SOLUTION
Stacker cranes for long products
A long-product stacker crane serves a store for timber or other bulky materials. It connects storage positions to picking stations so orders can be assembled before dispatch.
Historical example: timber store volume
18,000 m³
Products
Long and bulky products
Product length by configuration
Up to 13 metres
Function
Automated storage
Preparation
Order pre-packing
Storage supporting order preparation
Products remain accessible in a multi-reference store. The stacker crane brings carriers to picking stations and returns them to storage. Order preparation can include pre-bundling before dispatch.
Product length, carrier length and machine length are different dimensions. The examples below remain tied to their installations to avoid confusing them.
Line functions
The installation delivered by ALFI Technologies for Chausson Matériaux uses 3 m or 6 m carriers. The stated speeds for this stacker crane are 2.5 m/s in travel and 1.5 m/s in lifting.
The WMS controls storage and retrieval and supports barcode label printing and handheld scanning. These specifications describe that installation, not every long-product store.
Applications in this family can handle products up to 13 m long. Admissible length depends on the carrier and handling configuration.
Store design requires a distinction between product and carrier dimensions, together with the references to be combined in each order.
A centre presented by ALFI Technologies provides 18,000 m³ of timber storage and uses three stacker cranes measuring 19 m in length. That dimension refers to the machines, not to the accepted product length.
The store combines multi-reference storage, picking and put-away during waiting periods. These functions need to be matched to the order workload.