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Tag: storage

Sample Dispatch and Archiving

Posted on by Keith McKinley

A décor printing specialist relies on storage solutions from META-Regalbau at its new Service Centre, reports Paul Hamblin.

Arnsberg-based décor printing company Interprint has recently opened a Service Centre as the base of operations for sample dispatch as well as storage of the company’s important sample archive. When selecting the shelf solutions required for its storage base, Interprint opted for META storage systems. META-Regalbau develops, produces and sells stationary and mobile shelf
technology. As a system provider, META deals with all requests relating to warehouse logistics: from advice, planning and project planning to the assembly of storage facilities. META offers its customers complete solutions starting with the initial idea and including project management and support as well as commissioning. The extensive range of shelf systems includes shelving, pallet racks, cantilever racks and mobile racks, flow racks, storage platforms and multistorey rack systems.

With around 1,300 employees worldwide, including 390 at its headquarters in Arnsberg, the Interprint Group is one of the world’s leading décor printing companies. For 50 years, the Interprint philosophy has been ‘Think global, act local’. Wood, stone and creative décors from Interprint adorn the surfaces of many wood-based materials used to create furniture or flooring for use in interior design. In the recently completed building, by coincidence directly adjacent to META, the company’s service department has been amalgamated and centralised. At the same time, the print specialist took on a complex digital challenge with the introduction of a new warehouse management system.

High demands, individual solutions

As one of the world’s leading décor printing companies, Interprint offers a wide range of sample services. To fulfil these services, HPL (High Pressure Laminate) sheets and different types of décor paper rolls of various lengths are stored in the new Service Centre. It was crucial that the different shapes, lengths and weights of the stored samples were taken into account when designing the shelves. Thanks to close co-ordination between Interprint and META-Regalbau, perfect solutions for the various requirements were found or developed over several stages of the project. In addition to the diverse requirements of the stored goods and the official requirements, increased fire protection requirements also had to be met. Among other things, set distances between the
sample rolls and the shelves were necessary to ensure full effect and performance of the installed sprinkler system. Interprint designed special editions of its paper rolls for this purpose.

A décor printing specialist relies on storage solutions from META-Regalbau at its new Service Centre. Susanne Wünsch, Head of Marketing at Interprint, spoke about the co-operation between
the two companies: “Our company attaches great importance to high service quality. The individual storage solution from META is a key element,” she said. “Despite the stringent requirements,
it was a very constructive project with META-Regalbau’s office and field staff,” added Anke Gerling from the décor development department at Interprint.

Variety of shelving systems

Different shelving systems are used at the new Service Centre. The META MINI-RACK shelving system is used to store the décor paper rolls. This versatile long span racking system is the ideal solution for large and heavy single items thanks to the vast storage space and high compartment loads. This system is also the ideal choice for archiving linear metres in tubes of different lengths. Shorter paper tubes are archived in an individual combination of META CLIP side walls with stepped beams.

Décor samples already pressed into laminate sheets (HPL) are clearly arranged in smaller volumes in META CLIP shelving systems divided by full height dividers. The diverse applications and individual solutions at Interprint demonstrate the versatility of the different shelving systems and prove that META can provide the perfect storage system for every storage item.

European Logistics Association Awards Finalist Reveals Project

Posted on by David Priestman

Logistics Way, a Greek supply chain solutions provider, was a shortlised finalist in the recent European Logistics Association Awards. Managing Director Dionisis Grigoropoulos describes the outstanding project, Diolkos, that they entered.

In the ancient times Diolkos saved ships sailing from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea, a dangerous sea journey around the Peloponnese, where its three headlands had a reputation for gales, especially Cape Matapan and Cape Maleas. Without a ‘shortcut’, across the Corinth Canal, ships would have to sail from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea by going around the Peloponnesian Peninsula. Not only the sail was long, it was a dangerous one as well. Gale-force winds often troubled sailors at Cape Matapan and Cape Maleas, with its treacherous shoreline. In addition, the overland passage of the Corinth Canal, a neck of land 6.4 km wide at its narrowest, offered a much shorter route to Athens for ships sailing to and from the Ionian coast of Greece and fortunately it is remaining in use from circa 600 BC until now as the Corinth Canal.

