Even in a world led by Industry 4.0, companies must be not only innovative but also quick in meeting their customers’ needs. Response time is critical. This is even more important if we think about logistics today and about the time it takes to prepare an order.
The picking process has always been a good part of the workload in a warehouse. Kilometers are walked in search of goods through aisles, stairs, and mezzanines not to mention the use of ladders, forklifts and the like.
With Modula vertical storage solutions, waiting times can be drastically reduced, simplifying order management. Automated storage systems are in fact based on the “goods to person” principle, that is, the material is brought to the operator and not the other way around. Items are “requested” by the Copilot, a user-friendly 10-inch touch screen console, and from there they are brought directly to the picking bay. The search for the material takes very little time since items are all inside a tray-based vertical storage system.
Walser Reconditioning: how to save time with Modula automated storage solutions
Walser Reconditioning is a car refurbishment company based in Eagan (Minnesota, USA).
Thirteen years ago, Walser decided to concentrate its business in a single location to ensure higher management standards for its car refurbishment program.
Their process involves up to 35 stages that each vehicle must pass before it can be put on the market again. Each car must go through the entire cycle in less than 5 days, which means that spare parts must always be available to minimize repair times.
Hence the decision to install a Modula Lift ML25D storage system near the sales counter to facilitate fast and efficient picking. This resulted in a massive increase in productivity for personnel that used to literally walk kilometers a day in search of items often stored on disorganized shelves with many items out of place.
Now, the Modula automated storage systems ensure that mechanics have all the parts needed without having to waste time waiting for them.
For Steve Davis, the General Manager of Walser Reconditioning, one of Modula’s best surprises lies in that it is extremely easy to learn how to operate the machine: “I can have someone trained to use the Modulas in an hour, from the most basic to the most complex operation”. The Copilot console and the perfect integration of the WMS make it easy to map and search for parts inside the trays. Tray layouts are also very simple to modify thanks to separators and dividers, which makes the storage system a very flexible solution indeed.
“We examined the options proposed by all the suppliers of similar solutions on the market and in our opinion Modula had the best solution for us, with the best interface with our management system and customer support that perfectly suits our needs. I highly recommend these automated vertical storage systems for a new dealership or a growing dealership that is running out of space” – Steve Davis, General Manager of Walser Reconditioning.
