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Holzwerkstoffe Gfeller: More Storage Space and Greater Efficiency
Cantilever Racking for Wood-Based Material Wholesaler
The Swiss Holzwerkstoffe Gfeller AG, with headquarters in Landquart, expanded its storage facilities with cantilever racking from OHRA which provided the required flexibility, and thanks to their solid construction, a storage height of up to 6.7 meters.
Gfeller is one of the leading wood-based material wholesalers in the Canton of Graubünden. In combination with its affiliates, the company, part of the Woodpecker Holding, is one of the largest suppliers to cabinet makers and carpenter’s workshops in Switzerland. The increase in its range of items and the introduction of new products necessitated an expansion of the existing storage facility. The aim was also to optimise the warehouse processes so that the storage area could be used more effectively, increasing the efficiency of the storage workflows. To this end, the company decided to extend its existing storage equipment.
As the warehouse was intended to provide space for a diverse range of board – solid wooden board, OSB, chipboard, plywood, MFP board, and sensitive veneer faced chipboards – a multifunctional racking system was required. As a consequence, Gfeller expanded the existing warehouse with cantilever racking from OHRA. The company, with headquarters in Kerpen, Germany, is the European market leader for cantilever racking. All the load-bearing components of its racking are manufactured from solid-walled, hot-rolled steel. The stable construction allows for greater storage heights and a slim construction, and thus greater floor space utilisation. At Gfeller columns in excess of 7 m in height were used, enabling items to be stored on nine levels.
A further special feature of the cantilever racking from OHRA is their flexibility, as the cantilever arms are slotted into the stands with their 100 mm grid, not screwed on or welded. As a result the arms can be adjusted without the use of tools – enabling the racking to be quickly adapted to changing conditions.
Gfeller invested a total of around EUR 100,000 in the expansion of the storage facility. Today, seven rows of single and double-sided racking of different lengths provides significantly more storage space and more efficient storage workflows. With different arm lengths of 1,850, 2,000 and 2,500 millimetres and load bearing capacities of 1,000 kilograms (i.e. 850 kilograms with the 2.5 meter arms), the racking could be tailored to the local conditions and different stored goods.
About Holzwerkstoffe Gfeller
The companies of the Woodpecker Holding AG have been trading in high quality wood-based products for over 80 years. These include, in addition to Holzwerkstoffe Gfeller AG, a further five companies. Each company is legally autonomous, enjoys a great deal of independence within the group, and is firmly anchored in the region. This is also reflected in the product range which features items which are in demand in the region. Gfeller has a total of 40 employees and generates a turnover of CHF 27 million.
