ICS brings on self-powered pallet shuttle

In the face of growing competition, warehouse operators are achieving success by investing in technology and constantly striving to add services and maximise profits,” says Patricia Simons, general manager Cape Town for Intermodal Cargo Solutions (ICS). “Warehousing is an integral link in the modern supply chain, ensuring that the correct product is delivered in the right quantity, in good condition, at the required time to the correct destination. And in order to achieve this operational excellence huge capital investment is required in both software and hardware.” She said a growing trend in the industry was the investment in warehouse management systems (WMS) in order to increase operational efficiencies and provide real-time information to customers. At the same time correct handling equipment such as forklifts is crucial while a fleet of large trucks is required for the local and national distribution of freight. “At ICS we recently invested in a pallet shuttle system which is a deep lane storage and retrieval system. It ensures the best space utilisation both in height and floor area while retaining the ability to control stock,” Simons told FTW. “It is a carrier used to move pallets within a specifically designed racking structure. This shuttle is a self-powered device that runs on rails in the storage lanes for the loading and unloading of pallets. The shuttle performs the loading and unloading tasks without any human intervention.” INSERT & CAPTION It is the responsibility of the exporter to affix the hazardous labels to the cargo packaging — the warehouse operator is not authorised to do so. – Patricia Simons