With over 1400 active systems worldwide, KNAPP ranks among the leading solution providers in logistics automation and warehouse software. Headquartered in Hart bei Graz, Austria, the KNAPP group has 18 subsidiaries and 14 representatives in its global sales and service network and employs more than 1800 people. Here in the UK, KNAPP has implemented a number of major projects for well-known brands including systems for John Lewis, British Gas, Boots, Clarks and The Co-operative Pharmacy, all five of which have contracted KNAPP to supply resident customer support teams.
Acquisitions broaden scope of supply
Strategic acquisitions over the past few years have played a key role in the group’s success. “Our acquisitions have paid dividends through broadening our scope of supply,” explains Craig Rollason, Head of Sales and Marketing for KNAPP UK Ltd. “With the purchase of conveyor specialist, Moving, in 2008, we added not only a range of conveyors for pallets, cartons and totes, but also palletizing systems, sorters and miniload cranes,” he continues. “Then our purchase of Dürkopp Fördertechnik in 2010 secured expertise in overhead conveyor systems that has strengthened our offering to the fashion sector, where we can provide integrated solutions for handling both flat-packed and hanging garments.”
Investment in R&D
Continuous investment in research and development has resulted in state-of-the-art solutions that meet the demands of modern, multichannel warehouses. The lynchpin of KNAPP’s philosophy of the ‘low-complexity warehouse’ – one that relies on a limited number of technologies to simplify both operation and maintenance – is its OSR Shuttle™ system. “This automated storage and picking system,” explains Craig Rollason, “not only achieves up to six times the rate of totes in/out than a traditional automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), but it also has about 20% less footprint and uses only some 5% of the energy consumed by an equivalent ASRS.” In launching the OSR Shuttle™ back in 2002, KNAPP pioneered the shuttle storage concept and has been expanding the range and functionality of the solution ever since. As a result, KNAPP has sold over 10,000 shuttles to more than 150 sites worldwide, and the OSR Shuttle™ accounts for a massive 80% of shuttle storage systems in operation today.
Innovative products
Other highly innovative solutions for warehouse automation in KNAPP’s portfolio include KiSoft Vision, the vision-directed order picking system that uses augmented reality technology to visualise information through a head-mounted display; the Fastbox buffer storage tower for rapid retrieval and picking of fast-movers; and the brand-new Pick-it-Easy Move solution for the grocery sector that enables ergonomic and efficient picking of goods from pallets into roll cages.
KNAPP UK Ltd
Mr Craig Rollason, Head of Sales & Marketing
Tel: 01844 202149
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