Francs, Spain, Switzerland. The shelf holds.

Bito-Lagertechnik has equipped Kuehne + Nagel's new logistics center in the Bavarian port in Nuremberg with various storage technologies. Cantilever, shelving and pallet racking systems, a unit load flow racking system and a multi-storey platform system were installed in the two 30,000 square meter halls to accommodate the very different goods and commodities. As not all goods can be stored and stacked in containers or on pallets, such as long and heavy shafts or motors, Bito installed single and double-sided ES cantilever racking for both halls. "With our modular system, we put together the racking for the required task from standardized components," says Michael Blum, project manager at Bito. The modular system contains different uprights and feet, cantilever arms with different effective depths and dimensions, horizontal and diagonal connectors, arm bridges and grid levels.

Resilient and adaptable

The cable drums weighing up to 2,000 kilograms in Dimel Castilla's warehouse are easily accessible for cutting the required cable sections to length. Photo: AR Racking

As most of the products are stored on Euro pallets, Bito installed PRO pallet racking systems with a total of more than 7,000 storage locations. Blum: "With the system, every pallet is easily accessible for the employees. The racking layout can be easily changed and, if necessary, shelf heights can be adjusted to add new storage levels. This is important for Kuehne + Nagel because of the planned growth. With the upright and traverse system of the PRO family, pallet racking can be configured to meet the requirements of any load. Bito has also installed a two-storey platform system. Several rows of racking for Bito KLT containers were set up on the first floor, which can be operated by employees from both sides. The platform system can be extended towards the middle of the hall if required. In the second hall, Bito has erected rows of single and double racking, which are protected from damage with column protection and crash barriers.

The live storage system (SDS) for cartons with different dimensions and weights is designed for fast-moving items, making it easy to implement the FIFO principle. Picking is separate from loading, and article availability is always guaranteed thanks to the independent replenishment of the stored goods.

Shelves can be rearranged at any time

The buy and sell store reBuy stores more than 2.5 million used electronics and media items in 10,000 square meters of logistics and storage space in Berlin-Rudow. Now the company has expanded its five-storey shelving system, which now covers a total of 3,900 square meters, for the second time with Franz X. Rauscher KG. The new section, with a floor area of 23.5 x 31 meters, directly adjoins the 1,300 square meters from 2013. After six weeks of assembly, Rauscher F.X. handed over the almost identical section on schedule in June 2016. Like the first part, the system includes four suspended ceilings, a smoke-tight stairwell and a continuous sprinkler system.

The shelving system at reBuy's Berlin logistics center has been expanded to a total of 3,900 square meters. The system can be adapted to any change in the product range by simply rearranging the shelves. Photo: Rauscher F.X.

The two construction sections from Rauscher F.X. use around five percent more space than the originally purchased shelving system with shelves measuring 100 and 1,300 millimetres in length. With a shelf depth of 300 to 400 millimetres, the lengths of the slightly sloping shelves (1,225 and 1,075 millimetres) are precisely matched to the plastic containers and the geometry of the hall. The system can be adapted to any change in the product range without tools by simply moving the shelves and can be extended at any time with the next construction phase.

Space for heavy cable drums

Dimel Castilla, a company belonging to the Sonepar Group, distributor of electrical supplies and specialist in lighting and electrical materials, has entrusted AR Racking with the selection and implementation of storage technology to meet its intralogistics requirements in its new logistics center in Leganés, Spain. AR has installed a storage system consisting of different types of storage, comprising three different areas: a zone with a conventional pallet storage system, another for storing cable drums and a picking area.

The conventional pallet storage system offers the advantage of direct and immediate access and adapts to all types of stored goods and industrial trucks. The system with a frame height of seven meters offers 2,732 storage locations for pallets weighing up to 900 kilograms. The picking area is designed for 1,064 picking positions. Mesh panels serve as shelves in the 3.5 meter high system. If required, the system can be extended to a height of eight meters as a multi-storey system. In addition, a six-metre-high warehouse was built to accommodate 528 cable drums weighing up to 2,000 kilograms.

