Materials Handling

A leading European paper wholesaler and logistics service provider needed to expand its capabilities to meet efficiency, cost leadership and service differentiation goals. The company’s current mini-load small parts storage system had reached its performance limits.

A large soft drink manufacturer outgrew its on-site warehousing facilities. Stock was stored in multiple off-site locations which created numerous problems such as high levels of stock write-offs, site congestion and other health and safety risks.

A leading internet electronics retailer’s needed to expand its order fulfillment and inventory storage capability to meet continued sales growth. Initial plans were to build a duplicate building on site to double capacity for both.

A leading clothes retailer previously managed logistics through a third party logistics provider but for strategic reasons, decided to manage the supply to their stores in-house. To simplify and improve efficiency of the flow of goods into the 360 stores the company decided to invest in their own distribution center.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (June 9, 2009) - Enjoying NFL football live at the stadium with a couple of cold beers is a tradition as old as the league itself. As such, one of the key elements to the infrastructure portion of a substantial upgrade to Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, is a new stadium-wide storage and distribution system for draft beer. A series of material lifts, known in the industry as vertical reciprocating conveyors (VRCs), from Pflow Industries are integral to the innovative new system.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (April 16, 2009) - Getting the most out of existing floor space is important for all manufacturers as they manage growth and the proliferation of their product lines. This need is magnified when your finished products range in length from 38 to 51 ft and in width from 12 to 15 ft. Such was the challenge facing Sea Ray Boats as they sought to upgrade the storage system for the fiberglass mold dollies in the lamination production area of their Palm Coast, Florida, manufacturing facility - all to be performed with just a minimal disruption to the standard production flow.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (February 17, 2012) - Man made satellites orbit the earth at altitudes that can exceed 20,000 miles, typically transported by a rocket or space shuttle, the speed and path of which are precisely controlled in order to launch the satellite into the desired orbit. Satellites at this altitude orbit the earth at the same speed in which the earth turns, hovering over the same spot on the earth's surface at all times.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (June 2, 2011) - At just over 1,092 feet in length Dock #8 is the largest of the seven drydocks on the grounds of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) in Portsmouth, VA. Opened in 1942, it is also the newest, designed to hold aircraft carriers, the largest ships in the naval fleet and among the largest mobile objects of any kind in the world.

Offshore oil drilling platforms are often referred to as “cities on the sea” with over 100 people living and working on the largest of them at any given time. With staggered shifts of two weeks on and two weeks off, and a steady flow of supplies needed to feed and care for the staff, there is frequent transport traffic, typically by helicopter, to and from the closest port.

The challenge was to engineer a system of catch nets to protect employees working under a fast moving overhead conveyor system. In addition, the caught objects must remain undamaged and be retrieved quickly without impeding the workflow.