Business need
Hansaprint is the largest magazine printing house in Finland using more than 75,000 tonnes of paper a year. The paper is delivered on enormous reels, which due to their size and weight are stored on the floor until required.
The next stage involves moving the reels onto pallets where it is turned into printed sheets that are stored in intermediate storage using Last-in, First-out (LIFO) - racking located beside the production lines. Finished goods are packed and stored in pallet flow racking First-in, First-out (FIFO) before dispatch to its many national and international clients.
But printing is just part of the process. The Hansaprint team also offer everything from graphic design and prepress services to storage and logistics. With heat-set and sheet-fed offset capacity, advanced digital printing techniques and extensive post-processing and mailing services, each stage of their operation relies heavily on technology to manage the large and complex volume requirements.
Hansaprint leads the field in the Nordic countries for its investment in modern production capacity. This investment extends to the internal material flow, which they have automated using robots and AGVs. Their high standards and reputation for quality and customer service meant that they were looking for a solution that would work seamlessly with their existing operation.
Kasten solution
The Kasten team started by examining the requirements for each of the three stages:
- turning the paper reels into sheets ready for printing
- turning the printed sheets into finished goods
- storing the finished goods before dispatch.
This research proved to be invaluable in helping them to create solutions that maximised production flow and made the best use of space. Hansaprint agreed with their suggestion of dynamic live pallet storage (LIFO and FIFO) option.
- The warehouse is decentralised according to the requirements of the production flow in the most space saving way.
- To obtain the maximum logistics capacity both the sheets and finished goods racking are situated near to the production lines.
- Intermediate storage is situated in LIFO-racking in the direct vicinity of the production process. Automatic forklifts load and pick the pallets needed in the printing process.
- FIFO-racking is used for storing the finished goods. The automatic forklift loads finished goods pallets in the FIFO-racking and unloading takes place at the other end of the pallet flow racking, directly into the dispatch area.
The result
As everything is fully automated, the traffic between each set of racking is continuous so it was essential that all equipment and racking functioned exceptionally well. The dynamic pallet racking and automatic forklifts are an essential part of the logistics strategy within the print house.
About Hansaprint
Hansaprint Oy is a part of the TS Group. The head office and main production facilities of Hansaprint Oy are located in Turku, Finland. They also have business operations in Vantaa, Finland and Malmö, Sweden.
Hansaprint's affiliated companies/partners include the sheet-fed offset printing press Newprint, form printing press Polytypos and the new media office Nitro. In 2016 they were selected as digital printing house for the Financial Times and International New York Times, two of the world’s most prestigious newspapers.