Boosting Warehouse Efficiency With AGVs & Cantilever Racking

More than ever institutional facilities professionals and their building teams need to operate, maintain and design structures efficiently, economically, safely, securely and green. One trend that is now impacting the facilities management industry is the increasing use of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in warehousing along with highly efficient storage structures such as innovatively designed cantilever racking.

To give FacilityManagement.com readers insight into some of the latest developments in this trend, we discuss the topic with Kurt Larson, an executive at a leading manufacturer of storage rack and material handling products. Larson took part in a large project that involved the construction of a new warehouse designed for the use of AGVs and unique cantilever racking.

Q: What can you tell us about the warehouse project and its use of AGVs?

A: Central Steel & Wire (CS&W), a high-quality metal products and services supplier for a wide range of customers from job shops to large OEMs, decided to move from its Chicago facility. The OEM envisioned creating a state-of-the-art product depot and service center that used the industry’s most efficient material handling technology. It would be a major transformation for CS&W because the company was leaving behind a labor-intensive method of material handling in favor of using automated guided vehicles to move its wide range of metal products.

Nicole Giesie, vice president of operations at Central Steel & Wire, a member of the Ryerson Family of Companies, said, “For the first time in the metal service center business, we brought in AGVs to replace standard material handling equipment. It allowed us to use driverless vehicles to store and pull materials to fulfill customer orders.”

The greatest benefits from the use of AGVs, however, could only be realized by developing a new facility that incorporated racking with consistent pocket locations, evenly distributed and available throughout the location.

The presence of damaged racking arms in the existing facility would also have reduced the effectiveness of the AGVs. While AGVs require a significant investment, there is a substantial payoff in increased material handling efficiency and accuracy, reduced labor, and decreased damage to racking, equipment and structures.

“With AGVs, we were able to utilize our workforce in other value-added tasks rather than just moving metal throughout the facility,” Giesie said.

Q: Can you give us more specifics about the new warehouse project?

A: Initial design discussions for the new facility began in August 2021 and included requirements relating to the use of AGVs in a 900,000-square-foot facility that would be developed in southern Chicagoland’s Village of University Park. The University Park facility would need 18,000 storage locations to accommodate 6,000 product SKUs that have a combined weight of 50 million pounds of carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum and specialty metals. Space was also needed for value-added work, such as precision cutting and tube laser operations.

For storage of all that metal, CS&W looked at racking manufacturers throughout the U.S. and then made their selection. The two companies had a long-standing relationship, in that CS&W supplies steel for the racking manufacturer’s products. Another factor that would work to CS&W’s advantage was the involvement of the racking dealer, Container Systems, Inc of suburban Chicago.

Q: I understand that specially designed cantilever racking was also used in the project. What can you tell us about the benefits of the unique design?

A: In the new facility project, the cantilever racking is comprised of more than 1,000 double-sided columns, more than 30,000 arms and more than 15,000 linear feet of structural metal for guard rails. It took 70 truckloads to deliver the racking and guard rail elements.

The new facility uses the racking company’s I-beam cantilever racking for 1,300 uprights, and guard rail products. I-beam cantilever steel storage racks allow access from both sides. This design saves horizontal space normally lost to rack structure, reduces fork truck damage, and allows for faster load and unload times. The cantilever racking is built for longevity, with structural steel construction and a 50,000-psi minimum yield. A heavy arm connector plate and bolted column-to-base connections adds to durability. Metal services businesses often use I-beam cantilever racking to store items such as pipe, tubing, rolls, steel bars, sheet steel, and structural members.

The racking system was able to have narrower aisles – and thus have a greater storage density – through an engineering solution designed by the OEM. The OEM’s engineers designed notches in rails to guide Combilift AGV vehicles, which meant that more space could be dedicated to racking rather than to aisles.

The new racking system is allowing CS&W to operate more efficiently and with greater productivity. It also will let the company adjust racking to meet changing needs. In their former facility, the racking elements were all welded, so adjustments could not be made. With the new system, they will be able to reconfigure the racking to accommodate changing storage needs.

Kurt Larson is the regional sales manager for the central U.S. for Steel King Industries, a manufacturer of a full line of material handling products, including selective pallet racks, dynamic flow storage systems, cantilever racks, portable racks, and custom shipping racks, along with industrial steel containers and guard railing.