View of the hall: A raised storage area helps make better use of the available space

Board storage area above the cutting area: A computer graphic illustrates the potential

Many companies know the feeling: all those cutting, banding, and handling systems soon give their production halls a rather cramped appearance. Just as buildings expand vertically to provide extra living accommodation, the empty space above production lines in furniture manufacturing and other sectors can also be utilized, providing production halls are high enough.

"Our project team has accumulated a great deal of experience in erecting storage areas above cutting areas," explains David Schelling, Product Manager Cut-to-size. "We work together with customers to create tailor-made solutions according to the available height of the hall and the space required beneath the storage area."

Raising a Storage Area Using Steelwork

Each project is planned on an individual basis according to the customer's requirements and the amount of space available. If necessary, the latest laser technology can be used to measure a hall to the nearest millimeter. Steelwork is then used to erect the storage area. "Looking at central European prices, we can see that a square meter of space created using steelwork is significantly cheaper than a square meter of hall space," emphasizes Schelling. The IMA Schelling specialists also know which handling solutions to use in order to integrate a raised storage area like this into the workflow.

Both the board storage area containing the master boards and the remnants area with its still usable cut-to-size remnants can be installed above the cut-to-size area. Not only does this solve the space problem, it also increases plant efficiency by making paths shorter. "Board storage areas are often implemented together with a single saw and an edge processing machine," explains David Schelling. "Using a long scissor lift allows the full stacking height to be utilized."

In the case of automated batch size 1 production, a remnants area above the cut-to-size area decouples the master board and remnants storage areas, which simplifies handling operations and increases efficiency. "The ls 1 cut-to-size saw is perfect for this job due to its low height," comments Schelling. And the relatively low stacking height often means that a long scissor lift is no longer necessary.

Better Space Utilization, Faster Infeed

IMA Schelling implemented a customized storage solution for a German kitchen manufacturer that is well known for its multitude of decors, materials, and shapes. The expanding number of variants within the company led to such an increase in the volume of remnants that the board storage area was no longer able to accommodate them. A dedicated remnants area above the cut-to-size area provided a remedy. In addition, decoupling the master board area from the remnants area increased the efficiency of the plant as a whole.

The problems facing a Dutch furniture manufacturer were solved by designing a plant where the board storage area was located above a cut-to-size saw. This not only provided more space on the hall floor, it also increased processing times, as the feeding of the board storage area using a trolley is far quicker than the horizontal feeding used previously.