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Tag: storage

The Rack Group acquired by IWS 

Posted on by Keith McKinley

IWS Group, The Industrial Workspace Specialists, has acquired The Rack Group, a leading provider of pallet racking safety, inspection, repair and maintenance solutions.

The move will see The Rack Group become part of a growing family of specialist, market-leading businesses that currently includes impact protection solutions provider, Brandsafe, and visual communication solutions supplier, Beaverswood.

IWS Group provides essential services and supplies to the logistics, warehousing and material handling sectors in the UK, across Europe and beyond. The acquisition will further strengthen its position in core markets, extend the scope of the existing offering and open up opportunities to provide customers with additional product solutions and services.

Established for over 40 years and based in Barnsley, The Rack Group supplies its innovative racking protection products, such as Rack Armour, and its racking inspection, repair and maintenance services to some of the largest brands in retail, warehousing, logistics and material handling.

Management of both businesses believe that there is a uniquely complementary fit between the companies in terms of product ranges, services, people and expertise. Under the terms of the deal, The Rack Group will continue to trade as usual under its existing brand.

Jeroen van den Berge, CEO of IWS Group, said: “We are excited to welcome The Rack Group to the IWS family. We have known The Rack Group for some time and, as a business that has built a market-leading reputation for quality and expertise in racking safety, with a long-standing, multi-site customer base, it represents a strong and natural strategic fit for IWS Group.

“The warehousing, logistics and materials handling sectors have seen unprecedented growth due to new shopping behaviours and IWS Group is bringing together businesses built on specialist expertise and customer centricity to serve these sectors with essential products and services. The addition of The Rack Group provides further opportunity to broaden the scope of services and solutions each of the IWS Group companies can offer their customers. We look forward to a bright, prosperous and successful future together.”

Jenny Charlton, director at The Rack Group, said: “This is an extremely positive development for both organisations, bringing new opportunities to add greater value to customers in terms of product solutions, technical capabilities and enhanced customer service.

“Our market presence will remain as strong as it has always been. Indeed, an attraction of linking up with IWS Group means that we can benefit from the additional resources, infrastructure, and product offering that it brings, without loss of brand identity or the core values that have contributed to our success over four decades.”

Pallet storage and pick solution improves efficiency

Posted on by David Priestman

SEC Storage has designed and installed a highly efficient pick and pallet racking storage solution at Midlands-based Nero Pipeline Connections, ensuring improved pick operations through swift replenishment of stock held in the additional pallet locations.

Nero Pipeline Connections is a market-leading distributor of stainless pipeline products and has been specialising in the supply of high-quality pipe fittings and valves for over 30 years, with a broad portfolio of products suitable for commercial and industrial environments.

Its warehouse facility had some existing racking in place which it had steadily expanded as the company grew. However, this offered Nero mainly pick locations and only limited pallet storage capacity. The racking was also only 4m high and, with the building offering 9m of height capacity, it was only utilising 50% of the available storage space.

Nero needed to increase both its pick areas and pallet locations, which would act as replenishment stock for tote locations. The increase to 630 pallet locations designed and installed by SEC Storage comprising adjustable pallet racking with timber decking and anti-collapse mesh, now allows Nero to hold considerably more bulk stock, ready to replenish the 6000+ tote locations for picking, which are situated directly below the pallet racking, as and when required.

The operation benefits from the use of a reach truck for all pallet movements, and the manual pick process has been improved considerably as all stock is front-facing, providing quicker replenishment as well as 100% selectivity with pick options from either side.

The project further benefited from a finance scheme via Systems Finance, which was able to source a favourable, tax-friendly payment option via CBILS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme), a Government scheme provided as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This offered attractive terms for Nero, with a strong ROI and one that turned a significant CAPEX project into a manageable, fixed monthly payment scheme.

Darryl Spencer-Hicks, Operations Director at Nero, commented: “Due to the significant ongoing growth of the business, we needed a quick solution to ensure the flow of stock remained unhindered. With this in mind, we contacted SEC to design and project manage the re-racking of the warehouse with the minimalist disruption to Nero. As with any large project, things change and it is how they are dealt with. SEC went to great lengths to rectify any delays and this meant our customers saw no impact on their orders.

“SEC worked alongside Toyota Material Handling to design the racking system to maximise the use of the warehouse space and worked with Systems Finance to deliver a cost-effective finance package with us.”

