If creating space is a priority whilst keeping costs as low as possible and relocation of your premises is out of the question, then Avanta UK can assist you. In addition to supplying new storage equipment Avanta UK can re-design your warehouse, factory and office interior.
To re-organise your warehouse for example may mean minimal purchase of new equipment with the emphasis on re-configuring existing equipment. This could include: –
Mezzanine floors are modular secondary floors or platforms and because they are constructed using columns, beams, purlins, boards, staircases and handrail that are not necessarily tied into the structure of the building.
A mezzanine floor is secured by various fixings so that the constituent parts can be dismantled, and the mezzanine can be re-sited in a different area either in its original configuration or reconfigured in a different way to suit the new needs of the warehouse, distribution centre etc.
A mezzanine floor by its very nature is classed as temporary and potential rate rebates are available.
Taking down a mezzanine floor can form part of a wider warehouse strip out or rip out project.
Warehouse Technology – Getting Left Behind Is Not An Option
Such is the impact of this emerging technology for warehousing, distribution and logistics, that the cost of not investing could be catastrophic. This is why in one survey by IDC, 90% of all supply chain companies and leading industrial players reported plans to integrate commercial service robots in one capacity or another. There is also research to suggest that the use of automated technology in order fulfilment will increase 15-fold by the end of 2021.
The reverse side of this statistic is a substantial fall in manual operations in warehouse and distribution departments, which is set to gather pace as AMRs become ever more agile and responsive. Why pay for labour, when the technology exists to do the same jobs quicker, with minimal risk of error?
The Commercial Advantages Of Automating Warehousing
Having robots to carry out laborious processes is clearly a way of introducing greater efficiency and control. There are other benefits to investing in this technology too. Health & Safety compliance and concerns can be less onerous when robots are ‘recruited’.
As the AI systems that support robotics become more advanced, companies can increasingly depend on them for versatile and intuitive functions. This increases the tasks they can carry out and the accuracy of their services. Having such reliable, quality-controlled functionality in a warehouse – 24/7 – can be the rock bed of business growth and development.
Errors and oversights reduce, leading to less wasted time, misplaced stock or products that pass their shelf life. Stock is rotated and replenished effectively too, further reducing delays and waste. Order fulfilment becomes slicker, faster and more responsive as technology progresses, making forward looking investors stand out from their competition. Warehouse and logistics teams able to act quickly to every opportunity, threat and demand, are likely to be the ones winning the contracts from efficiency-obsessed clients.
Also, the data mining and analysis abilities provided by modern robotics are invaluable to ambitious companies. They provide end-to-end control and transparency, enabling even greater levels of efficiency.
The Future Of Warehouse Robotics And Automation
This sector is affected by the push of emerging tech, but also the pull of companies hungry for ever more productive and efficient systems. As a consequence, it’s predicted that by 2027, materials handling and logistics technology will be worth $75billion globally. By 2038, this figure could well have doubled!
The shopping list of autonomous technology for warehouse and distribution operations will be topped by mobile robotics. This will include both guided (AGV) and autonomous (AMR) vehicles and carts. What is the difference between AMR and AGV? Guided robotic vehicles and carts work along a pre-set route or track. They are often a lower price point. Autonomous mobile robots are supported by advanced AI and can respond to their environment, using sensors and location data to plan and react as they move around your warehouse. Many consider these to be where true innovation and efficiency are to be found.
Planning to increase your reliance on robotics must also include following developments in drone technology and machinery to carry industrial materials long distance. Both use optical systems and deep learning technologies to navigate and carry out precise functions. Including travelling into difficult to reach or hazardous locations.
The checklist of ‘must-have’ tech will also continue to include ever more advanced mobile storage and retrieval systems. As the range of mobile robotics increases, the future is likely to include automated collection and delivery systems from site to site, or from site to customer. This will include further development of the way such items as machinery parts are delivered to ships and rigs, or remote and inhospitable locations. It's safe to argue that all warehouse, distribution and logistics functions will one day soon be left the capable ‘hands’ of sophisticated robots. Robots backed by advanced software configured to any business operation and site.
Ensure Your Warehouse And Facilities Are Future Ready
Integrating automated systems into a warehouse environment is one of the biggest industry trends taking place at the moment, and data suggests it’s only going to get bigger. Whether you’re updating your warehouse to integrate new systems, or simply to improve efficiency, it’s vital to adapt a solution that fits the needs of your business and that will let you continue to grow and adapt in future.
For example, getting the right warehouse racking system to fit your space and your plans is vital, and must be carefully considered and planned to ensure it is compatible with robotic or automated systems that you wish to use.
Other options to be aware of include increasing floor space for picking, packing or to use for other functions such as office by integrating one or more mezzanine floor levels into the building. Mezzanines can also be a great option to create additional dedicated space for robots to operate in many industries.
When adapting a warehouse space for increased automation and use of robots, there are of course a range of items to identify and update. These include ensuring that the correct flooring surfaces are used for robots to run on which should be smooth, hard wearing and designed to reduce static build up to ensure trouble free operation, along with the installation of mesh fencing or security areas to restrict access, enabling high levels of safety to be maintained when robotic systems are implemented.
Adjustable pallet racking as the name suggests can be reconfigured to suit the product or pallet stored as the beams are adjustable and frames can be relocated in for example a narrow aisle configuration if handling equipment permits.
You can add additional beam levels and mesh/timber or steel decks to store boxes as well as pallets in the same run. Alternatively, adding carton flow beds for items that are to be hand loaded and picked.
Existing pallet racking can be incorporated into a new layout with new racking if required. Pallet Racking is relatively straight forward to dismantle if using a suitably qualified and trained dismantling team. If disposal is required, this can be arranged by Avanta UK.
A typical retail business may sell through more than one channel. A combination of physical retail, ecommerce and 3rd party fulfilment may mean that the storage, deposit and picking off individual items contained in packets and boxes plus garments are likely to be held in shelving.
This could be longspan shelving for heavy large BDC boxes or shortspan shelving for lighter packets or to store returned items that require re-work. Shelving on mobile bases where space is restricted is also a way of utilising existing shelving.
Businesses are consistently re-organising their warehouse operation and this will inevitably involve striping out and clearing shelved areas and relocating shelving runs in different layouts to suit.
Additional shelf levels can be simply added to Longspan Shelving Systems and this system can even be multi-tiered with pick towers to maximise the cubic space within the building.
Whether it be an industrial mesh, double glazed office, clean room or welfare facility, if it is built from a demountable partitioning system then likely the office etc. can be dismantled.
Once the partition is dismantled it can be reconfigured or relocated to a different area of the premises. Straight runs maybe altered to create PODS or adding additional walkways and relocating doors.
Office strip out or warehouse rip out could involve dismantling mesh, solid steel, glazed and / or composite partitions and re-using the partitions, doors etc.
You have leased a building for the last x amount of years, and you have invested in converting an old shell of a warehouse into a bright, warm modern office, factory and warehouse environment.
If you are leaving the afore mentioned premises the landlord may require you to reinstate the workplace premises back to their original state to put back on the market as a generic warehouse.
This could involve inviting a company in like Avanta UK to tender for the striping out of the following: –
