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Increased efficiency through fully automatic order picking in the sheet material warehouse
Drevo Trust, one of the largest suppliers of products for furniture production and interior equipment in the Czech Republic, has commissioned a new warehouse for the storage of sheet materials. It is one of the first automatic sheet material warehouses in the Czech Republic: Storage and retrieval, picking and provision of the order-related packages are fully automated. This not only increases the efficiency of the entire storage and order picking process, but also enables a high area utilisation and reduces damage to the goods. The concept of using the advantages of two-stage picking is completely new: A storage and retrieval machine (SRM) handles the storage and retrieval of packages in the warehouse. If a shipping order requires the picking of different individual sheets, a vacuum manipulator has the corresponding articles ready for shipping, whereby several orders can be processed in parallel. Thus, two separate systems put the orders together very efficiently in the smallest of spaces. The warehouse was completed by OHRA, market leader for cantilever racks, in close cooperation with the partner company Köttgen, which supplied the storage and retrieval machines (SRM).
In particular, laminated chipboard and worktops in various dimensions and designs are stored in the new central warehouse. In total, the warehouse has space for more than 3,400 of these packages, which can weigh up to 2 tons and are usually 2,800 by 2,070 millimetres in size. From these, the order-related customer packages are picked for dispatch to the end customers and branches of Drevo Trust.
The project was fulfilled by OHRA. The market leader for cantilever racks manufactures all load-bearing elements of its racks from solid hot rolled steel profiles. Therefore, they offer a high load-bearing capacity and a particularly slim design, prerequisites for the high-density storage utilisation in the new 11-metre-high Drevo Trust warehouse. OHRA's many years of experience in the implementation of fully automated wood storage systems also was an advantage. The racking specialist was involved in the design of the warehouse and worked closely together with the Köttgen company, which supplied the storage and retrieval machines. This way, the interfaces between the racking system and operating devices could be precisely coordinated and smooth automatic processes are guaranteed.
OHRA supplied a total of seven double-sided and two single-sided, 57-metre-long cantilever racks. The eight aisles are served by two storage and retrieval machines. They store the packages chaotically, then transport them to a transverse shelf installed on the front side of the rack aisles. A structural steel platform also provided by OHRA is directly connected to this shelf. An automatic vacuum system is installed on top, which holds the required individual sheets ready in parallel stacks for up to five customer orders. The fully assembled customer orders are then transported by the storage and retrieval machine to the transfer point, from where they are finally removed by a forklift for loading.
The entire system is controlled by a WMS and automation system, which was developed by Drevo Trust. In this way, customer orders are picked automatically in a two-shift operation. Compared to the storage systems previously used by Drevo Trust, the new warehouse offers a significantly better use of space, while damage to the goods and the time required for picking have been significantly reduced. In addition, the picking quality has improved and errors in the compilation of customer packages have been minimised. The new warehouse went into operation in mid-2019, and Drevo Trust has already commissioned OHRA to build additional warehouses.
About Drevo Trust:
The headquarters of Drevo Trust A.S., founded in 2003, is located in Frýdek-Místek, Czech Republic. The wood trading company offers carpenters, joiner and do-it-yourselfers more than 20,000 articles for furniture construction and interior decoration. They are available through the 25 branch stores or through the company's online shop.
