FEATURE |
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN |
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company that supplied or manufactured
the racking .
There is also a structural difference
between mobile and static options . On
mobiles they have to be able to work with
dynamic loading ( which is that they are
moving ), whereas the fixed racking stays
in one place so the design criteria on
mobile racking needs to be more robust
that the static solutions .
Most racking suppliers offer the design
of the racking and the layout of the store
in their services and some also offer this
through a complete computerised or
simulated system based on the gathered
information where the most appropriate
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picking . A forklift or turret truck these days can have a level of automation themselves when in the aisles to manage risk , so automation is a very broad topic ,” notes Moya .
Automation is something that is very important in first world countries like America , Australia and some degree in Europe . The reason for automation is mainly to have the ability to run a system or procedure without the involvement of a person . It also creates the need to have more qualified people that can make sure the operations continue to run correctly because very small things can go wrong and if you don ’ t have the right people ,
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LOCAL VS IMPORTED
Locally manufactured versus imported
products is always a very interesting and
difficult question to address at the same
time because even in South Africa from
a manufacturing perspective you find
companies where the quality of their
products vary . Some have extremely
good and durable products and others
go a bit too close to the safety line , not to
say that their product is unsafe , but there
are many safety factors that will always
come into play when considering the
height racking can now go to , and the
overall weight they carry .
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something that needs to be made or modified and therefore the sentiment is that it is always good to have a manufacturer at your doorstep that can do this rather than having to wait for parts from Europe or China . If something goes wrong with the racking once its been installed , a local manufacturer can be at your service almost immediately to assist with solutions and technical expertise . All the best technology is already availble in South Africa , and although many people continue to bash the country , we in fact have a really great local talent pool that create solutions which people easily forget ,” Moyo adds . |
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designs are revealed .
RACKING AND AUTOMATION SYSTEMS
Fully automated solutions and systems
are available and have been used for
some time in facilities around the world .
Automation is a word that often gets
muddled by people thinking its all about
machines doing all the work , when rather
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you are not moving your stock , basically halting your operation .
Cunningham says further , “ Fully automated stores find it difficult to cope with variations in daily volume throughput which can be significant for commercial freezer stores . Fully automated racking systems , normally incorporating cranes , are designed to handle a set number of pallets per
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“ Clients often come with requests based only on how many palettes we can plan for , when in fact it is not as simple as that .” |
Cunningham notes , “ Imported racking is designed to save steel . It will support the stated pallet loads but may have less resistance to impacts . Imported racking is made to higher levels of engineering design and will perform to a specific rating . Local manufacturers tend to use more material and can over specify because of how racking is sometimes treated in the South African working |
there are a number of different levels of |
hour . They can work where a freezer |
environment .” |
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automation . |
store is ‘ tied ’ to a processing plant |
Currently a lot more imported racking |
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“ In the consideration of automation |
with relatively contstant production |
“ When you take a product like racking |
is coming into the country because the |
and with the varying levels , you could |
volumes . In commercial freezers where |
that has been standardised over the years |
industry is under pressure specifically in |
look at self-driving forklifts or automated |
product flows vary , experienced staff |
in the production process you can assure |
Europe – there is no work so exporters |
guided vehicles , or a forklift driver still |
are required to manage the various |
quality products and quality assurance |
supply here and their pricing is generally |
going in and out of the store with mobile |
levels of activity . In such environments , |
certification guaranteeing a particular |
cheaper than local companies with only |
racking , that is also considered a form |
automation above a certain level tends |
quality product . As you may know with |
one major challenge standing in their |
of automation by opening an aisle for |
to be avoided .” |
construction and building , there is always |
way – being the exchange rate . The |