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Wolter Takes Optima Machinery’s Storage to New Heights with a Vertical Lift Module
Challenge: An ever expanding inventory of small parts, some loose such as nuts and bolts, and some boxed including OEM replacement parts, in a rapidly growing sales and service center for a packaging machine manufacturer.
Optima Machinery USA Corporation located in Green Bay, WI is a sales and service center for their German OEM parent company. Optima manufactures packaging machinery for a wide range of industries including liquid/granule consumer products, nonwoven products and pharmaceutical products. A traditional storage rack system which consumed 2,000 square feet of floor space was being pushed to capacity, complicating order picking and creating bottlenecks in shipping. “We are growing rapidly. Our inventory and shipping needs far out-paced our warehousing methods,” said Vince Hecht, Facility Manager at Optima. “That’s what lead us to search for a storage unit to take advantage of vertical space, which gives us more efficient storage and retrieval of parts.”
“It was clear the space was not utilized to its potential,” said Kelly Gittens, Account Manager at the Wolter Inc. De Pere, WI office. “The inefficient picking system had rows of storage drawers containing thousands of small parts and cluttered shelves. It fed a congested shipping and receiving area with incoming inventory and outgoing orders staged at the receiving doors and blocking traffic.” Ms. Gittens and colleague Kelly Shattuck set about analyzing the space and flow to determine the most efficient way to maximize product storage and increase facility throughput.
Solution: Wolter, Inc. completed an inventory study/count with quantities and dimensions of every part and product in the system. It was determined that Optima would most benefit from the removal of the entire existing system of shelving and drawers, replacing them with a Hanel Lean Lift, an electrically powered vertical lift module.
The Hanel Lean Lift occupies just 84 square feet of floor space, yet its 31 vertically rotating trays deliver an astonishing 885 square feet of storage per unit. The trays can hold a maximum of 507 lbs. each with a tower max capacity of 44,000 lbs. To accommodate growing inventory, Optima ordered a second Hanel Lean Lift shortly after installation of the first. The addition of this new lift delivered a total of 1,770 square feet of combined storage in a minuscule 168 square feet of floor space. Because the Hanel brings the parts to the employee at ground level, rather than requiring them to climb up to access an item, overall employee safety is also improved.
The Hanel Lean Lifts allowed Optima to reclaim over 1,800 square feet of floor space from the parts department to streamline their entire shipping and receiving department. "The warehouse redesign allowed us to set up our workstations in a more streamlined way that greatly improved our workflow," said Vince Hecht.
“With a large portion of our parts stored in the Hanel, it’s almost become a “one stop shop” for the parts we store and ship. The number of daily steps taken just to retrieve parts to be shipped has seen upwards of a 20-30% decrease. The accuracy of our inventory and shipments also improved thanks to processes involved with the Hanel lift,” said Hecht. In addition to the reclaimed square footage, Optima was able to reduce the number of order pickers, allowing employees to focus on other higher priority operations.
“We are all too familiar with our customers running out of space, but not utilizing their facility to full capacity. Real estate is expensive and hard to find, and often expanding the current facility is not an option,” said Gittens. “At Wolter, we offer solutions in all facets of material handling. We take great care to learn about your issues and expectations so that we become strategic partners for your future success.”
Optima Machinery USA Corporation located in Green Bay, WI is a sales and service center for their German OEM parent company. Optima manufactures packaging machinery for a wide range of industries including liquid/granule consumer products, nonwoven products and pharmaceutical products. A traditional storage rack system which consumed 2,000 square feet of floor space was being pushed to capacity, complicating order picking and creating bottlenecks in shipping. “We are growing rapidly. Our inventory and shipping needs far out-paced our warehousing methods,” said Vince Hecht, Facility Manager at Optima. “That’s what lead us to search for a storage unit to take advantage of vertical space, which gives us more efficient storage and retrieval of parts.”
“It was clear the space was not utilized to its potential,” said Kelly Gittens, Account Manager at the Wolter Inc. De Pere, WI office. “The inefficient picking system had rows of storage drawers containing thousands of small parts and cluttered shelves. It fed a congested shipping and receiving area with incoming inventory and outgoing orders staged at the receiving doors and blocking traffic.” Ms. Gittens and colleague Kelly Shattuck set about analyzing the space and flow to determine the most efficient way to maximize product storage and increase facility throughput.
Solution: Wolter, Inc. completed an inventory study/count with quantities and dimensions of every part and product in the system. It was determined that Optima would most benefit from the removal of the entire existing system of shelving and drawers, replacing them with a Hanel Lean Lift, an electrically powered vertical lift module.
The Hanel Lean Lift occupies just 84 square feet of floor space, yet its 31 vertically rotating trays deliver an astonishing 885 square feet of storage per unit. The trays can hold a maximum of 507 lbs. each with a tower max capacity of 44,000 lbs. To accommodate growing inventory, Optima ordered a second Hanel Lean Lift shortly after installation of the first. The addition of this new lift delivered a total of 1,770 square feet of combined storage in a minuscule 168 square feet of floor space. Because the Hanel brings the parts to the employee at ground level, rather than requiring them to climb up to access an item, overall employee safety is also improved.
The Hanel Lean Lifts allowed Optima to reclaim over 1,800 square feet of floor space from the parts department to streamline their entire shipping and receiving department. "The warehouse redesign allowed us to set up our workstations in a more streamlined way that greatly improved our workflow," said Vince Hecht.
“With a large portion of our parts stored in the Hanel, it’s almost become a “one stop shop” for the parts we store and ship. The number of daily steps taken just to retrieve parts to be shipped has seen upwards of a 20-30% decrease. The accuracy of our inventory and shipments also improved thanks to processes involved with the Hanel lift,” said Hecht. In addition to the reclaimed square footage, Optima was able to reduce the number of order pickers, allowing employees to focus on other higher priority operations.
“We are all too familiar with our customers running out of space, but not utilizing their facility to full capacity. Real estate is expensive and hard to find, and often expanding the current facility is not an option,” said Gittens. “At Wolter, we offer solutions in all facets of material handling. We take great care to learn about your issues and expectations so that we become strategic partners for your future success.”