Hitachi Construction Machinery Africa (HCAF) in conjunction with their 3PL warehousing partner Kintetsu World Express South Africa (KWE SA) operates a 14,500m² warehouse out of Gauteng South Africa that supports the Sub Saharan African region with genuine spare parts.

In an effort to optimise warehouse space and improve efficiencies, KWE SA installed two Hänel Rotomat® industrial carousels at HCAF’s Jet Park Parts Distribution Centre. 

 “In February 2016, we celebrated the business partnership between KWE South Africa and Hitachi Construction Machinery Africa and the long term agreement to work side by side,” says Richard Szabo, MD of KWE SA, “out of this relationship KWE SA saw the need to install storage carousels, so we could optimize our operational procedures and efficiency.”

Both Rotomats occupy a footprint of 10.52 m² as opposed to 150 m² of floor space that the previous stationary shelving occupied, this equates to a saving in floor space of 93%. The Rotomats can accommodate 3500 fast moving SKU’s and reduce binning and picking operations by 300% (Time and motion study) Thisequipment boasts full redundancy as they are connected to backup generators and have a dual carriage system, each of which could operate the system individually should the need arise.

“With improved retrieval times, increased storage capacity and improved safety for staff, HCAF can continue to live up to the Hitachi Construction Machinery’s promise of Reliable Support,” says Philip Smith, General Manager-Parts at Hitachi Construction Machinery Africa (Pty) Ltd.

The parts accommodated in these rotomats account for 60% of the distribution centre’s daily pick / pack operations. As such the efficiency gains realised by using this technology improves operation response and lead times drastically resulting in higher customer satisfaction.