Pallet Live Storage offers a flexible solution to deliver efficiency for a beverage sector operating in challenging conditions, says Edward Hutchison, Managing Director of BITO Storage Systems.
Space-saving, First-In, First-Out (FIFO) live storage is a preferred solution for fast moving goods, overtaking conventional pallet racking. The compact lane layout both in racking width and height provides high levels of storage density and makes optimum use of the available airspace in a warehouse. The increase in floor space utilisation over conventional racking can be as high as 60%. Perhaps most importantly, particularly during peaks, live storage offers sufficient replenishment quantities to avoid order picking downtime.
This storage technology comes into its own in the beverage sector, which is doing what it can to protect customers against price rises. It is finding that efficiency in intralogistics can give a beverage retailer, wholesaler or producer an enormous boost.
Pallet Live Storage for drinks crate handling is a great example. Using gravity and inclined roller lanes, pallets move smoothly from the loading to the retrieval position, offering enormous efficiency benefits compared to static pallet racking.
BITO’s PROflow pallet live storage system can provide full-width roller lanes for beverage cases in three variants: for picking either entire beverage cases or individual bottles. The straight roller lane version is ideal for stacking beverage cases. All variants can be additionally equipped with lateral guide profiles.
This high-density storage system always holds sufficient products in stock. As soon as a beverage case has been picked, the other cases in that lane move forward so that order pickers and customers never run out of stock.
This system provides many advantages. Offering a large storage volume allows plenty of stock in reserve. This kind of flexibility is very useful in a sector where peaks are not only seasonal but are likely to also be driven by anything from sporting events to warmer than expected weather. A pallet live configuration allows clear presentation of all stock lines and short distances for pickers to cover. It also enables individual beverage case picking or even single bottle picking.
Used in a customer facing environment, such as at a microbrewery, customers can pick products themselves, without help from shop assistants. Lanes with front incline are ideal for single bottle picking, whereas straight lanes are preferred for beverage case picking. This is good news for small independent brewers, which seem on the whole to be overcoming the mounting pressures, spurred on by the demand for craft beers. Many independent craft breweries now sell direct to consumers via their own taprooms, brewery shop or web.
Pallet Live Storage will also interest wholesalers. Take for example a system installed by German beverage wholesaler Fristo, a medium-sized company that has been successfully operating beverage stores for over 50 years and has more than 228 outlets.
With the goal of greater order processing efficiency, an intralogistics solution was implemented at its logistics hub to ensure the continuous supply of 31 stores in the southern Baden region of the country with 200,000 beverage cases per month. More than 965 different product lines must be stored in FIFO order to comply with best-before dates.
BITO’s PROflow pallet live storage system provides Fristo with a high-density storage and shorter order processing times. It also allows safe working in separate loading and picking aisles. The solution features a picking tunnel with Carton Live Storage lanes, where mixed reference pallets are prepared, and tiltable/hinge-up roller lanes on the floor level, which make floor cleaning more convenient.
This example demonstrates the key advantages that give Pallet Live Storage an efficiency edge, including high volume utilisation due to compact storage, reduction of expensive storage surface, separate loading and picking aisles, improved staff efficiency, constant availability of goods, easy control of sell by dates, call of quantities and production batches and the elimination of idle times due to items being unavailable at the pick face. This all contributes to Pallet Live Storage being the ideal solution for beverage sector order picking operations.
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