With the new storage system, Dimel Castilla aims to increase its competitiveness, improve customer service efficiency and generate further growth, as Managing Director Roberto Martinez emphasizes, highlighting the good cooperation with AR Racking.

Goods simply roll forward

In the Denner AG distribution center in Schmitten, flow racks prove their worth for picking beverage pallets. Photo: Galler

Denner AG, a food retailer in Switzerland, has equipped its logistics center in Schmitten with new storage systems in a project spanning several years and four phases. The implementation partner was Galler Lager- und Regaltechnik, Kulmbach, with whom Denner has been working since 2010.

In the first phase, two pallet flow racks for beverage picking were installed in 2010. As Philippe Honegger, head of the distribution center, explains, the "pallet flow racks have a very compact design" and the maximum load capacity can be defined individually. Once the correct angle of attack has been set in the racks, the goods roll along without any electric drives. As Honegger emphasizes, "our order pickers should be able to pick more goods with the same level of activity thanks to storage technology measures. Order pickers now walk shorter distances and no longer have to wait until new goods are ready at the storage location. The push-back racks, which were installed in the high-bay warehouse in the second phase, also contribute to this. These increase capacity in terms of the number of pallets and improve picking efficiency.

Slide-in shelves for fast-moving items

"The push-back racks are designed for fast-moving goods, such as toilet paper or household paper," says Honegger. "We have to be able to demonstrate a certain turnover rate so that processing in the push-back rack is profitable."

In the third phase, the existing, ageing high-bay pallet warehouse was completely refurbished in October 2014. And in the fourth phase of warehouse optimization, two additional push-back racks were installed in the high-bay warehouse.

Stable supports for intralogistics

Nedcon has been producing storage systems and racking technology for more than 40 years and can generate systems for a wide range of application requirements with its standard components. Photo: Nedcon

Nedcon has been producing storage systems and shelving technology for more than 40 years and offers the right solution for storing small items. The spectrum ranges from pallets and flow racks to drive-in, shelving and high-bay racking through to automated pallet and small parts warehouses. As the company reports, it can "easily cover 98 percent of market requirements" with its "stock of standard components". The pallet racking systems can be easily combined with platforms, flow racks or other racking systems. Nedcon offers a range of upright frames and support beams with which "optimal project-specific" solutions can be realized.

An epoxy powder coating is used as a surface treatment for the main components, which protects the material accordingly.

Another special feature: the finished stud frame is formed by a bolted frame framework consisting of several diagonal braces and two stud profiles. The diagonal profiles are attached to the uprights with screw connections.

Protected against deformation

The diagonal braces, designed as a U-profile, have a folded material web at the ends, which protects against deformation when bolted to the upright profile. This prevents the upright frame from twisting, even under the influence of horizontal forces. The upright profile transfers the point loads into the floor via the base plate. The dimensions and shape of the steel quality and material thickness ensure that the compressive forces are distributed in such a way that optimum surface pressure is guaranteed.

Spare parts, wheels and tires can be stored space-efficiently in these convertible system shelves. Photo: Rauscher F.X.

A perfect fit for wheels and tires

With the P30 and P50 modular shelving systems from Rauscher F.X., dealers, workshops and manufacturers in the automotive industry can store spare parts, wheels and tires in a space-efficient manner. The P30 and P50 systems, which consist of base racks and add-on bays, are suitable for set and axle storage on several platform levels. The bay widths depend on the size of the customer's wheels. The dimensions of the slanted wheel traverses, which can be attached without tools, range from 1,000 to 2,000 millimetres. The P30 system, which is suitable for three-storey systems, offers a grid of 50 millimetres, while P50 enables planning in a 25-millimetre grid on four storage levels.

Depending on the required load-bearing capacity, the uprights can be selected from a number of profiles. The base plate is integrated into the upright frame so that additional assembly is not necessary. As Nedcon can supply upright frames up to 14 meters high in one piece, no couplings are necessary.

Reinhard Irrgang