Store dies and finished press fittings neatly, space-savingly and efficiently

A smartly designed warehouse space increases efficiency and productivity, provides cost savings, and prevents employee annoyance. Moreover, square meters are becoming increasingly expensive, so it is important to use the space as optimally as possible. SANHA also took this into account when it chose the Hänel Lean-Lift®. The heavy moulds for the production of press fittings are now stored in two automated warehouses in the production hall in Ternat. A third similar warehouse elevator was installed as a buffer area for smaller cartons of finished products. DDD Technics was responsible for the engineering, assembly, commissioning and aftercare.

The SANHA Group is one of the leading European manufacturers of press fittings for drinking water, gas, solar, heating, cooling and sanitary applications in residential projects as well as commercial and industrial applications. The German family business - with three locations in Germany, one in Poland and one in Belgium - offers a range of more than 8,500 articles: press fittings made of copper, copper alloys, stainless steel and carbon steel as well as lead-free fittings made of silicon bronze, especially for use in drinking water installations. 

"In Ternat, we currently employ 120 people in a four-shift system, producing fittings in copper 24/7. We also handle engineering and sales in the Benelux. Lately, we have invested heavily in new innovative developments, which made new production lines and additional moulds necessary," says technical and energy manager Geoffrey Van Mulders. "With 170 m², the existing die warehouse was already taking a serious bite out of the available space in the production hall, and had actually become too small. Moreover, the classic warehouse layout with shelves was neither clear nor efficient. Moulds were taken out of the warehouse and put back in a free, often different place after use, which meant that time was lost time and time again looking for the right mould for a particular job. So we thought carefully about how we could optimize this."

Heavy moulds and finished products

Thanks to an acquaintance of Geoffrey Van Mulders who had positive experiences with automated platform elevators and after a thorough comparison of the various systems on the market, SANHA ended up with DDD Technics and the Hänel Lean-Lift®. 

"We listened to their needs and worked out a solution for the storage of the heavy dies with two warehouse elevators with a width of 2060 mm, a depth of 825 mm and a height of 8000 mm. They both include 72 platforms for extra-heavy loads, up to 470 kg each," said Chris Cheretté, technical commercial representative at DDD Technics. "Also in a separate room is a third Hänel Lean-Lift®, 2060 mm wide, 825 mm deep and 8000 mmm high. This is equipped with 40 platforms, good for about 120 picking places. This automated elevator system serves as a buffer area for storing smaller cartons of finished products."

Adequate follow-up and increased efficiency

170 m² of warehouse space is now stored vertically in two "cabinets" with a total ground area of 14 m², a significant space saving. The SANHA team took its time to integrate all the dies into the software and give them a location in the warehouses.    

"Two employees are responsible for the tool warehouse and only they have access to the Hänel Lean-Lift® installations. They remove the dies from the system on demand within seconds. After use, each die is cleaned and checked, then put back into the platform elevator. We also use the Hänel Software, with its modern and convenient interface. Since all our molds have a unique serial number, we have all the data at any time, so we know perfectly where they are, where and when they were used, and much more. The optimal interplay between software and control guarantees efficient use of the warehouse," said Van Mulders. "We are very satisfied with this investment. DDD Technics is an ideal partner, who supported us with expert advice in the preliminary phase and ultimately engineered, manufactured, delivered, installed and implemented the systems fully as agreed. The installation was followed by extensive training on operation and software. Even today, we can still count on their support. A problem on day zero is solved on day one at the latest. That way downtime is avoided at all times."