 

 

Distribution Centre Modernisation Project for Spanish Food Supplier Eroski

Posted on by David Priestman

Eroski’s Distribution Centre has gone through a modernisation process. The Spanish food supplier commissioned industrial storage solutions specialist to fit out its new warehouse.

Adjustable pallet racking has been installed resulting in 4,296 positions for europallets. It is a storage solution for the most common type of pallet racking, in which 124 levels have been added to store medium and light loads in cartons by means of carton flow rack systems. In carton flow rack systems, the goods slide on pulley rails with a slight incline arranged on different levels that make up the storage lanes.

“These new facilities will allow our perishable product to reach the end customer more efficiently and with a substantial improvement in its treatment.” explained Faustino Etxenagusia, Platform General Services Manager in Eroski. He added that “the modernisation of our intralogistics will save us time and effort in the handling of goods, and increase safety for the entire team”. The warehouse will supply more than 300 Eroski stores in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa.

Mikel Bilbao, Northern region Sales Executive at AR Racking and project manager, said “we have designed and installed a storage solution ideal for a warehouse that has unit loads with a wide variety of references. The distribution centre’s modernisation means that Eroski will be able to manage a daily operation of more than 400 tonnes of fresh products”.

A few months ago AR Racking fitted a new cold warehouse with a storage system in France for AUTTA. For the full story click here.

New Pallet Racking Solution

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Logistics service provider Great Bear has selected AR Storage Solutions as its trusted partner to add new pallet racking and reconfigure its 20,000m2 warehouse in Nottingham, England. Part of Culina Group, Great Bear offers nationwide warehousing and distribution solutions for leading international customers.

“The Great Bear warehouse in Nottingham required a brand-new racking solution accompanied by some layout modifications to transform it into a more flexible operating facility” explained Andrew Collinson, Capital Projects Director, Culina Group. “We are delighted to have entrusted AR Racking and to now have a warehouse with capacity fully optimised.”

The project included the dismantling and disposal of old non AR pallet racking and the installation of new AR adjustable pallet racking resulting in a storage capacity for 17,400 pallets. “We had to deal with the added complication of Great Bear requiring to keep the warehouse fully operational while we dismantled the old pallet racking and replaced it with new AR pallet racking equipment”, commented Mike Smyth, AR Racking UK Key Account Manager.

The installation of adjustable pallet racking also has a number of dedicated mesh deck panels and individual adjustable mesh dividers to create a quantity of low-level pick locations for Great Bear. Adjustable pallet racking systems come with a wide variety of accessories for the storage of any type of products, making this type of racking highly versatile. It is also a storage solution that allows maximum use of space, due to the ease and speed in adjusting the load levels to adapt them to specific volumes. In this case the top beam level is 8.75 m high.

Combination of Racking Systems Installed at new Plant

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Emergent Cold, a company that provides distribution solutions to the global cold chain, has relied on the experience of AR Racking, a company specialized in industrial storage solutions at an international level, to equip the warehouses of its new plant built within the Piura Futura Industrial Park, in the city of Piura (Peru).

The facility has three types of warehouses (raw material, dry and finished product) in an area of 6,100 m2 and it aims to respond to the needs of agro-exporters in northern Peru, to store their products before being exported to different markets in America, Europe and Asia.

“Emergent Cold‘s equipment is located on the Peruvian coast, just above the Pacific Ring of Fire, where there is permanent seismic activity. The combination of the optimal systems for this project, AR PAL and AR DRIVE IN, has been made considering seismic factors indicated in the international regulations and in the E 030 RNE Standard for the type of soil where the project is located”, details Juan Carlos Rojas, AR Racking’s General Manager in Peru.

Several warehouses equipped

In the finished product warehouse -which is managed at a controlled temperature of -30ºC-, AR Racking has installed an AR PAL adjustable pallet racking solution, a system designed to store pallets mechanically using forklifts. This system, which has a modular structure, can be easily adapted to optimise space and to improve the cost of storage in cold rooms. In this case, seismic-resistant double-depth racking has been installed in five cold chambers resulting in 7,285 storage positions.

The AR PAL system has also been installed in the dry goods warehouse, which is managed at room temperature, with a total of 798 conventional double-depth storage positions.

Furthermore, in the raw material warehouse, the AR DRIVE-IN solution has been installed, an optimum compact racking system for the storage of homogeneous products with a large number of unit loads per reference and which makes maximum use of the available space and height by minimising the forklift’s operating aisles. In addition to providing orderly logistics management, high-density racking allows full control over inventory and circulation and service flow. The raw material warehouse, which is managed at room temperature, has a total of 1,932 storage positions.

