Medz Europe, based in The Netherlands, is a distributor of medical disposables. Covid-19 caused a huge increase in demand for the type of personal protective equipment, such as disposable gloves and clothing, that Medz Europe supplies.
Requirements
The warehouse operation needed to be run more efficiently, with optimum use made of its storage capacity.
Solution
The solution the Dexion team advised on and installed was our pallet shuttle system.
The warehouse was set up with pallet racks, but by removing the outer two rows of these racks and replacing them with the pallet shuttle racks, we immediately created more storage capacity.
We first disassembled the pallet racks which were against the wall and installed the pallet shuttle system. Long channels (10 and 12 pallets deep respectively) have now been created and a shuttle (a battery-driven pallet truck) can move the pallets through the canals.
Results
With the help of a forklift, the shuttle can be placed in the desired position and operated by remote control. The shuttle brings out the required pallet, and this pallet is then collected by a forklift. This means the forklift does not need to drive between the racks, reducing the risk of damage.
We also installed two sections of conventional pallet racks on the head of a pallet shuttle position.
The pallet shuttle racks are equipped with a set-up aid, so the forklift driver can see at what height the pallets and shuttle need to be imported. The uprights are equipped with style protectors and wheel stoppers for forklifts mounted on the floor.
On one side, the pallet shuttle system comprises 20 channels of 12 pallets deep and 3 pallets high - 720 pallet places in total.
On the other side, it provides 18 channels of 10 pallets deep and 3 pallets high, and one channel of 8 pallets deep and 3 pallets high (to allow for access to an emergency door), which gives a further 564 pallet places.
“We chose Dexion because the contact was pleasant right from the start. Dexion think along practical lines, without fuss and the understand exactly what we need, and are excellent at communications. During the installation, there was a quick switch at the time when we had questions,” said Paul Schmits, Operations Director at Medz Europe.
About the customer
A family-run business, Medz Europe is an importer/wholesaler of medical consumables, pharmaceuticals and drugstore items. It supplies well-known brands and also has its own range of disposable gloves and clothing under the labels AllWear, AltairMed, Eurogloves and Merbach, as well as private labels.