We at Logistics Way tried to find new Sailing Routes for our clients back in 2015, when the capital controls shut down the banks and changed customer payment habits, offering much more potential and financially stable markets in Europe. When the capital controls were introduced in Greece in June 2015 , the Greek government was forced to immediately close Greek banks for almost 20 days and to implement controls on bank transfers from Greek banks to foreign banks, and limits on cash withdrawals, in order to avoid an uncontrolled bank run and a complete collapse of the Greek banking system. We did not now for how many years this was going to take place. So the only way to keep sales and growth back then was to expand the brand internationally.

The client was a leading Greek company with 50 successful years of operation in the field of air conditioning and electrical appliances. The project officially began in January 2016 with the following analysis: Market research, Product Portfolio, Supply Chain Structure, Demand Planning, Forecasting and Finance.

The project objectives were to firstly achieve operational excellence by aligning with a reliable logistics partner, whose services could go beyond just managing the physical movement and handling of goods and could also provide the systems and services that could enable flexible and efficient fulfillment processes. Assuring quality in services and honoring contracts with on-time deliveries was also a key objective. Additionally, driving innovation, along with a partnership that would introduce new technologies or enhance the in-house processes was important, as was managing costs (operational and capital expenditures) while enhancing the quality of customer service and satisfaction levels. Finally, maximizing value by obtaining lower rates, benefiting from more advanced technology and enjoying more control and visibility for the transportation / storage expenditures.

The idea was to create something quite new in order to fulfill the needs of the new market. Our Client chose 14 products from its portfolio plus 3 new ones. The plan was to start in the UK in 2016, Germany and France in 2017 and Italy and Spain in 2018. The supply chain strategy selected Strasbourg as the hub. For the UK we send the RFP to 27 companies and 6 of them responded with an offer. The savings in logistics and distribution costs was 30%, using a 1800 pallet storage distribution centre. For continental Europe we sent the RFP to 52 Companies in Germany, Belgium, France, Sweden and Holland and many responded with an offer. The cost savings here were 13%, utilizing a 2500 pallet storage facility in Germany and a 600 pallet warehouse in France. It was a new organization chart for the client. Sales on Amazon last year were 15% of the total sales of the company.

Small Parts Picking in Pallet Racking

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Edward Hutchison, Managing Director of BITO Storage Systems, explains how using pallet racking for small parts storage turns this ubiquitous storage product into a flexible order picking solution.

“While constant innovation generates a stream of new intralogistics solutions, ‘classic’ pallet racking remains the most commonly used storage system. Its relatively low investment costs and flexibility – whether through changing rack configuration, retrofitting special purpose modules or adding extra bays – have made it an indispensable framework for storage and order picking systems.

“Of course, many operations use pallet racking as the basis for straightforward storage and retrieval of full pallets, either to fulfil customer orders or as a bulk store for replenishment. But the trend toward shorter product life cycles is increasing SKU numbers. The drive to minimise stock levels for each SKU and improve picking process efficiency to speed up order fulfilment, combined with demands for Just-in-Time delivery and online retail, is generating a greater need for small parts storage.

“This is where the adaptability of pallet racking comes to the fore because small parts picking can be easily integrated within pallet racks. One option is to create small parts pick locations on the reachable ground level, with upper storage levels serving as a buffer store for replenishment. Small parts storage containers will help to store and organise small goods and C-parts – making them available for quick and easy picking. This will result in a reasonably efficient picking process but ground floor locations within a pallet rack will, of course, be limited. Solutions are therefore required to maximise the available space to create a pick face with sufficient locations for the required SKUs, and enough stock to ensure availability during picks.

“Flow shelves can be easily installed into pallet racking to increase the number of pick locations and volume of SKUs located on the ground level pick face. Goods are effortlessly accessible from the front of the racking – the rollers on the flow shelves allow bins and containers containing small items to be picked to roll smoothly to the front of the shelf – which makes picking easy. A full container of parts will roll to the operator each time the empty one at the front removed.

“Standard shelving is another option to create flexible small item pick faces within pallet racking. There are several solutions: the first incorporates static shelving at right angles to the racking, with space in between each run to facilitate picking. An alternative option is pull-out mobile shelving that maximises the available space under the racking – though movement of shelving has a negative impact on pick time. A third solution involves static shelving parallel to racking, which makes front items easy to pick. Shelving dividers can be fitted.