“From this new facility, located near the reefer container and general cargo port of northern Peru, we want Emergent Cold to continue growing in Latin America by providing an efficient import and export service. To achieve this, it is essential to have optimally managed warehouses. In AR Racking we have found a supplier who has perfectly understood our specific needs and who meets our standards of quality, performance, and safety” explains Edgar Mitchael Chahua, Manager of Operations at Emergent Cold Peru.

Increase Efficiency of Storage and Production Processes

Posted on by David Priestman

FAUN Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG is one of the leading manufacturers of waste collection vehicles and sweepers in Europe. The medium-sized company operates eleven plants in which around 2,000 employees produce a wide variety of special vehicles. At the company headquarters in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, production takes place on a total of 15 assembly lines, which are supplied with components from an indoor warehouse and an outdoor warehouse. In order to optimise the logistical processes between production and warehouse, FAUN decided to introduce a professional warehouse management system with EPG | LFS. LFS has been in use since October 2020 and already ensured an increase in picking performance at the Kardex towers after a very short time.

From huge steel sheets to tanks and pumps to the smallest screws – FAUN Umwelttechnik requires a wide range of individual parts for the production of waste collection containers. They are kept at the Osterholz-Scharmbeck site on a total of 6,500 square metres of storage space so that the assembly lines can access them at the right moment. In 2019, the company decided to introduce a professional warehouse management system to better organise the items. The new solution should above all bring more transparency with regard to the inventory and warehouse processes – as a basis for subsequently being able to optimise them.

Online research and online training

The company researched suitable warehouse management systems with the help of an online tool from the Fraunhofer Institute. During the subsequent discussions with system providers, it quickly became apparent that EPG, with more than 30 years of experience, best met the client’s desire for a professionally positioned provider. FAUN particularly appreciates the modular design of the LFS warehouse management system, which promises plenty of scope for future expansions. Another decisive factor was the innovative training offered by EPG | ACADEMY, which teaches users how to use the system correctly. “We were very pleased with the fast and professional organisation of the online training in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic,” says Ronny Lößner, who was responsible for the implementation at FAUN Umwelttechnik. “So despite the circumstances there was no delay in our project and we were able to start with LFS as planned.”

Simon Reininghaus, project manager at EPG, praises the constructive cooperation during the implementation: “The project team has excellent process knowledge and was thus able to integrate the processes into the LFS quickly during customising. “ As a result, FAUN was able to record positive effects on employee performance just two weeks after the system was introduced: The picking performance was already higher than before the introduction.

More efficiency through new picking strategy

A large part of the increased efficiency was due to the conversion of order picking to multi-order picking. This allows FAUN employees to process several individual orders in parallel. This saves distances and significantly increases the picking performance. “Picking at the four towers used to be our bottleneck,” explains Katharina Beck, Head of Logistics at FAUN. “The employees could only process orders one after the other and had to go from tower to tower. With LFS, it is now possible to combine several individual orders that are intelligently controlled. In this way, the employees manage more orders in the same amount of time.” In order to make the best possible use of this potential, FAUN has installed two new Kardex towers in which the trays can be controlled automatically by telegram exchange and manual input at the panel is no longer necessary.

Further projects already planned

Beck assumes that performance will continue to increase as FAUN exploits all the possibilities of the warehouse management system. For example, new dashboards will soon be added to make it easier to evaluate key figures. This enables staff to identify weak points in processes and optimisation potential more quickly. In the area of inventory management, transparency has increased significantly: The storage location of individual components can now be determined precisely. In addition, short-term orders from the assembly lines are immediately visible in the system due to the real-time bookings. For the future, FAUN would like to see this transparency in other areas as well. An additional module has already been acquired to map not only the warehouse processes but also the flow of goods between the machine groups. The transport control system is to be implemented as early as next year.

Pallet Racking and Picking Solutions Installed

Posted on by Keith McKinley

AR Racking has fitted out the new warehouse in Gavà of Grup Sevica, company with more than 40 years of experience and pioneer in supply chain operations related to the textile business.

Specialised in textile logistics management, Grup Sevica has a new 5,000 m2 warehouse able to store 3,500 pallets thanks to the adjustable pallet racking system installed by AR Racking, supplier of industrial pallet racking systems. In addition, 500 carton flow rack levels integrated in the adjustable pallet racking system have been installed. The new logistics centre also has 750 longspan shelving levels for manual picking. This new warehouse now joins the other handling centres that Grup Sevica has in Gavà and Viladecans, making up 30,000 m2 in total dedicated to integrated logistics for the textile sector.

