Auto component distributor stacks up savings

The 130,000 sq ft site near Oxford gave First Line the space it needed for expansion – so it was crucial to kit out the building with the right materials handling equipment to enable efficient operations now but also flexibility for the future. At its original sites, First Line had a mixed fleet of rail-guided order picking trucks. The company had planned to reconfigure these trucks to work on a wire-guided system at the new warehouse, attracted by the flexibility that wire-guided systems can offer. But, given the age of the trucks and the cost of altering them, Jungheinrich suggested replacing them with purpose-built, wire-guided machines and, to minimise costs, using a combination of new and refurbished equipment. Jungheinrich supplied First Line with two EKX 410 Kombi trucks, one new and one refurbished. The Kombi can be used for stacking and retrieving pallets as well as for picking individual items. The truck supplier also helped First Line with racking advice. "Like any business, we strive to remain lean and had planned to recycle our racking," says Currill. "However, Jungheinrich's consultants were able to demonstrate that not only was our existing racking not fit for purpose, but that opting for a new system, would actually be less expensive than taking down, reconfiguring and erecting our old system within the new store. "While some of the existing system has been reused on the goods-in consolidation area, we now have a purpose-designed high bay storage cube produced from brand new racking."