“Inclined supply shelving within a pallet racking bay will make items clearly visible for picking. Cardboard cartons or plastic bins can be used, though the later option enables preparation in advance at the goods-in area by filling the plastic bin with the items to be picked.

“Plastic bins and containers will keep goods protected throughout the intralogistics process and during transport to ensure products are delivered to the customer in prime condition. It is worth seeking out storage system suppliers that in addition to offering racking, shelving and flow lanes, also provide a container range comprising a variety of sizes with and a broad choice of accessories. Such a supplier will be able to design the optimum system to fit a given space, maximise the potential for small parts picking and, ultimately, improve fulfilment.”

Storage Solution for Seifert’s new Logistics Centre

Posted on by David Priestman

With a precisely tailored racking system for production supply in the automotive sector, AR Racking has created the basis for optimal intralogistic processes in the new logistics center of the Seifert Logistics Group. In addition to the quality aspects, the high flexibility of AR Racking and the fast delivery and assembly time with short time window were important decision criteria for Seifert.

With a turnover of 210 million euros in 2019, the Seifert Logistics Group (SLG) from Ulm is one of the leading freights forwarding and contract logistics companies in Germany. The group is active in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and France, and provides warehousing, sequencing, distribution and plant logistics services for well-known customers from the automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries as well as the paper and construction materials sectors. The core business of the company is the automotive motive sector. There Seifert is deeply integrated into the value-added chains of the automotive industry. For example, the logistics service provider takes over the production supply for the local Mercedes plants in Rastatt and Leipzig. In Hambach, France, where the Stuttgart carmakers manufacture the Smart, Seifert has been managing plant logistics with around 100 employees on site since 2017. Seifert performs all tasks required for production supply to the automotive plant, from truck registration, trailer yard, goods receipt processing, storage, sequencing and assembly activities to just-in-time and just-in-sequence delivery to the production lines at the Mercedes plant.

Within the Seifert network, the Hambach site symbolizes the increasing internationalization and expansion of the company’s customer portfolio. “On the other hand, the Seifert Logistics Group is thus proving that it is a steadfast and trustworthy logistics partner of Mercedes-Benz AG, which also responds to the needs of the customer on an international level,” emphasizes Luc Wanner, Executive Director Seifert Automotive Logistics. In order to increase capacities at the site and optimize processes, SLG has now set up a new, company-owned logistics center there. AR Racking Deutschland, based in Rüdesheim, was awarded the contract for the design and installation of a racking system tailored precisely to the contract logistics provider’s requirements.

“In cooperation with the purchasing department of our headquarters in Ulm we have received a list of the top suppliers of industrial storage systems“, Executive Director Wanner describes the selection process and the criteria for the award of the contract. “Each supplier on this list was evaluated according to cost, delivery time and quality. In the end, we chose AR Racking. AR Racking offered a very fast delivery and installation time and also helped us in terms of cost when the contract was finalized.”

At the end of last year, the first construction phase of the new logistics center was completed with 20,000 m² and successively put into operation. The second construction phase is to be completed by the end of this year. AR Racking will then install a rack system with a further 4,000 pallet spaces. After completion, the logistics center will comprise a total of more than 41,000 m² of covered area and will be divided into two warehouses with eight units and an office building. “The new building in Hambach was important not only to expand our storage space, but also to be able to react to the rapidly developing requirements of the automotive industry,” explains Wan-ner, “We previously worked in halls provided by our customer, which could only offer sufficient space for his storage needs. The new building has changed everything for us. With the increased storage capacity and the newly acquired independence, we are now able to expand our customer portfolio and target new collaborations.”

The rack system designed by AR Racking offers more than 6,000 pallet spaces. With six support levels, the system in the new logistics hall rises ten meters high. All support levels are equipped with wire mesh floors. Special feature: With a flow rack for small parts storage, an intelligent storage and order-picking solution with 8,600 container spaces was integrated on 41 double bays of the lower rack levels. An additional specification from Seifert was aimed at achieving extensive flexibility in plant layout and logistical processes. “It is fundamentally very important to us to always remain flexible and to be able to react quickly to customer needs,” says the Seifert Executive Director. “Against this background, when awarding the contract for the entire storage system for the newly built hall, we also took care to ensure that the racking system would allow problem-free disassembly and reassembly.”

