The new Pallet Shuttle Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) operates at temperatures down to -25 degrees centigrade.
The storage solution allows pallets to be stored safely and compactly and does not require multiple aisleways.
Pallets are fed into or retrieved from a series of ‘storage channels’ that make up the rack structure by lift truck.
Incoming loads are placed onto a Rainbow Dynamics pallet carrier at the entrance to the allocated ‘storage tunnel’. The pallet carrier then travels to the furthest point in the ‘tunnel’ where it deposits the load before returning to its original position.
The pallet carrier can then either receive another pallet for storage within the same ‘tunnel’ or be picked up by the fork truck and switched to another location within the storage system.
The storage scheme can be designed to offer a choice of first in, last out (FILO) storage, where loading/ unloading is undertaken from just one side of the system, or if required, FIFO mode with pallet loading and unloading carried out from two opposing sides of the storage structure.
This flexibility means that Rainbow Dynamics’s 4D Pallet Shuttle AS/RS not only makes the most of a warehouse facility’s storage space but also improves the speed and efficiency of the pallet put-away and retrieval process.
Furthermore, the fact that the pallet carriers are moved to serve any one of the storage cube’s ‘tunnels’ allows the user to reduce operational overheads by optimising the size of the material handling equipment fleet in use at the site.
The 4D Pallet Shuttle AS/RS is integrated with other warehouse process. Rainbow Dynamics supplies all software and hardware and manages the project – from the initial design throughout the installation to the system’s go live day and beyond, with after sales support, including an ongoing service and maintenance schedule, also provided.
Global vice president of Rainbow Dynamics, Frazer Watson, said: “Within any type of storage facility, it is essential to maximise pallet density. Quite simply, the more pallets you can get into the warehouse the lower your costs per pallet stored are going to become.”
“With good quality warehouse space still hard to come by in the most sought-after locations throughout Europe, there is a lot of interest around high-density storage systems now.
The combination of high-density pallet racking and Rainbow Dynamics’ 4D Pallet Shuttle technology delivers maximum storage density while ensuring that pallet accessibility is simple and rapid and the market’s response to it has been so overwhelmingly positive that we expect the system to emerge as our flagship product before long.”