Semi-automatic Pallet Shuttle in SaarGummi warehouse in Madrid

When the rubber meets the road

The SaarGummi Group manufactures and sells rubber products that are used in the construction and automotive industries primarily. One of the most beneficial features of rubber is that it can seal buildings and vehicles against any sort of climate.

SaarGummi opened in 1947, in the small German town of Wadern-Büschfeld and, since then, has expanded to North America, Europe, Brazil, India and China. The company has had a presence in Spain since 1992 and; its manufacturing centre has been located in the town of Loeches (Madrid) since 2005.

Rubén Pelegrí -Supply Chain Manager at SaarGummi Ibérica
“The rollout of this system has resulted in a huge improvement with respect to reliability and strict FIFO style tracking, as well as storage surface optimisation and the reduction of the warehouse workforce.”

Semi-automatic Pallet Shuttle system

Mecalux has equipped the distribution centre with a block of high-density racks run by the semi-automatic Pallet Shuttle system that, in the words of Manuel Mas, the company’s sales department manager, “it is highly-suited to our business needs when it comes to organising raw materials.”

The Pallet Shuttle system makes full use of the available surface area, providing greater storage capacity. The block of racks stands 6 m high, 19 m long and 11 m deep. Overall, it stores up to 520 pallets of 1,000 x 1,200 mm with rubber mixes used in post-production processes. “This system has increased storage capacity by 20% in regards to the storage system we had before,” points out Mas.

Additionally, stock management is very agile. Operators do not enter into the storage lanes, since it is the shuttle which slides the pallets along automatically. According to Manuel Mas, “we improved the productivity of our warehouse thanks to cutting back on a large portion of our stock shifting.”

The pallets are inserted into one side of the block of racks and extracted from the opposite side, which coincides with the manufacturing lines. This means goods are managed as per the FIFO criterion (first in, first out). In other words, the first pallet in is the first to leave. “This solution has led to a massive step forward in our raw materials management and a drop in how many errors are made,” explains the sales manager of SaarGummi.

Manuel Mas - Sales Department Manager at SaarGummi Ibérica
“Although deploying a completely new storage system is difficult, our operators have already adjusted to working with the Pallet Shuttle and we are very pleased with the stock control this solution has brought us.”

Pallet racking

Mecalux has also installed 6 m high pallet racks, which will offer an additional storage capacity for 333 pallets.

Likewise, direct access grants dynamic flows when managing the goods in order to supply the manufacturing centre as fast as possible.

Advantages for SaarGummi

• Space fully purposed: the Pallet Shuttle system and racks have increased the storage capacity that SaarGummi had before by 20% in a 209 m² area.
• Proper stock management: products are housed according to the FIFO principle, they flow into the channels from one side and flow out of the opposite, which guarantees perfect rotation.
• High outputs: both the Pallet Shuttle system and the pallet racks allow streamlined goods management, so there is a steady stream of inflows and outflows.