System to the German public for the first time at the recent LogiMAT 2022 event.

This innovative system, which was developed in response to shifting market trends and customer demands, expands BEUMER Group’s offering for the warehouse and distribution industry. Making great use of available space, the BG Pouch System can be installed in unused overhead areas where single items can be buffered, sorted and sequenced to automate the order handling and returns processes, reducing floor space requirements by up to 30%. The modularity of the system means that it can easily be scaled up with minimal installation time.

The system features a capacity of 10,000 items per hour per sortation module, allowing logistics centres to flatten their handling peaks and reduce the amount of manual handling to dramatically improve overall logistics efficiency. The system has an item capacity of 7kg, making it ideally suited to handling fashion goods such as shoes and garments on hangers, as well as print and media, pharmaceutical and beauty products, and electronics.

Pouch sorting increases efficiency by reducing the number of touch points, which is particularly critical for handling returns. The BG Pouch System facilitates the e-commerce driven demand for fast cycle times. Reverse logistics efficiency can also be improved by effective handling of returns using built-in interim storage for returned products.

Different types of products, held for different clients and destined for different types of shipping, can be held in a single intelligent storage system. As the BG Pouch System is a single item handling system (one item per pouch) the warehouse management system can move the relevant item from this buffer for packing swiftly without any human touch. This means that returned goods can be sent for shipment direct from the dynamic buffer without ever being sent back to the main storage area for re-picking. For logistics operators handling a diverse array of goods, this flexibility can prove invaluable for both outbound items and returns.

The system has already seen successful use in Italy, where international fashion brand Calzedonia Group implemented BEUMER Group’s pouch technology to optimise e-commerce operations for its Tezenis brand. The company had seen a steady rise in its direct-to-consumer business, and needed to optimise its despatch operations to handle this growth while raising the level of efficiency and customer service. Following the installation, Calzedonia Group has transformed its warehouse, optimising it for omnichannel operations while continuing to achieve high efficiency in handling and fulfilment. Calzedonia Group has joined some of the world’s leading warehouse and distribution operators in embracing BEUMER Group’s solutions, along with companies including Nike, Foot Locker and ASOS.

BEUMER Group can facilitate the entire process of installing the pouch sortation solution through every stage, from the selection of the solution, through design, build, test, implementation, training, maintenance and growth. As well as operating independently with its own technology, BEUMER will also act as a full-service integrator throughout the process, working with third-party suppliers to provide a complete system.

 

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