“We have entrusted AR Racking because we were aware of the quality of its storage solutions and the adaptability and versatility of its industrial racking” said Daniel Sevilla, General Manager of Grup Sevica. The company offers specific garment handling, quality control, storage and picking services, managing the shipping of garments to points of sale, reverse logistics and e-commerce. Its customers are leading national and international brands from the fashion sector. “Our maxim is to add value throughout the supply chain, the storage and logistics of the goods”, added General Manager.

According to Manel Bustos, AR Racking Northeast region Sales Representative and project manager, “the daily operations of the Grup Sevica warehouse require both dynamism and control. With the adjustable pallet racking system and by including different picking solutions we have helped the customer to be able to quickly locate goods and fully exploit the space”.

Warehouse Reaching New Heights

Posted on by Keith McKinley

An automated warehouse is a breath-taking sight, as reams of pallets are automatically scanned and retrieved for delivery. But not all automation systems are made to endure extreme environments. Here’s how Technidrive Ltd and WEG partnered to help Moffett, an automated storage firm, design a vertical lift for extreme temperatures.

Industrial elevators are usually propelled by electric motors, with the aid of a counterweight system. However, when these industrial systems are in environments of varying temperatures, the equipment must also withstand extreme temperatures as well as heavy loads. This was the case for Moffett, an automated storage firm in Ireland, taking on its first international project in Dubai. The project involved building a system for a three-storey 30-metre-high building with a throughput of 85 pallets per hour. Moffett required an automated storage system to lift and lower pallets, which could operate in temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius.

In addition, Moffett wanted to manoeuvre pallets, which weigh over 1500kg, at a rate of one metre per second, between a height of six metres to 30 metres. To put this into perspective, the average building is around ten metres tall. At the start of development, Moffett used a drive system from another company. However, the system was incorrectly selected and did not function properly or provide the necessary control. This resulted in Moffett getting in touch with Technidrive, who turned to WEG for the supply a 11kw electric motor, and a variable speed drive (VSD), along with the relevant programming software. The VSD, also known as an inverter, plays a significant role in this application.

Being inverter driven, the storage system accelerates and deaccelerates at a faster rate. Similarly, as carts move through the lift to its programmed level, adjustment is required as the weight of the cart increases and decreases. The lifts therefore needed the conventional auto-correction system found in human-carrying elevators, to account for changes in weight.

Technidrive and WEG worked together to develop an autocorrection movement within the inverter, to keep the lift level with the floor that the cart is moving along. So, instead of the lift lowering as the cart moves along the aisles carrying heavier loads, the inverter automatically corrects the cart’s stability and keeps it passing along smoothly at the correct level. In addition, Technidrive also had to be aware of regenerative energy, which is energy that returns back into the inverter. This occurs whenever a motor decelerates, or a load descends. Raising 2000kg requires a lot of energy and, in turn, lowering 2000kg creates a lot of energy.

For instance, as the inverter controls the speed of the lowering elevator, energy is being generated back into the motor. That energy then comes back into the inverter as DC bus voltage, which needs to be dissipated in a break resistor or burned off as heat, the latter being potentially dangerous. Originally, The break resistor was not large enough for extreme dutys, which would have caused overheating problems. However, Technidrive upsized its break resistors and added thermal protection to ensure no overheating problems would occur from regenerative energy.

“Currently, the system is being used by Moffett in Dubai and Dublin,” explained David Strain, technical director at Technidrive. “However, this application is global, so can be anywhere in the world. We already have two more projects lined up in Amsterdam and London.

“Technidrive did all the calculations and design from scratch, to make sure the motor was suitable for the application, with enough torque, speed and power. Our relationship with Technidrive is very good, and we are working with them on other projects with the hope for another two or three towards the end of the year. “We met with Technidrive every week during the development stage,” explained Sam Moffett, managing director at Moffett. “Technidrive were really helpful, representatives made time to call and were available when needed.

“Originally, we had a motor that did not work from another company, so we spoke to Technidrive who were able to offer what we wanted. They worked on the new motor for a few days, got it working the way we wanted and continue to provide support when needed.”

