Automated Mobile Racking: The Global Shift

Over the years, Acrow has had the pleasure of showcasing our products both to the United States and throughout Europe. When viewing the storage solutions landscape one cannot deny the shift in the industry as project managers choose to automate their storage solutions. This has been onset where the requirement of meeting the customer’s rapid fulfilment needs has become a focal point, whilst additionally ensuring that the storage solution runs more efficiently, thus reducing overall costs.

This global shift has seen many manufacturers and retailers updating their DCs by incorporating new automated technologies that support rapid-order fulfilment. In the era of instant gratification, and from the retail perspective, consumers have become accustomed to receiving orders in 2-3 days. This mindset has naturally impacted companies, forcing them to alter their order fulfilment processes.

Africa, and South Africa have been quick on the uptake, with multiple companies implementing automated mobile racking storage solutions in their warehouses and distribution centres. Acrow has seen great success with automated mobile racking particularly in cold storage plants.

Furthermore, most storage systems being implemented in DCs today are very customer specific. Whilst the components in various operations may be similar, there are distinct variations, ensuring that each Automated Mobile Racking Storage Solution is largely unique in its own right. It requires more engineering and design involvement, however once it is installed and functioning, the benefits are unparalleled. The shift from storing and shipping full pallet loads to stores to picking and packing individual orders for fast shipping has caused companies to rethink their storage configurations, with companies ultimately opting to upgrade.
At Acrow, we have to factor the way in which the product flows and the employees function within the warehouse into the rack design, where even the slightest change on the integrator’s part can have major repercussions on the design process. This means that in order to avoid any pitfalls in this area we ensure that we spend more time on the project management – beginning from the initial design phase, to the quotation phase, then the manufacturing process and lastly the installation aspect.

The notion that today’s racking and shelving components need to be able to integrate with robots, AS/RS, carts, conveyors as well as alternate tech-oriented equipment has pushed manufacturers into the realm of engineering, rather than that of solely manufacturing.

When analysing the complexities and benefits of the Automated Mobile Racking Storage Solution, it does not undermine the abilities of standard racking, rather it provides additional options to service greater order-fulfilment requirements. In this understanding, one can easily upgrade or replace certain aspects of their storage solutions, or alternatively replace it entirely. Over the years, Acrow has had the pleasure of showcasing our products both to the United States and throughout Europe. When viewing the storage solutions landscape one cannot deny the shift in the industry as project managers choose to automate their storage solutions. This has been onset where the requirement of meeting the customer’s rapid fulfilment needs has become a focal point, whilst additionally ensuring that the storage solution runs more efficiently, thus reducing overall costs.

This global shift has seen many manufacturers and retailers updating their DCs by incorporating new automated technologies that support rapid-order fulfilment. In the era of instant gratification, and from the retail perspective, consumers have become accustomed to receiving orders in 2-3 days. This mindset has naturally impacted companies, forcing them to alter their order fulfilment processes.

Africa, and South Africa have been quick on the uptake, with multiple companies implementing automated mobile racking storage solutions in their warehouses and distribution centres. Acrow has seen great success with automated mobile racking particularly in cold storage plants.

Furthermore, most storage systems being implemented in DCs today are very customer specific. Whilst the components in various operations may be similar, there are distinct variations, ensuring that each Automated Mobile Racking Storage Solution is largely unique in its own right. It requires more engineering and design involvement, however once it is installed and functioning, the benefits are unparalleled.

The shift from storing and shipping full pallet loads to stores to picking and packing individual orders for fast shipping has caused companies to rethink their storage configurations, with companies ultimately opting to upgrade.
At Acrow, we have to factor the way in which the product flows and the employees function within the warehouse into the rack design, where even the slightest change on the integrator’s part can have major repercussions on the design process. This means that in order to avoid any pitfalls in this area we ensure that we spend more time on the project management – beginning from the initial design phase, to the quotation phase, then the manufacturing process and lastly the installation aspect.

The notion that today’s racking and shelving components need to be able to integrate with robots, AS/RS, carts, conveyors as well as alternate tech-oriented equipment has pushed manufacturers into the realm of engineering, rather than that of solely manufacturing.
When analysing the complexities and benefits of the Automated Mobile Racking Storage Solution, it does not undermine the abilities of standard racking, rather it provides additional options to service greater order-fulfilment requirements. In this understanding, one can easily upgrade or replace certain aspects of their storage solutions, or alternatively replace it entirely.

Acrow is the first local company to have in-house manufacturing capabilities to produce a mobile rack. In the past you would have to purchase this product from an overseas supplier – or even parts thereof, now you can get the entire system from us directly giving you a dedicated local supplier.