Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) use automated equipment to store and retrieve pallets, totes, cartons, and other loads.
That can help you fit more inventory into your existing footprint, reduce repetitive forklift and worker travel, and move products through your warehouse more consistently.
But AS/RS is a major warehouse automation investment. The system has to fit your inventory, throughput, building, software, and overall material flow.
East Coast Storage Equipment can help you figure out whether AS/RS makes sense for your operation — and put the right system together if so.
An AS/RS combines storage equipment with automated machinery and software. Inventory enters the system, automated equipment moves it into the correct storage location, and the system retrieves it when your operation needs it.
Automated systems can take advantage of tall, dense storage layouts without forcing traditional forklift aisles.
Workers and lift trucks spend less time moving into and out of storage locations.
Stored inventory can move automatically to picking areas, conveyors, workstations, production lines, or other destinations.
The system follows defined storage and retrieval processes instead of relying on repeated manual movement.
There’s no single AS/RS design to choose from, but there are general types:
typically handles pallets and similar heavy loads.
tends to be built around smaller loads — totes, trays, cartons, and parts.
use automated shuttles and lifts to move loads through dense storage environments.
As much as we’d like to live in a world where every warehouse desperately needed an AS/RS, that’s just not reality. Some warehouses don’t need one. The ones that do are those where storage and retrieval have turned into serious operational constraints.
Sometimes, AS/RS is the answer, but not always. East Coast Storage Equipment can help you figure it out.
The biggest payoff on AS/RS is the ability to store more in less floor space. But density alone isn’t a salve for all warehouse issues.
You still need to move inventory into the system, retrieve it fast enough, and send it efficiently into picking, packing, production, or shipping.
That’s why the East Coast team looks beyond storage structure. It all comes down to how the whole operation flows. If that enables automations like AS/RS, fantastic. If it doesn’t, we’ll find you other ways to boost efficiency.
What are you storing — pallets, totes, cartons, parts? The size, weight, velocity, and quantity will influence your system’s design.
How much product has to enter and leave the system? (This is especially important to calculate during peak periods.)
Ceiling height, columns, slab condition, available footprint, and fire protection can all affect the design of an AS/RS.
Where does inventory come from before storage? Where does it need to go after it’s retrieved? Write this down so you can picture the end result.
The system will likely need to communicate with your WMS, ERP, conveyors, picking equipment, and any other automation you already have.
If at least a couple of these sound familiar, it may be time to take the next step on AS/RS:
If you checked a couple of those boxes or more, you have an operational problem that’s worth solving. And AS/RS may be a part of that solution.
AS/RS technology is truly impressive. That doesn’t mean you have to have it. It’s only one of myriad ways to improve your warehouse operation.
East Coast Storage Equipment starts with your storage requirements, inventory flow, throughput, and facility. Then we determine the systems and equipment that actually fit.
We look at your inventory, loads, throughput, layout, and bottlenecks.
Storage equipment, automation, and material flow get designed together.
We coordinate with AS/RS manufacturers, software providers, and integrators we trust.
We coordinate the project from planning and equipment through installation and implementation.
We don’t work with just anyone. East Coast has spent years developing a trusted, proven network of automation manufacturers, software providers, and integrators.
We’ve worked with these people, they’ve done a great job, and we trust them. Having this network gives us the flexibility to match the tech to your operation instead of forcing your operation around one product we don’t actually know or trust.
The best AS/RS isn’t necessarily the biggest or most automated system. It’s the one that solves your material-flow and storage problems. Every time.
Done right, an AS/RS can help you increase storage density, cut down on repetitive travel, improve product access, and support higher throughput. East Coast Storage Equipment can help you figure out whether AS/RS is the right move — and build the system around your warehouse if it is.
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