Established in 1988, Allaero are the largest independent stockist for corporate aircraft parts in Europe. This stock is available to business aircraft operators 24 hours a day and only minutes from London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports.
The flexibility of operation along with its location were reasons for Allaero turning to Industore to solve the problems of expansion as Justin Greasley explains.
“We were essentially employing that same storage solution that was endemic within the aviation industry, that of traditional boltless racking. This had severe limitations. Firstly it only allowed a maximum safe storage height of two metres. This meant the bottom and top shelves were virtually unusable due to weight limitations for stooping and reaching. Secondly larger items such as flying surfaces (flaps, ailerons etc) and engine cowlings had to be stored in pallet racking. This made full use of the available height of the building but was inefficient with regards to compact storage without continuous alteration of the shelf spacing. In addition one day a box fell off the top shelf of the pallet racking and although nobody was hurt we realised that to keep safe we needed something better.”
This inefficiency prompted considerations to move to another building. With relocations costs and property being so expensive close to London, Allaero made the decision to look at automated storage and the more familiar ‘carousel storage’ systems.
“We originally looked at carousels but the storage was not a lot different from our existing racking in as much as carousels have a fixed pitch between shelves” Justin said. “Our products are of many different sizes and we needed a flexible approach with an efficient solution.
We started searching for alternatives and we learned about Hänel Lean Lifts via the Industore website. We invited them in to give advice on the best way to store our products and explain the benefits of their Lean Lift over the more traditional carousels that we were aware of.
Industore were extremely helpful and took us to two different locations to see Lean Lifts in operation. With their ability to store goods tightly packed, without damage or loss of space, the choice was made very easy for us and we subsequently placed an order for two machines.
Indeed the implementation of the two machines were so successful with two stock rooms worth of free space immediately being released, and the setup allowing for the Lean Lifts to cope with 95% of the product we handle, including oversized parts – we ordered an additional ten machines.
In March this year, in time for Allaero’s 25th anniversary, the final 3 machines were installed. To put this in perspective Allaero’s vertical storage space exceeds the height of St Pauls Cathedral. All within a 10500 sq. ft. facility. More significantly the storage of corporate aircraft parts has become revolutionised. Not only is the stock is in a closed and stable temperature environment but it is safely and efficiently stored.
“We are delighted with the machines, Hänel and above all Industore who made the installation and ongoing service support trouble free. We would have no hesitation to show our operation to anyone interested in Lean Lift storage systems and to recommend them based on our experience.”
Tel: 01293 592125
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