How to Configure Forklifts and Stackers in a Stereoscopic Warehouse

 

Storage equipment configuration is an important part of storage system planning, related to the warehouse construction cost and operating costs, but also related to the production efficiency and benefit of the warehouse. Storage equipment refers to all the technical devices and machinery required for storage business, that is, the warehouse to carry out production operations or auxiliary production operations and to ensure the safety of the warehouse and the various mechanical equipment necessary. According to the main uses and characteristics of the equipment, it can be divided into shelf system, loading and unloading equipment, measurement and inspection equipment, sorting equipment, maintenance lighting equipment, safety equipment, other supplies and tools.

 

Configuration of a forklift

 

Forklifts are also an important storage equipment and facilities in the storage warehouse shelves. Forklift truck, also known as forklift truck, loading and unloading truck, is composed of straight tires and vertical lifting, front and rear inclined fork, door frame and so on. Forklifts are mainly used to complete the short-distance handling of goods, small height stacking and loading and unloading. According to the basic structure, forklift can be divided into counterweight forklift, forward forklift, side fork forklift, narrow channel forklift and so on. It is widely used in the loading and unloading of pieces and boxes of goods, stacking and short-distance handling, traction and lifting work. Forklift is indispensable for the operation of the three-dimensional warehouse. No matter what kind of automatic three-dimensional warehouse, most of them are carried out with forklifts in their storage and transportation operations. Of course, for warehouses with high automation requirements, unmanned automated AGV forklifts can also be used.

 

Forklift features

Forklift has a high degree of mechanization, good mobility and flexibility, and can be used as a “multi-purpose machine”. At the same time, it can also improve the utilization rate of the warehouse volume, which is conductive to the development of pallet group transportation, and has low cost and less investment.

 

Forklift access function

 

The access function of the forklift truck will also be limited by the lifting height, so it can only be used for automated stereoscopic warehouse with low height. When the automatic stereoscopic warehouse chooses to use forklift as the access tool, it can play a role of strong mobility, good flexibility, and can serve multiple roadways at the same time. Its disadvantage is that the stacking height is limited, and then width of the roadway is required to be wider at this time, which will reduce the ultization rate of the warehouse.

 

How the stacker is configured

 

The stacker used in ordinary warehouses, also known as the shelving machine, is a simple structure, used to assist manual stacking, mobile small items vertical lifting equipment. The stacker is mainly used to operate in the channel of the automated three-dimensional warehouse, store the goods located at the entrance of the roadway into the cargo slot, or take out the goods in the cargo slot and transport them to the entrance of the roadway in turn. There are bridge type stacker, tunnel type stacker and other types. It is precisely because of the high lifting height of the stacker, so most of them are used in high-rise three-dimensional warehouse.

 

The configuration of the stacker can be roughly divided into the following six types

 

(1) Basic type

The most basic configuration type of stacker is: one roadway is configured with a stacker crane, that is, when the number of shelves in the warehouse is not large, and the roadway is less and longer, the most basic configuration type can be used in the case that the stacker operation volume in each roadway can be fully utilized.

 

(2) Dual-row configuration

What is a two-row configuration? The so-called double-row configuration type, that is, a stacking crane to the left and right two rows of shelves to load and unload the unit goods, wherein the shelf adopts the lower side of the roadway and the inner side of the higher roller device, loading is first loaded into a pallet, and then the second into; When picking up the goods, it is similar to the gravity shelf, when the tray on the inside of the roadway is removed, the pallet behind will automatically move to the inside of the roadway. In this configuration, a roadway can undertake the access or operation of four rows of shelves, and the work efficiency is also doubled, which can give full play to the role of the roadway stacker, and the utilization rate of warehouse capacity can also be improved.

 

(3) Multi-roadway configuration of a stacker type

A stacker is configured with multiple roadways, that is to say, when the amount of work is not large, the depth of the roadway is not enough, and the stacker has more capacity, the stacker transfer track can be set at the end of the shelf, so that a stacker function can work in multiple roadways, thus reducing the number of stacker configurations. This configuration type is also flawed, that is, the transfer of the stacker needs to occupy a certain space, which will reduce the utilization rate of the warehouse capacity, and the operation in and out of the warehouse will also be affected by the movement of the stacker, so the work efficiency is low.

 

(4) Combined with gravity rack configuration

In fact, it is relatively common for most enterprises to choose this configuration method today.

The combination of roadway stacker and gravity shelf can not only greatly improve the working efficiency of roadway machine, but also greatly improve the utilization rate of warehouse, as well as improve the storage capacity of warehouse, in order to achieve the first-in-first-out of goods, this combination configuration type is an important configuration of modern warehouse distribution center inventory, it is also applicable to the field of rapid entry and exit. The main disadvantage of this configuration is the high technical requirements and high construction costs.

 

(5) Combined with cantilever rack configuration

The use of gantry stacker and long material special cantilever rack, can also be used to access steel, pipe and other long materials, so that long materials can also use automated three-dimensional warehouse storage.

 

(6) Configuration of multiple drifts and multiple stackers and conveyors

The combination of multiple drifts and multiple stackers with conveyors can be used in the distribution field of multi-batch, small-batch and multi-variety picking and rapid shipment, and is also suitable for the spare parts warehouse of machinery factories.