Coating system installed

Citation

(1999), "Coating system installed", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 28 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.1999.12928faf.002

Coating system installed

Keywords: Automotive, Coatings, Storage, Paints, Fire safety, Daifuku

Well-versed in custom-designed solutions, Daifuku Europe has recently installed an automated storage retrieval system (ASRS) for NP Automotive Coatings at its flammable paint storage operation in Swindon (Plate 1). It is believed to be the first installation of this kind in Europe.

Plate 1At Daifuku’s ASRS for NP Automotive Coatings, products with a very low flash point are enclosed by a firewall

With safety first in mind, the design for the new warehouse had to comply with the stringent regulations of Zone 2 Hazardous Materials as defined in BS 5345 and temperature classification T4. As well as centralising storage and improving stock control, the new ASRS provides a warehouse management system with the added benefits claimed of reduced throughput time for raw materials and reduced delivery times for finished products. Daifuku has previous experience of manufacturing ASRS equipment to operate in such conditions, and its solution for the paint firm included two fully automatic pallet cranes manufactured to BS 5345. The warehouse has 756 pallet positions and is designed for two further aisles to be added as business requires.

The crane distribution control panel and cell controller are located in the plant room remote from the main warehouse, and separated by intrinsically safe barriers from the hazardous environment of the warehouse. The operation of the ASRS can be monitored through inspection windows at the end of the warehouse.

Crane I is used for storage of products with a very low flash point so the racking in this aisle is enclosed by a fire wall and has an automatic sprinkler system for additional protection. The goods-in and despatch WMS (warehouse management system) terminals and keyboards are housed in explosion-proof cases connected to the remote WMS server located in the plant room. The bar code readers and terminals at the conveyor picking stations are purpose designed to operate in an explosive environment.

The majority of the electronics have been taken off the crane and located in a separate room with the computer. They are linked to the crane by the overhead cable system which carries power to the crane and the signals from the computer. The remaining on-board electronics, which include the motors and sensors, are specially wound and encased to prevent sparks.

The Daifuku WMS controls all movement of raw materials and finished products by tracking them via their novel bar code labels. The WMS interfaces with the NP Automotive Coatings mainframe computer. The capacity of the 756pallet positions equates to 1,239,840 litres of product which includes paint, raw materials, resins and solvents. With the crane height just over 13 meters (43 feet), Daifuku’s ASRS makes effective use of space available, by using maximum headroom. Following the installation of the ASRS, stocktaking time has reportedly been reduced from three and a half days to less than a day. An average batch order can be picked within 30 minutes instead of the previous time of two hours.

Further details are available from Daifuku Europe Ltd. Tel: + 44 (0) 1753 581000; Fax: + 44 (0) 1753 582210; E-mail: sales@daifuku.co.uk