With a tendency towards intelligent pallet provision

Because the flow levels have only half the usual incline, more pallets can be stored. Miavit was able to save several hundred thousand euros with this solution.

In the middle of the flat Lower Saxon countryside, in the tranquil town of Essen in the district of Cloppenburg with a population of 8,000, one farm follows another at intervals of 500 meters to the left and right of the country road. Next to the brick houses are large, flat sheds in which the farmers keep pigs, cattle, chickens and turkeys. The area is characterized by food production. That is why the welfare of the animals is of enormous interest - and has been for a very long time.

The PROflow active enables problem-free handling of different types of containers and pallets.

Animal welfare was also the focus of veterinarian Dr Hans Niemeyer when he specialized in animal nutrition in his practice in the middle of the last century. True to the motto: "Prevention instead of medication". Soon afterwards, he founded a company: Miavit. The name stands for minerals, amino acids and vitamins. The small company is successful and grows. By the mid-1960s, it was one of the German market leaders in the production of pet food. Today, the company produces feed in tablet, powder or liquid form as well as feed additives, premixes, special feed and pet food. Exports are also growing in line with the company's success. This now accounts for around half of the business. "The goods go from here in Essen to customers all over the world," says Alexander Schröer, Head of Technology at Miavit. Over time, however, the 360-strong family business has reached its limits with the existing distribution center.

From more or less manual to highly automated

"We have several production facilities here," explains Alexander Schröer. "The employees used to provide the goods for the customers more or less manually." And this was precisely the problem. Time and again, errors occurred. What's more, when the forklifts loaded the pallets, it quickly became cramped in the old hall. The company management therefore decided to build a new logistics center at the site. "In particular, we wanted to bring together the premixes from the factories and combine them for the customers as quickly as possible - and without errors," says the Head of Technology.

Miavit looked at solutions from various providers and then decided to invite BITO-Lager-technik. Stephan Klotzke, BITO Area Sales Manager for the Bremen area, had already advised the pet food manufacturer a few years ago. The new project is now one size bigger: various types of pallets loaded with different types of containers have to be transported smoothly. "The bags alone have different bulk densities, from proper to loose," says Alexander Schröer, describing the variety. "During our initial discussions with Miavit Managing Director Lukas Middendorf, it quickly became clear that only a pallet flow rack would be suitable," recalls Stephan Klotzke.

"It was clear from the very first discussions that only a pallet live storage system was suitable for the application."

Stephan Klotzke, Area Sales Manager for the Bremen region at BITO

The challenge with live pallet racking, however, is that the pallets roll against each other in the channel due to the inclination of the roller conveyors. Sensitive or higher-value products can be damaged. "It is also very important to bear in mind that we sometimes work with hazardous goods. That's why we have to meet immense requirements above a certain height of the racking system, such as installing an expensive sprinkler system," says Alexander Schröer.

Stephan Klotzke (left), Area Sales Manager at BITO, and user Alexander Schröer on a tour of the warehouse.

BITO presented the PROflow active pallet live storage system as the ideal solution. The special feature of this pioneering system: "It does not use gravity to move the pallets from the loading to the unloading side of the lane, as is usually the case, but instead uses electric drives in the rollers," explains BITO Product Manager Alexander Lang. Each pallet location is equipped with an active roller. This supports the pallet when it starts up and brakes it in the channel. The drives in the PROflow active can move the pallets through the lane at a distance from each other. This means there is no contact. "This also allows us to reduce the incline of the lane from the standard four percent to two percent," says Alexander Lang. This makes the flow racks even more space-saving. This is because the lower inclination often allows an additional storage level to be created. BITO was able to build a three-storey warehouse for Miavit with a height of just 7.50 meters. Because there is no need for a sprinkler system and the flow levels only have half the usual incline, the company saves several hundred thousand euros.

Another advantage: the powered rollers transport the load carriers through the channel at a constant speed, regardless of the weight of their load.

Fast throughput

When trucks transport the goods from the factories, a forklift places them on the conveyor system, which feeds the goods to the storage and retrieval machine. This stores the pallet on the back of the rack. From there, the pallets roll one after the other towards the removal side. On the removal side, the forklift picks up the pallet. PROflow active delays the rolling of the next pallet by ten seconds. "This enables a significantly faster throughput than before and therefore prompt production," says Alexander Schröer happily. In this way, Miavit moves around 500 pallets per day through the new logistics center. "We were already operating at 85% capacity just a few months after commissioning," says the Miavit Head of Technology.

www.miavit.dewww.bito.com