Not happy with your existing industrial racking supplier? Your business and warehouse operations are important and you deserve to be treated with respect like a VIP.
Originally, Select Harvests asked their existing supplier, a major Australian pallet racking company, to supply a racking system for their new state-of-the-art almond processing facility in Wemen, Victoria. The service received was disappointing considering their prior arrangements. When given the opportunity to quote a storage solution, the level of detail provided was inadequate and no time was taken to discuss the benefits of the proposal with the Select Harvests team. Despite frequent calls, there was little response when questions arose. Select Harvests felt they were being taken for granted.
Select Harvests’ Warehouse Manager explains, “We decided to call off that proposal. We gave stow the opportunity to quote and we were very pleased. The team were persistent… we could tell that they valued our potential business.”
Select Harvests were looking for a product of high quality, yet also competitively priced. In taking on their project, suppliers would have to be willing to travel to the warehouse location in Wemen, around 6 hours north of Melbourne.
stow Australia not only provided a global best practice product at a great price, but were consistently in contact with Select Harvests. Not surprisingly, communication is one of the 6 Key Customer Commitments stow Australia stands for. stow believes it is vital that queries are immediately addressed and there is a sense of trust and shared understanding between both organisations. With this, the process goes much smoother with a greater net benefit at the end.
More and more companies are opting for automated storage solutions, such as mobile and shuttle racking to improve productivity with less manual handling required. stow installed Atlas Shuttle and Selective pallet racking for Select Harvests, totalling over 2000 pallet positions. The Atlas shuttle is unique to stow. The shuttle racking system operates as a carrier that moves pallets within our Drive-In racking. stow is one of the only storage manufacturers world-wide that manufactures their own pallet shuttle system so it is fully integrated with stow racking systems.
The stow Atlas shuttle system is a self-powered device that runs on rails in deep storage situations to load and unload pallets. Shuttle tasks are communicated via RF remote control, and the shuttle will perform tasks without any further human intervention, which is why this type of storage is sometimes referred to as “satellite racking” or “satellite storage”.
The fully automated stow Atlas system ensures the maximum storage density per square meter possible, achieved by eliminating picking aisles and reducing the width of each pallet aisle. Satellite significantly reduces the overall risk of racking damage due to the forklift not needing to enter the installation itself. stow Atlas’ superior battery life is a big advantage over other shuttle systems. The Atlas is generally 20-30% better than our competitors, and provides more “up-time” which essentially means more productivity.
Select Harvest said, “We opted for shuttle racking to maximize the area available in our warehouse. As we’ve had experience in the past with satellite storage, we know this solution works.”
Prior to installation, stow’s in-house team were proactive and had all safety measures fulfilled. Our experienced Project Management team covered all aspects of planning, implementation and after-care service.
And going forward, they understand that, “there are always challenges when transitioning to a new system, however we are confident that stow will provide us with appropriate training and support to make it a smooth process.”
Select Harvests has achieved a state-of-the-art facility in Wemen to address their ongoing growth in the Australian agriculture sector. The shuttle racking system installed by stow ensures the efficient storage of bulky, heavy items. Select Harvests utilised automation advances in storage to both maximize area in their warehouse and transport goods with minimal human intervention. stow also offered a flexible payment plan during commercial negotiations, whereby Select Harvests accessed a mixed rental/capital ownership financial arrangement.
“We deal with many contractors in all aspects of our business. But I would say that our experience with stow has them up there with our best major contractors … some who have worked with us for years.”