Not all automation systems are made to endure extreme environments. However, global motor and drive manufacturer WEG, along with Technidrive, ensured Moffett could design a vertical lift for extreme temperatures — adding another breath-taking automated warehouse to the list.

35,000 Pallet Positions for New Warehouse

Posted on by David Priestman

Boughey Distribution, a company that specialises in logistics and distribution services, entrusted AR Racking with fitting out its innovative and state-of-the-art 21,000 m2 warehouse located in Crewe (Cheshire, UK). The ambitious warehouse was built at a decisive moment during the crisis generated by the pandemic in the United Kingdom.

AR Racking, a company that specialises in industrial storage systems, has installed an Adjustable Pallet Racking system solution for Boughey Distribution. The warehouse, which has been recognised with the highest storage and distribution certification according to the BRC Global Standard, has 35,500 pallet positions

“The solution implemented adapts to Boughey Distribution’s wide range of products and unit loads. It will allow direct and immediate access to the goods, providing a competitive advantage for a company whose main activity requires maximum agility” explained Mike Smyth, AR Racking’s Key Account Manager in the UK. The installation has a top beam height of 12.4 m and a range of different weights and unit load sizes

For Mr. Danny Earp, Operations Director at Boughey Distribution “budget and timescales aside, this project was made all the more demanding as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remarkably, the project was still delivered safely and to plan, and warehouse operations commenced on schedule. The most pleasing aspect of working with AR Racking was that all of the promises made to us during the tender stage were met, with fine quality, coordination, and consistency”. The total warehouse investment was around 2 million euros.
Based in Maidenhead, AR Racking has a long track record in major storage projects for every type of sector in a market as competitive as the United Kingdom’s. To this great adaptability is added AR Racking UK’s broad experience with a vast network of distributors with excellent results.

Space and Speed at Scale

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Ecommerce in Europe is expected to be worth €717 billion at the end of 2020. Distribution warehouses and fulfilment centres need to be ready, says an emerging player in the space, writes Paul Hamblin.

In the race for bigger market share, e-commerce companies are opening more locations across Europe. At the same time, offline businesses are increasing their online presence. It follows that the fulfilment centres of today need to get ready to meet increasing demand, not only from online and offline shops but also from the person at the end of the line, the e-commerce consumer.

According to Hristo Urumov, owner of Sofia-based storage technology and material handling specialist STAMH, this is going to be tricky for some DCs unless their managers make changes,
because many are going to receive more orders per day than they can physically fulfil. “Already, a typical online customer is likely to fill their check-out cart with more than one item per online order and it’s a fair bet that they will expect their new purchases to arrive within two days, at most, of making that order,” he points out. “And guess what – they don’t care where the fulfilment centre is located.”

It’s not just the number of online shops that is growing either. The total of items in each product line to be stored and distributed is on the rise, too. Warehouses need to accommodate a growing list of inventory, in some cases without switching location. Businesses know all too well that customer satisfaction is essential to success in the online space, which means a well functioning fulfilment and logistics centre is a vital piece of the jigsaw. Limited picking, sorting and logistics capacity can prevent business expansion because fulfilment centres simply can’t meet the demand.
E-commerce businesses need to act in order to get ready for the upcoming growth.

“There are two ways to grow – to expand the range of products offered or to enter new markets,” says Hristo Urumov. “It’s better to do both.” To solve the puzzle, growing e-commerce business can opt for 3PL or scalable automation solutions to stay in control, he says.

“Outsourcing the problem means losing control over the quality of the fulfilment process,” he argues. “If you use a 3PL, it actually means handing over the satisfaction and retention of your hard-won customers. The ability to affect and control your service to your customers is outsourced to a new partner and you are relying completely on that partner.” STAMH’s owner predicted several years ago that the next step in warehouse development would lie in the refinement of picking automation as a way to meet growing demand and to boost a DC’s capacity to prepare new orders.

He recognises that full automation can be an expensive solution. “In this context, scalable automated modules may be the answer to the growing demand,” he points out. “The engineering solutions of modern warehouses offer space optimisation and picking automation at a speed step by step and hand in hand with the growth of your business.”

STAMH’s engineering team already knows that the modularity of these solutions offer businesses the possibility to make scalable investments, according their optimisation needs. “A lot of companies are opting for partial automaton. They proceed to a full solution only when they actually see the results,” he says. Successful automated e-commerce solutions need to offer space
optimisation, productivity and 100 % picking accuracy, he argues. “They are here to stay and can offer e-commerce business the possibility to break though the wall of growing demand.”

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