As interest continues to grow in automated palletizing, let’s take a brief look at a few of the issues surrounding these applications.

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be providing a handful of blog postings relative to palletizers. We will begin with what is driving the growth in the use of these products, then a look at basic systems, cost estimates, what you can expect from a properly applied palletizer system, and then share specifics from a couple of actual implementations in distribution centers.If you are experienced in palletizer systems, you will likely be familiar with much of what is covered here. If you are new to palletizing, or considering your first system, hopefully this information will help you understand what the issues are and how you can navigate them.

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When you’re working on a mezzanine (or work platform) project, you may be provided P.E. seals and calculations. Here’s why you will get these elements…

What are P.E. Seals and Calcs?

• Calculations are a hard copy document of the checks of the mezzanine structural components
• Seals are a stamp placed on the calculations and drawings certifying that a state registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) has made or reviewed them

Who & Why might you need them?

• To obtain building permits municipalities may require them
• Required by municipality plan checkers to review for code compliance
• The end user may require them to certify review of the structure
• Some companies require them for their records

What is included?

• 3 copies of the drawings and calculations (normal)
• All with a P.E. seal for the state that the mezzanine will be installed

Here’s a figure you can relate to: labor is typically about 65% of the operating costs of the average warehouse according to this article in the May 2008 issue of Inbound Logistics. On top of that, 20% of your warehouse workers describe themselves as “disengaged” from the process. Sobering enough to think about, if your business depends on storing, stocking, shipping and receiving to please customers.

The first thing I think of when I see those kinds of numbers is that the cost of labor in a warehouse isn’t something that must stay at 65%. Sure, we all understand that the cost of people in any operation will be at or near the top of your cost lists. Warehouses aren’t special in that regard. The problem is one of productivity per worker. Due to computerization, offices have seen excellent per-employee productivity gains the last twenty years. Some of that has translated to the warehouse or plant floor, but certainly the revolution that has swept the office hasn’t translated entirely to, say, a picking and shipping department. WMS has come for some, sortation systems for others, and those things have made a difference in companies like Robroy who have deployed them correctly.

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Walk into any order fulfillment operation, and you’re probably going to see gravity flow rack.

The reason is obvious–it’s one of the best ways to pick orders utilizing first-in, first-out principles. It used to be that there was one kind of the stuff, the plastic-wheel tracks, but these days the choices are more diverse than ever. For the most part, these flow rack types act the same; they decline toward the picker and boxes or totes or even larger components flow toward him. They’re restocked from the rear and picked from the front onto a takeaway conveyor line, a cart, workstation, or another step in the process.

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Something we often recommend to save space for our clients is modular drawer storage — for certain operations, in particular those with components, assorted small parts, hardware, or even tool storage, we’re talking about recouping 50% -70% of floor space. Once people have ‘em, they love ‘em.

But there is more than one way to skin that cat. You can configure different kinds of cabinets to do different jobs. There are hundreds of possible combinations of drawer styles and sizes. Another wrinkle is what happens when you can merge the drawers with steel shelving. It can be new, it can be some you are already using. It begs the question: when is it better to have a cabinet, and when is it better to use shelving and compartmentalized drawer inserts?

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