Automated conveying – The efficient reliable solution
October 10th 2007 Warehouse tasks such as order picking, stock replenishment, packing and despatch are often repetitive and physically tiring, but they are also vital parts of a successful distribution operation.
When efficient logistics operations are essential for a company’s success or products are difficult to handle manually, automated conveyor systems with scanners and barcodes often provide the answer. They always start on time and work efficiently right through a shift.
When specialist toy and gift retailer Tobar Ltd built a new head office and warehouse near Beccles, Suffolk, it specified a conveyor system with a high degree of automation from European Conveyor Systems Ltd. The £1 million system is capable of handling up to 1000 orders an hour with minimal manual handling and provision for extension in the future.
The bulk storage area in the building has over 6000 pallet spaces for 2500 product lines. While all order picking operations were carried out manually at the previous premises, the ECS conveyor system links a number of picking zones on two mezzanine floors with consolidation and packing areas on the ground floor. It also delivers products to the picking zones on the upper floors to replenish stocks there. Altogether, there are nearly 1000 metres of conveyor.
In order to ensure order picking accuracy the Tobar installation includes a check-weighing system that compares the weight of each tote bin against a figure calculated by the warehouse management system. The computer system also provides information about order progress, system functionality and other matters and allows faults to be diagnosed and rectified through a modem link.
For Häfele, the UK’s largest supplier of furniture fittings and architectural hardware, ECS installed heavy-duty pallet conveyors linked to automated high-bay cranes that pick whole pallets or individual items from the bulk storage area and replenish with full pallets of stock as it is used.
The conveyor system is on two levels, the lower level taking full palletised loads to the cranes from goods-in, while the upper level delivers pallets with picked orders to the despatch area. It has been designed to cater for a variety of pallets with gross weights of 1000kg each and includes a combination of powered chain conveyors, powered roller conveyors, zero-line-pressure accumulation conveyors and automatic lowerators.
Double-width powered-roller transfer tables have been installed to feed pallets to the cranes, with roller transfers being used in the P and D area to ensure accurate positioning of pallets for crane collection.
Goods lifts in wide choice of specifications
ECS goods lifts are quickly installed with minimal disruption and can carry loads weighing up to 2000kg to a maximum height of 12 metres. A wide choice of specifications and sizes are available, including goods-only and personnel versions.
The lifts operate in a free-standing steel framework and do not require a pit. They can be designed for up to six stopping places and twelve access points, using either single or double doors.
All models are driven by an electric motor mounted at the top of the shaft, and parachute brakes are included as standard equipment. They can be finished in virtually any colour. | 
