MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
The Headlam Group PLC, one of Europe's largest suppliers of floorcoverings, has invested in a unique storage and sortation system from LINPAC Storage Systems for its new warehouse and distribution centre located in Tamworth.
The 158,000 sq ft facility has been designed to service independent retailers and contractors nationwide with carpets and vinyl floorcoverings. Storing up to 30,000 rolls of product, the warehouse works 24 hours a day in a four shift routine – cutting and sorting the floorcoverings and loading it for next day delivery into one of the company's 38 vehicles.
Within the warehouse, LINPAC Storage Systems has installed both carpet and vinyl racking together with a section of narrow aisle racking for palletised goods. Serviced by wire guided trucks, the narrow aisle storage has a top beam 10 metres high. Pick and deposit stations facilitate the efficient handling of pallets into and out of the storage system, and the addition of pallet support bars means that both Euro and standard pallets can be accommodated.
Carpets and vinyls are densely stored from floor to ceiling in LINPAC's versatile racking which has been precisely configured to maximise the storage area. Two metre high standing areas have been incorporated into the design together with special drive-through bays for the fork lift trucks which deliver the products to the cutting table.
Once the carpet or vinyl has been cut to the right length it is placed onto a conveyor. This feeds it into the centre of the sortation system through a 360 degree scanner which scans and measures the diameter of each roll. The carpet or vinyl is then positioned into one of the elevators within the sortation system which takes it to the correct location for despatch and places it into an appropriately sized shelf. This unique system, the only one in Europe which can handle cut lengths, accommodates up to 2,000 rolls.
Tim Judge, sales and marketing director of LINPAC Storage Systems, comments “At Tamworth together with Headlam management and ETF we've designed, manufactured and installed a quality storage system for Headlam's market leading floorcoverings. Not only that, we've also successfully project managed the entire solution, liaising closely with third party suppliers regarding the sequencing of the build programme for the high-tech sortation system and the interface between the steel work and the conveyors. As a result Headlam has a storage solution which is ultra-efficient in terms of space usage and product handling.”
For further information regarding the LINPAC range of high performance racking and shelving contact LINPAC Storage Systems, Garamonde Drive, Wymbush, Milton Keynes MK8 8ND
telephone: 01908 561222, Fax: 01908 567455
e-mail: solutions@linpac-storagesystems.com
Web (brochure): www.essentialstorage.com
Web (corporate): www.linpac-storagesystems.com
