Dematic install pallet runner system at Murray Goulburn’s Integrated Logistics Centre
Pallet runner system
Murray Goulburn, exporters of processed food, have commissioned the country’s first pallet runner high density storage system from
Dematic at their Integrated Logistics Centre at Laverton in Victoria.
Designed and installed by Dematic, the pallet runner system sets new standards for space utilisation and operator productivity. Combining the density of drive-in racking with the benefits of pallet flow, the pallet runner system uses self-propelled ‘intelligent’ carts to handle pallets within the storage system.
The pallet runner carts run on rails, which pass under each pallet location on each level of the storage system. Pallet runner systems only require aisles for pallet entry and pallet retrieval, making them very space efficient, the long single lane in the new high density store is 58s deep.
The new high density store was required to support a doubling of ultra high temperature-treated (UHT) production capacity from 750 pallets to more than 1500 pallets per day at Murray Goulburn’s Leongatha processing plant.
Phil Saunders, National Storage & Distribution Manager, Murray Goulburn said that with minimal storage space at the manufacturing facilities, the effectiveness of product handling and storage within their Integrated Logistics Centre (ILC) is critical. To handle the increased output from Leongatha, Murray Goulburn needed to establish a new warehouse within the ILC.
He also said that Murray Goulburn had a 6000 square metre warehouse on the site that was been using as an empty pallet store. Murray Goulburn usually have around 165,000 pallets on site at any one time and decided to utilise this building and relocate the empty pallet store.
However, the existing warehouse was not large enough to achieve the storage capacity Murray Goulburn required using conventional storage systems and handling methods, Phil Saunders added. Their storage system partner, Dematic, carried out an extensive analysis of all storage systems and methods to establish which would be the best fit for Murray Goulburn batch processed products and stock movement patterns.
20-Nov-2008