Towards Maximum Efficiency: A Racking System Tailored for Autonomous Forklifts at Massilly

About Massilly

Massilly North America Inc. is a global company specializing in the manufacturing and distribution of metal packaging. Their headquarters are in Brantford, Ontario. It serves the North American market. The company manufactures a diverse range of products, including caps, cans, aerosols, industrial packaging, and decorated boxes.

Initial Situation

The rapid growth of Massilly North America has led to a major evolution of its logistics and infrastructure needs. To effectively meet this expansion, the company had to adjust its strategies in terms of supply chain management, warehouse space optimization, and operational efficiency improvement. These adaptations were crucial to ensure the company's ability to support its growth while maintaining service excellence.

Challenge #1: Eliminating External Logistics Costs

As previously mentioned, the company was experiencing rapid growth, requiring more space to store its finished products. Massilly was using a third-party logistics company, which incurred additional costs for transportation, handling, logistics, and storage. The objective of Massilly was to increase the number of pallet positions to be able to repatriate all their inventory stored in an external logistics company and to accommodate their growth.

Solution #1

Massilly thus decided to expand their current manufacturing plant in Brantford. Following a recommendation from an equipment supplier, Massilly contacted MSK Canada to design a pallet racking system adapted to their needs. The company's land allowed them to expand by approximately 50,000 square feet and to a height of 45 feet, which they did. After numerous analyses of the plans, the final configuration proposed by MSK Canada was as follows: a configuration of 20 rows of double-deep racking system positioned back-to-back. The pallet racks are also designed to reach the maximum height of the building while retaining the necessary dead zone of the autonomous forklifts (AGV) to be used in the warehouse. To maximize available height, the building's beams are inserted inside the pallet racks, allowing materials to be stored as close to them as possible. This provides Massilly with volumetric optimization of their warehouse, maximizing the profitability of their available space.

Challenge #2: Optimizing Product Handling with AGVs

Once the expansion was completed, the warehouse needed to be directly connected to their packaging line so that Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) could pick up the finished product and store it directly in the new warehouse without human intervention. MSK Canada had to take into account the client's demands and expectations regarding the automated system as well as the specific characteristics of the forklifts.

Characteristics necessary for the implementation of automated forklifts:

• Automated forklifts require triangular markers on the front of the uprights to navigate the aisles and during pallet handling.
• The cameras of automated forklifts guide themselves based on the uprights and beams. Therefore, when the automated forklift handles a load, it must lift the pallet 16 inches higher than the height of the beam, or the material will be stored.[POPB1] 
• The minimum space between the top of the pallet and the underside of the upper beam must be at least 6 inches for handling.
• Aisle width must be a minimum of 140 inches for automated forklifts to operate at their maximum speed.
• Automated forklifts require a space of 8 inches between the sides of the uprights and the side of the pallet. This dimension also applies to any other component that may interfere with pallet handling.

Solution #2

For this project, Wajax was chosen for the supply and maintenance of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and traditional forklifts. AGVs offer several advantages for the company, including cost reduction, effective integration with existing systems, reduced delays and downtime, optimization of storage space, and warehouse safety. The MSK Canada and Wajax teams worked together to design a storage system that meets the requirements of the AGVs.

Cost Reduction

Automating handling reduces the need for labour and thus decreases logistics costs. The new warehouse aims to optimize space by stacking pallets over 35 feet high, a demanding task that requires skilled labour. AGVs are ideal for this operation due to their high precision. Their use avoids accidental collisions with racks, reducing repair and maintenance expenses.

Integration With Existing Systems

Integrating automated forklifts with existing warehouse management systems simplifies their deployment without significantly disrupting ongoing operations. They also offer the ability to monitor warehouse stock levels in real time. Numerous data points can be analyzed and leveraged for even more precise process management.

Reduction of Delays and Downtime

Automated forklifts are aware of available locations in the warehouse as well as the most efficient routes to reach them. This results in reduced lead times and accelerated handling processes. Additionally, automated forklifts offer constant monitoring, simplifying preventive maintenance and extending equipment durability.

Optimization of Storage Space

Thanks to algorithms, automated forklifts can select and store materials autonomously, without human intervention needed. They can analyze trends and optimize stock organization to minimize movements.

Safety of the Premises

Conventional high-reach forklifts entail various risks, including operator ejection, crushing hazards for pedestrians, and overturning of the forklift. Collisions with pallet racks can also be fatal for operators. Automated forklifts provide an effective solution to significantly mitigate these risks.

Final Situation

The results of the project are satisfactory, and the client expresses satisfaction with the work done. The client's expectations have been exceeded, and on September 6, 2023, the warehouse was officially opened. In the end, the warehouse exceeded the initial pallet positioning targets by over 10%.

"We're in the business of food preservation and waste reduction. That means we don't usually do engineering or construction, or any of the other activities related to automation or warehouse installations and equipment like this. It's not our core business, which is why we wanted to bring together this rather small but very dedicated group of people who helped us build this warehouse because it's not something we do every day. Everyone here had a direct impact on making this happen."

Garnet Lasby - President of Massilly North America

The conclusion of this project is not the end of a story, but rather the beginning of a new era of opportunities, challenging tasks, and promising partnerships. The future of industrial warehousing lies in lines of code, sensors, and automation, and this project proudly positions itself as a pioneer of this transformation.