Seek and you shall find efficiencies
August 1st 2009 The picking of long loads can be a world away from the process of picking smaller articles
onto a standard size pallet but Hubtex's Jim Hammond says the solutions are out there...
The task of creating an efficient
picking environment can be daunting
and many companies resort to the
simple system of taking a bulk pack of
material out of the rack (if stored this way)
and bringing it down to ground level. From
here, the required product is picked off and
the remaining material returned to the rack.
For medium to large operations, this is both
inefficient and, if handling fragile items
such as worktops, can cause excessive
product damage.
In mainland Europe, most companies
handling long loads are now using purposebuilt
two man picking platforms. This type
of fork truck allows two men to go direct to
pick faces up to 10 metres high. Orders are
then picked directly onto the platform,
either onto a pallet or into a purpose built
stillage. The picked order is then taken to
floor level and offloaded by a conventional
fork truck and the process for the next
order can start again.
The benefits to each trade sector can be
as diverse as the products they handle.
Handling worktops in this way has saved
one UK customer 75 per cent in damage
costs and handling uPVC extrusion window
products for another has reduced picking
times and manpower considerably.
To handle flexible loads, a uPVC
customer devised a method of handling 6
metre long beading which was very
flexible. The firm made an aluminium
stretcher which supported the load when
being taken out of the rack: a simple simple
device, but one which takes greater care of
the product and simplifies handling.
In both cases, an initial costing analysis
outlined the savings and when the trucks
were installed, additional benefits came to
light. The stock taking procedure time for
both sectors has improved, as has the
delivery lead time. Driver comfort and
safety levels have also risen, not to
mention better picking accuracy and an
improved level of customer care.
But the use of this type of truck is not
limited to long loads. For small but heavy
two-man items, several orders can be
picked into a number of stillages on the
platform, again straight from the rack.
In the past 18 months, the UK has
received a number of these machines,
bringing greater efficiencies to diverse
applications. It goes to show that even in a
mature materials handling market, there
are better solutions available to those who
take the time to research them. More articles from Hubtex (UK) Ltd: | 
