There are different types of Metal warehouse building specifically come with good design. It is to solve any type of logistical need and streamline the processes of storing, processing and shipping goods. The automated warehouses converted into a strategic element of the supply chain and thus value creation in companies.
Faced with a highly competitive market and with increasingly adjusted lead times, companies opt for automation. Moreover, it is to achieve greater productivity and provide a more agile and efficient service.
In this article, we will analyze the most common types of automated warehouses on the market. Moreover, we shall discuss their particularities, advantages and applications.
An automated Metal warehouse building is a logistical facility. Here, automatic machines and systems oversee carrying out operations such as receiving goods, storing, processing orders or dispatching quickly and safely. Furthermore, automated warehouses consist of shelves to store products and automated handling equipment.
Mainly stacker cranes help to load units from the shelves, and conveyors. Similarly, it connects the entrances and exits with each shelf aisle. Furthermore, in any type of automated warehouse, whether pallets or cartons, it is essential to have a Warehouse Management System (WMS). Similarly, it should manage and directs all operations.
Automating the movement of goods is a decisive factor for many warehouses, especially those where there is a large volume of products.
Next, we’ll look at the types of automated Metal warehouse building that exist on the market based on eight criteria:
An automated warehouse is easy to install inside a traditional shed. The building itself can constitute the automated warehouse. Moreover, it comes with a self-supporting shed:
A traditional shed with an automated Metal warehouse building is a building that usually measures between 13 and 15 m in height. Regardless of whether it is a new-build building or an existing building, racks come inside it. They have special design specifically designed to support the efforts of the stacker cranes.
At the top of the storage aisles, additional structures come to support the upper track of the stacker cranes.
The self-supporting warehouses, on the other hand, come by the shelves themselves, on which the roof and side closures rest. When building them, it is necessary to consider factors such as:
The height of a self-supporting warehouse is higher than that of traditional sheds (which can exceed 40 meters). It is limited only by local regulations or by the lifting height of forklifts and stacker cranes. The self-supporting warehouse comes of the shelves on which the roof and side closures rest
In an automated warehouse it is possible to deposit any type of product (from tires to profiles), although the most common are pallets and boxes.
The pallets are the most common loading units in the industrial sector because they are common to move any type of article. The automated warehouse for pallets is formed by shelves that were designed to accommodate palletized products and incorporate different types of stacker cranes for inbound operations, storage and output.
The automated warehouses boxes have similar characteristics to the pallet, although it was specifically designed to facilitate the management of this type of unit. The shelves have a variable height, starting from 3 m and can reach up to 15 m. The aisles are relatively narrow and the separation between levels.
There are two types of automated Metal warehouse building depending on the merchandise: for pallets or boxes.
Depending on the quantity of products to be stored, the number of references and the space available, two solutions are applied: automatic warehouses with direct access or with compact systems.
The automated Metal warehouse building with direct access shelves are usually come in companies that manage numerous references with few pallets. You can choose between two options:
The automated Metal warehouse building with compact systems, capable of depositing pallets channels of up to 40 m deep, greatly increase the storage capacity in relation to warehouses with direct access by reducing to a minimum the number of runners.
This type of warehouse is important for companies that manage few references and many pallets for each one of them, being ideal for mass consumption products or when a buffer or buffer is needed.
Within the scope of compact systems, the automatic Pallet Shuttle provides a greater volume of storage and use of space. It is common in installations with a high turnover of products and where it is essential to take advantage of the available space. Motorized cars are easy to transport to the corresponding storage channels in two ways:
With stacker cranes; the stacker crane takes the pallets to any storage channel and, once there, a motorized car transfers them through the interior of the channel.
With shuttles: A structure that acts as a walkway installs so that a shuttle can move through each level. In this way, the number of movements or cycles/hour multiplies by the number of levels available in the automated Metal warehouse building.
There are different levels of automation, from a manual automated Metal warehouse building with a low level of automation to others with fully automatic operations. Let’s look at the levels of automation that can exist in a logistical facility:
This would be the case of a semi-automatic Pallet Shuttle. A motorized trolley carries out the movements of the goods within the storage channels with full autonomy, although it is necessary for an operator to deposit or extract the goods at each location and, when necessary, change the trolley between the channels.
Operations carried out in warehouses are increasingly complex. The installation of an automated Metal warehouse building Management System (WMS. It helps to direct and optimize processes by indicating to operators the steps. Devices such as voice picking or pick-to-light are common to enhance order processing.
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