For LSU Schäberle in Stuttgart, Germany, Dematic has implemented a new hazardous materials warehouse for flammable liquids and materials that are hazardous to water. The contract included the complete pallet conveying equipment, storage and retrieval machines, as well as the automation IT, the high bay storage racking and the warehouse management system with numerous special functions for storing hazardous materials and special shipping requirements. Together with the novel fire prevention concept, which creates an oxygen reduced atmosphere in the interior of the building, the warehouse ranks among the most modern logistics solutions of its kind.
The logistics center encompasses two large sections: the fully automatic five-aisle high-bay warehouse, with 13,500 storage spaces and the goods-in and goods-out area with picking areas and loading ramps. The high-bay warehouse with a total height of 26 m, is erected about 6 m below ground level.
Up to 250 pallets are delivered each day loaded with paint products that have already been provided with master labels at the production plant containing logistics-relevant data such as the item number, hazard class, batch, weight and shelf-life. The warehouse management computer determines the "right" storage place for the respective pallet type (Euro, chemical and customer in-house pallets) based on the data acquired at the I-point and authorizes the transport into the warehouse. Three storage and retrieval units handle double depth storage of the items (slow-moving goods) and two storage and retrieval units handle the single depth storage (fast-moving goods).
After a shipping order is received, the product pallets that are needed are removed from storage and transported to the two picking stations. At this point, the order pickers put together the delivery pallet from the provided product pallets, making sure that they adhere to the pallet-sharing prohibitions or other instructions regarding hazardous materials.
The new hazardous materials warehouse at LSU Schäberle represents a paradigm change from fire-fighting to fire prevention. Thanks to the reduced oxygen atmosphere in the warehouse, the usual fire sections could be dispensed with. Thomas Schäberle, managing owner: "We now structure our workflow according to our requirements and not according to strictly defined storage zones. By doing away with the fire sections, we gained a surface corresponding to almost one and a half aisles of storage racks. The Dematic specialists, with their relevant experience in the chemical sector, provided excellent support in our discussions with the authorities."
The finished picked pallets run through a vertical batcher to the final inspection area. There the pallet is labeled with the corresponding hazardous material label and is prepared for loading.
