A leading company specialized in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labelling and functional materials enabled to increase the storage capacity for higher production.
A global Fortune 500® corporation, Avery Dennison is a global materials science and manufacturing company specializing in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labelling and functional materials. The company is headquartered in Glendale, California, and is the global leader in pressure-sensitive and self-adhesive labels for consumer and commercial products like shower-gel bottles and syringe labels.
Labels and graphic materials, reflective or equipped with RFID application, there is an ‘Avery Dennison’ in nearly every major industry (FMCG, Pharmaceutical, Apparel, Durables and Graphic Imaging). With the pursuit of a vision that not only enables the corporation to deliver innovative products and intelligent solutions to their customers worldwide, but Avery Dennison also continuously looks for newer and more efficient solutions for their logistics material flow in their facilities.
2019 - In the western region of Maharashtra, the second-most populous state in India, Avery Dennison
met SSI SCHAEFER India for the first time. At the 7836 sqf warehouse, the manually operated facility was functioning at its peak, the need to increase the capacity for the storage of heavy paper rolls and labels within the available footprint was evident.
Running at full capacity, cartons of pressure-sensitive adhesive materials had to be transported from the warehouse storage zone to the shipping zone. To improvise the material flow and the storage capacity for multiple stock-keeping units (SKUs), the benchmark of the new system would need to achieve 100% inventory selectivity, accommodate more than 342 tonnes on each carriage (2052 tonnes in total system tonnage), and lastly, be exceptionally compact.
There were different sizes of pallets - 950kgs (small) and 1200 kgs (Big) to be stored and retrieved simultaneously. Due to the weight ratio and size differences, a few considerations were taken.
1. How to achieve a safe and accident-free workplace?
2. How to secure the pallets tightly onto the racks?
3. How to increase storage area by up to 40%?
4. Storage and retrieval – How to handle different sizes and weights of fully-loaded pallets.
Mobile Racking System (MRS) or pallet is a flexible high-density storage system for large and heavy goods. The I600 MRS is a system where racks are built on a mobile base and guided by rails on the floor. Powered by an electrical motor, the mobile base moves along the rails to open one or more access aisles.
The MRS could handle 1648 pallet locations (thanks to the excess 40% more storage area uncovered only by using the mobile racking system). Across 5 levels of racks, each level of the rack was reinforced using wire mesh decking panels to handle the substantial load. The following features enhance the warehouse operation safety.
The safety plan:
• A safety light barrier detects access to a rack aisle in a block of movable racks (access monitoring).
• A safety light barrier on both long sides of each mobile carrier detects persons/objects in the aisle being closed
(safety foot light barrier)
• EMERGENCY STOP switches at every operating station
• Tip Safe: A powerful drive concept that bolts the wheel to the rail without the risk of tipping over.
• Operates the MRS using a Radio Remote Control
Storing heaps of paper rolls on rods, the storage and retrieving process was laborious and not without handling risk. At close to 4-meters high, these hefty paper rolls that weigh more than 1.7 tonnes each are the finished goods of the adhesive labels and graphics, freshly pressed and processed from the factory. To manually access the goods using special forklift trucks, each aisle had to include a ‘MHE access’ lane which indirectly compromises the warehouse capacity and the flexibility to adapt for future business growth.
The warehouse in Southern India – Karnataka, another distribution center of Avery Dennison was due for an upgrade. After the successful implementation of the semi-automated storage system in Western Maharashtra, Avery Dennison took SSI SCHAEFER India towards Karnataka, the largest state in South India and the sixth largest in India for yet another warehouse improvement project.
How to store 1.7 tonnes of pressure-sensitive adhesive rolls safely and properly?
Roll storage, one of the more challenging inventories due to its spherical nature, the heavy rolls of papers had to be handled with extra care. The key concerns were obvious:
1. How to access the inventory easily and safely?
2. How to create storage for extra heavy pallet loads (Max per load – 1750kg)
3. How to store spherical goods?
Adjusting the storage method – from rods to pallets. To ensure that the warehouse environment becomes safer, each set of 1.7 tonnes worth of paper rolls are being transferred from ‘rod storage’ to standard pallet storage.
Using the Mobile Racking System or pallet, an already proven solution for Avery Dennison, the 2nd MRS installation in the Karnataka warehouse would now handle a heavier carriage. Each carriage would carry 256 tonnes of paper roll, and a total of 3 carriages – total tonnage of 768 tons was deployed.
Within 4068 sqft, the Karnataka warehouse fulfilled 448 pallet locations, 40% more than using static racks. The MRS is made to handle heavier pallets with a maximum load of around 1750 kgs on each rack. Standing at a height of approximately 4.1 meters, the material throughput remained uncompromised. Some of the following features highlight the Mobile Racking System implemented:
• I600 Mobile Pallet Racking system for 448 pallet locations
• Single Pallet Safety Back stopper
• Wire mesh Decking Panels
SSI SCHAEFER supports customers throughout the entire life cycle of the solution.
A 24/7 customer service support team, ready spare parts for the Mobile Racking System, or to remotely support the Avery Dennison team, SSI SCHAEFER India is not unfamiliar with the expectation. There was no let-up even when Covid-19 was at its height as the team continued to implement the project safely. Customer Satisfaction, Service and Support has always been a part of SSI SCHAEFER’s DNA, which differentiates why SSI SCHAEFER remains a partner of choice to many.
