Mecalux optimises Kleen-Tex’s warehouse capacity

About Kleen-Tex

Kleen-Tex is a global leader in mat manufacturing, with worldwide product distribution. The company’s goods, for both business and household use, includes varied types of mats –functional mats for business and industrial use, mats for promotions or merchandising, mats for household use and mats for high-traffic areas. Kleen-Tex was founded in 1967 in La Grange, in the United States. Its international success came about in the 1970s when the company developed and launched its first rubber coated dirt-trapper mats.

Today, Kleen-Tex also has three offices in Europe –in Kufstein (Austria), Suchedniów (Poland) and Bolton (United Kingdom)– and divisions in Japan, Thailand, South Africa and Brazil. The company’s biggest mat manufacturing plant is located in Poland.

Mecalux has proposed the installation of two solutions to optimise Kleen-Tex’s storage processes and workflows in the production warehouse: pallet racks and a mezzanine.

Production warehouse

The production warehouse contains four, 22 m long aisles with pallet racks on both sides. They are used to store manufactured mats.

Pallet racks are divided into four levels (including the ground floor). The main advantage of this system is its adaptability to any load type and weight. Five racking rows are dedicated to storing 440 pallets of 800 x 1,200 mm and each 750 kg in weight, or 330 pallets of 1,000 x 1,200 and up to 1000 kg each. Another three rows are for bulky products –which can house up to 198 pallets of 1,000 x 1500 mm and weigh 1,000 kg.

Installed single-deep pallet racks give direct access to all of the stored goods. This product access improves the warehouse’s goods management and overall order preparation.

Frontal rack uprights and beams are equipped with distinctive protectors to improve the safety of the racks. Also, an underpass cuts crosswise through the racking to facilitate the flow of movements.

The first level above the passageway is protected with metallic mesh, which guarantees the safety of operators and prevents loads from falling.

The mezzanine

The second storage solution delivered to Kleen-Tex’s warehouse was a mezzanine. It is installed in a specially designated area, which is also the beginning of the plant’s production line.

On both mezzanine levels –ground and first floor–, special machines distribute yarn directly to the production area. Likewise, palletised yarn stock accumulates on the mezzanine’s raised floor. Forklifts deliver these goods through the specially mounted hinged safety doors. Meanwhile, empty pallets are piled along one side of the mezzanine.

The mezzanine structure can handle a permissible load of 600 kg/m².

Advantages for Kleen-Tex

• Productivity: single-deep pallet racks offer direct access to the stored goods.
• Flexibility: pallet racks allow the storage of a wide variety of products in terms of dimensions and weights.
• Increased storage area: the installation of a mezzanine in the production area has increased the warehouse’s storage capacity and optimised its usage.