In the desert nation of Dubai, logistics service provider Integrated National Logistics (INL) stores food for the entire Middle East in 40,000 pallet spaces.
Because of increasing demand for deep-freeze capacity, the company has decided to change its warehouse concept and bring the temperature of all 14 aisles down to –28° C. This is equivalent to doubling the space previously available. As general contractor for the entire facility, Unitechnik is responsible for the technical changeover of all logistics systems in this extraordinary step.
Since its commissioning, INL’s 22-meter-high cold storage facility has featured two automated high-bay racking stores of seven aisles each. To date, the logistics service provider has used one warehouse to store dry goods at +25° C and the other for frozen products stored at temperatures down to –28° C. The company plans to change the facility over in response to the increasing demand for deep-freeze storage.
As general contractor for the intralogistics, Unitechnik has supervised the project at Dubai Logistics City from the beginning. Technical changeover of the systems used in the former dry goods section is primarily related to the control technology of the automatic stacker cranes and conveyor systems. In particular, the sensor systems, power, and load handling units are to be adapted to withstand constant cold. New air locks will also be added to minimize the exchange of heat between warehouse and order picking zones. Additional changes will be made to the UniWare warehouse management system and control cabinet rooms. Work on the extended deep-freeze storage area will be concluded during summer 2014.
“INL’s decision to bring storage temperatures down in seven aisles is unusual, but it can be implemented in the short term with our flexible comprehensive solution,” said Michael Huhn, sales director–logistics systems at Unitechnik. “After all, we fall back on our experience from the first phase of the project.”
Access www.unitechnik.com for further details.
