
Mecalux keeps the logistics operator Disalfarm in action
Trilateral stacker cranes; an excellent option for automating your warehouse. Replace forklists with automated systems, without having to modify the existing rack structures.
Case study MT Cranes: Disalfarm
Video transcription
Be there when needed. Get there faster. Be better every time.
Because Pharmacies and hospitals don't deliver parcels do not deliver packages they provide relief and life.
Jaume Segrià (Operations Manager Disalfarm)
“Disalfarm is a logistics operator service provider for the pharmaceutical industry. It was established in the year 2000 to service the storage and distribution needs within Spain of for three different laboratories companies -, namely Bayer Hispania, Boehringer Ingelheim and Novartis.
Mecalux installed our racks, and as Disalfarm has evolved and grown, Mecalux has been there every step of the way. As we started to move more volume, we started to lose efficiency, why? Because we could not simply multiply our vehicles, we couldn’t just add more and more forklifts since we were already at a saturation point. ”
Josep M. Sarrià (Plant Manager Disalfarm)
“The routes were getting to be much longer, the pallets were overflowing out of the end of each aisle, and with the additional machines, there was a lot more traffic.”
Jaume Segrià (Operations Manager Disalfarm)
“In addition to becoming less efficient, we had increasing concerns about the safety in the warehouse because of the increased traffic and activity. We had to find a way to set up a pallet conveyor system without interrupting activity, and without stopping some of the flows we had within the storage area.”
Frederic Barea (Engineering ManagerDirector, Automatic Systems Mecalux)
“We had to change fundamentally the way in which the warehouse worked, without slowing down its daily operations during the transition.”
Jaume Segrià (Operations Manager Disalfarm)
“We had started to work on this project with several suppliers, but to answer the question of “Why Mecalux?”, it is because, during the design phase, the company got very involved, and helped us very much to find the solution we needed to get the project off the ground.”
Frederic Barea (Engineering ManagerDirector, Automatic Systems Mecalux)
“Starting from scratch is a good place to start. Designing, planning and building are all fundamental parts of a project, but it is essential that it be done while working side by side with the customer.
Disalfarm and Mecalux, working together, literally flipped the problem around to solve it.”
Jaume Segrià (Operations Manager Disalfarm)
“We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were actually transforming the heart of the company, because that pallet conveyor opened up for us other opportunities that we have been taking advantage of ever since.”
Alex Alonso (Technical Office Manager, Robotics Mecalux)
“We automated the warehouse even further. How?
By reducing manual operations in the warehouse, by replacing the manned VNA trucks with automated stacker cranes to store and retrieve the pallets.”
Jaume Segrià (Operations Manager Disalfarm)
“I would say that without the first project, we wouldn't have gone ahead with the second, but when we set up the automatic pallet conveyor, we didn't think of the possibility that one day, Mecalux would design a specific system for warehouses that, until now, had used manned VNA trucks, which could completely automate the process with automatic stacker cranes.
Up until now, the products we had been offered by the market, regardless of the cost, meant that we would lose almost 20% of our put away locations as a result of automating the storage and retrieval of product in and out of the aisles.
In other words, with our selective racks that we already had in place we couldn’t use traditional stacker cranes because the upper guide rails needed by a typical stacker crane would result in the loss of 20% of our storage slots.
For us, from a business perspective, that was clearly unacceptable, but Mecalux offered us an innovative machine that could give us all of the benefits of an Automated Storage and Retrieval System but without losing any storage space.”
Jaume Segrià (Operations Manager Disalfarm)
“It was very clear that the efficiencies gained from this solution meant that our return on investment would be very rapid.”
Alex Alonso (Technical Office Manager, Robotics Mecalux)
“Each automatic stacker crane replaces a manual VNA truck, drastically reducing the risk of errors and accidents.”
Jaume Segrià (Operations Manager Disalfarm)
“Before, our maximum capacity for movement of product in and out of the storage area was around 1,400 pallets per day. Now, that capacity is triple of what it was before, thanks to the automatic pallet conveyor and to the automatic stacker cranes.”
Frederic Barea (Engineering ManagerDirector, Automatic Systems Mecalux)
“Disalfarm is always on the move, and that is the cornerstone of its amazing success. Never Stop.”
Automatic Stacker Cranes. They never stop.