COVER STORY
A benchmark in fastener distribution
These days there are quite a few large-scale, automatic warehousing and logistics facilities across the European fastener industry. The Keller & Kalmbach facility at Hilpolstein (Germany), though,
sets a new bar for future fastener logistic centres and possesses all the qualities to pass the test of time.
T
he overall site extends across 44,000 square metres; of which 10,000 square metres is currently occupied by buildings, designed and built to ensure future expansion can be seamlessly integrated. The automatic pallet warehouse is 40 metres high and 120 metres long,
providing 35,000 spaces serviced by five picking machines. At a distance from it but in the same plane is an automatic small box warehouse, providing 164,000 carton box spaces plus a dedicated area for storing up to 8,000 empty KLT boxes. Within the warehouses the primary location logic is security – stock of core lines is held in different aisles within the same warehouse and in both warehouses, obviating the risk of delay if there is a mechanical failure. The speed of the warehouse mechanisation makes location by relative speed of demand less significant. Between the two buildings is space to effectively double the pallet warehouse. Similarly there is space to expand the small box warehouse.
At right angles and in front of the two warehouses is the
building housing the picking zone as well as goods receival, quality inspection, assembly, packaging and despatch. Ten identical picking stations are each able to handle pallet, carton box and KLTs. Pickers operate from touch screens and each station has a vertical sorter, which sequences the carton boxes extracted from the small box warehouse into the correct order for the picker. Although a greater short term investment it delivers longer term advantages in both efficiency and speed. Incidentally and perhaps surprisingly, cardboard boxes are preferred – for lower fire risk, lower cost and greater environmental responsibility. Similar boxes are also used for customer deliveries. Speed these days is of the essence, which makes a time
frame of less than one hour to pick an order from the small box warehouse both impressive and invaluable to a business that really values flexibility and responsiveness. Currently the facility
12 Fastener + Fixing Technology • Issue 5 Apr - Jun 2012
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