Within less than four weeks, the intralogistics experts installed the new racking system and completed the first project phase successfully and on schedule. “Thanks to the fully automated manufacturing processes at AR Racking’s production plant, we were once again able to demonstrate our excellent delivery capability with the shortest delivery times in this project with its tight time window,” emphasizes Roland Fischer, Key Account Manager AR Racking Germany. And that despite some previously unplannable constraints. “Right at the start of assembly, it became clear that the free dimensions given to us for route train picking in the racking system were not suitable,” says Fischer. “We had to reschedule the system a little at short notice and, among other things, manufacture, deliver and install other beam lengths. AR Racking was also able to prove that changes and the delivery of corresponding components can be implemented even at short notice.”

Thus, there were no assembly delays in the Seifert logistics center compared to the original schedule. The same applies to additional requirements that Seifert brought in during the project realization. “When we subsequently ordered push-through protections, AR Racking was able to deliver them very quickly and also install them immediately,” Seifert Executive Director Wanner describes an example. “AR Racking’s system guarantees maximum security for our employees and flexibility towards our customers. We are very satisfied with the solution”.

In the meantime, the new system has been completely integrated into the supply of the production lines at the Mercedes plant. “Due to the Corona pandemic, our site unfortunately had to remain closed for a period of 2.5 months,” says Wanner. “This has upset our original schedule. But the planned second phase of the project has now been tackled.” The incoming goods in the new logistics center will be collected after the quality inspection and moved to the storage locations specified by the warehouse management system. Parts and assembly kits are pre-picked and put together according to requirements for the call-off of the demand points in production. The loading of the route trains follows in a sequential order and is made available for transport in the outgoing goods department. “The course of the project from planning to handover of the plant was characterized by good cooperation,” summarizes the Executive Director. If deviations from the original plans occurred, the AR Racking project management always reacted quickly and developed creative solutions to problems. This continues in the After Sales Services. “With AR Racking we have a great partner at our side, who supports us in reacting quickly, flexibly and with quality”, Wanner judges and cites as a current example the announcement from the beginning of July that the main customer Mercedes will sell its plant in Hambach. “There is already a potential buyer,” says the Seifert Executive Director. “This means for us that we will then adapt our processes and the equipment of our logistics center to a new customer. Especially in such difficult times as today, it is a great advantage to have competent partners who are trustworthy and support us in major changes.”

Racking Solutions Partner

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Logistics Business talks to José Miguel Sobradillo, AR Racking Country Manager UK & Ireland, about the Spanish company’s global success.

How will good racking differ from bad racking? Why is it essential to use an expert racking provider?

“I love that question; I have been asked many times about this as most people think racking is just steel with holes. AR Racking has the most efficient range of uprights and beam cross sections together with very highly engineered connectors, making us one of the most competitive racking suppliers in the world. An expert racking provider is not just the one with good product but also the one that gives you the best service. I love a sentence I heard for the first time in the UK: you have two ears and one mouth, so you should listen twice as much as you talk. Don’t think of AR Racking as a provider, think of us as a partner that listens to the customer, fulfils your needs and delivers a quality product on time. Tell us about AR Racking, a brief history of the company and its current reach. AR Racking is part of Grupo Arania, a Spanish company with more than 75 years of experience in the steel industry, first in coiling, then tubing, racking and shelving and now in over 100 countries. The racking division has shown double digit growth in recent years, reinvesting that profit in people and a much bigger production facility. I am very proud of the team I work with. The company has the most efficient product, the most automated factory and the best service, diversifying its presence in Conventional and System Integrators Solutions throughout the world.”

Can you expand a little on AR Racking’s presence in the UK market?

“The UK market is very special for me because I have been responsible for it since joining AR in 2012. At that time our Maidenhead head office was just opening and we had a small network of stockists and project distributors working in small segments. Step by step, we have built a strong network of loyal stockists and increased the number of loyal project-oriented distributors, who are key suppliers in the small, medium and large segments. You can see I used the word ‘loyal’ twice – it was deliberate, because AR really believes in long-term relationships and we are much more a loyal partner than just a supplier. We must add to this distribution network the very large number of key accounts that our office in the UK has built in recent years. Our team has done excellent work building relationships and supplying many substantial projects on time and with excellent service. I can very proudly say that once we do our first job for a new customer, that client will  always stay with AR for the future.” Read the rest of the interview here: https://flickread.com/edition/html/index.php?pdf=5f3d1fcf3160d#50

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