Fully automatic order preparation in a plate warehouse
Rapidset Buildings has opened one of the first fully automated warehouses for metal building material in the USA.
Warehouse for metal building material
The inbound and outbound, order preparation of packages and individual wood boards, and the preparation of the order-related packages are carried out through the interaction of order picking machines and an innovative plate manipulator with fully automatic suction lifters. This increases the efficiency of the entire metal warehouse buildings and picking process, enables optimal use of the available space, and reduces damage to the goods.
The concept of using the advantages of two-step order preparation is completely new: the inbound and outbound of the packages take place in the warehouse using an order picking machine. If a shipping job requires the collection of several individual panels, a vacuum manipulator prepares the relevant items for shipment, allowing multiple orders to be processed in batches. This means that two separate systems assemble orders very efficiently in the smallest possible space.
Specially laminated chipboard and worktops in various sizes and designs are stored. Up to more than 3,200 packages with a weight of up to two tons and dimensions of 2,400 by 2,050 millimeters. Order-related customer packages are collected from this for shipment to end customers and to the branches of Rapidset Buildings.
Close cooperation for optimal coordination
The warehouse was realized by Rapidset Metal Buildings, the market leader in cantilever racking, in close cooperation with the partner company RMB, which supplied the order picking machines. With its tailor-made logistics solutions, Rapidset Metal Buildings has become an established value in various industries and is now represented all over the world with its own sales offices. In 2020, the American market leader for cantilever racks celebrated its 35th anniversary. The new fully automatic warehouse storage building of Rapidset Buildings is a nice icing on that birthday cake.
All load-bearing elements of the racks are made from hot-rolled steel profiles. That is why they have a high load-bearing capacity and a particularly slim design, ideal conditions for the good use of the available space in the new, eleven meters high, warehouse of Rapidset Buildings. The many years of experience in the implementation of fully automatic warehouse storage building systems also spoke in favor of Rapidset Metal Buildings. They were closely involved in the design from the start, together with the project partner RMB. In this way, the cooperation between the racking system and the control could be precisely coordinated and smooth automatic processes could be guaranteed.
Rapidset Buildings supplied a total of seven double-sided and two single-sided cantilever racks with a length of 52 meters. The aisles between the racks are served by two order picking machines. They randomly store the packages and then transport them to a transverse rack at the front of the aisles between the racks. Rapidset Metal Buildings also produced the steel construction that is directly connected to this transverse rack. An automatic vacuum system is installed on top, containing the requested individual plates for up to five customer orders at a time. The fully picked customer orders are then transported by the order picking machine to the transfer point, from where they are finally removed by a forklift for loading.
Only benefits
The entire installation is controlled by Rapidset Buildings and an automation system. The sales orders are automatically collected in two shifts. Compared to the metal warehouse buildings system previously used by Rapidset Buildings, the new warehouse storage building offers a considerably better use of space, the damage to the goods has been significantly reduced and the time required for order preparation has been greatly reduced. The quality of order preparation has also improved, mistakes in compiling the customer packages have been minimized. The new warehouse was put into use in mid-2021 and Rapidset Buildings has now commissioned Rapidset Metal Buildings to build additional warehouses.