RAXEL give NEDIS UK a lift to consolidate to single DC

NEDIS UK, one of the leading UK Distributors of consumer electronics for the domestic brown and white goods servicing trade, recently awarded RAXEL Storage Systems of Lincoln a contract to consolidate its stock holding from two small warehouses on the same industrial estate in Melton Mowbray, into a single warehouse.
Due to market changes in buying patterns and maintenance of electronic goods, its core business model evolved to include the supply of accessories as well as component spares. This in turn created a change in stock holding and an opportunity to rationalise and consolidate on warehouse requirements.

Having successfully used the services of RAXEL for many years in the past, NEDIS UK (formerly S.E.M.E. Ltd) decided to appoint the company to work with them in reviewing operations and present proposals in order to consolidate the stock holding into one warehouse.

It was decided to close the unit containing its small part storage, picking and packing operation, transferring and consolidating this within the larger unit that was being utilised for office and bulk storage. In order to achieve this goal, NEDIS UK had to re-evaluate and reduce its stock holding levels in both operations. At the same time, RAXEL were required to maximise on available space in order to create suitable storage areas for bulk stock holding, plus a small parts store involving a shelving system that offered the facility for fast efficient order picking, transfer, packing and despatch.

Working closely with NEDIS UK and considering the various options, a final decision was agreed upon to utilise the height of the building and create additional flooring by removing two single runs of pallet racking in order to install a new mezzanine floor. On the upper floor level new shelving was to be installed and for economy, existing shelving was located below at ground level, along with a proposed packing area to offer marshalling and archive storage. At both ends of the floor, RAXEL installed single pallet gates into the mezzanine guard rails to enable bulk stock to be deposited for pick replenishment in store.

Due to space restrictions, the challenging question arose as to how to safely and efficiently transfer stock picked from the mezzanine floor, down to ground floor for further picking and packing. The option of order picking onto trolleys, decanting onto a belt conveyor and then re-loading to trolleys at ground floor level did not support efficient handling. Also, on reflection, the belt conveyor occupied too much of the available and useable floor area.

Therefore, RAXEL proposed a new type of goods lift that had been specially adapted to take the trolleys that had been supplied as part on the project. The upper lift entrance was strategically located at the packing end of the mezzanine floor, so that completed trolley loads could be safely lowered down to the ground floor to fulfil any second pick. Trolleys are placed in a designated area for orders to be packaged for despatch and empty trolleys are returned to the first floor to be stored for re-use.

Mr Andrew Thorpe (Finance Manager) at Nedis UK confirmed – “Raxel Storage Systems are an excellent company to work with, right from the initial drawing and design stage, through to the construction of the new floor, installation and operation of the goods lift. They suggested various racking solutions and costs for us to evaluate before choosing the current solution. From the on, they managed the work from start to finish, ensuring it was completed to their high standards. The project was completed successfully and the operation is now fully transferred.”

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