CONVEYOR EXTENSION BRINGS TOP FLOOR INTO PLAY
European Conveyor Systems Ltd has completed phase two of a large-scale materials handling system at the 25,000m² main warehouse of Cromwell Industrial Supplies, bringing into operation a second mezzanine floor in the building and improving health and safety standards.
Cromwell provides next-day delivery within the UK of over 180,000 product lines and also exports worldwide. In 2002 the company amalgamated its storage and distribution operations in a new DC at Leicester with a £600,000 materials handling system designed and installed by ECS. This installation, which incorporates a 570-metre-long main conveyor, serves the ground and first floors but was designed so it could be easily extended to the second floor. Nominal maximum capacity was 1000 totes an hour.
Like phase one, the £200,000 extension for the second floor is based on the Gebhardt series 300 system, with a high proportion of the equipment being zero line pressure accumulation conveyors to maximise the number of bins that it can accommodate without crushing.
The top floor has three picking zones, each with a picking station. An automatic lowerator, which provides safe, controlled handling without using as much space as a conveyor, takes bins to the lower floors. Height checks and weight-check stations have also been installed on the system as part of the second contract.
November 2004
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