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The following was writting by MHEDA for The MHEDA Connection with the notated exceptions []:
Sales Success Story
[AWP Assists] Nelson [to Help] Makes It Easy for Hardware Distributor
When
Shreveport, Louisiana-based Hardware, Inc., a wholesaler of
hardware, farm, garden and other supplies, switched to a new
warehouse management system, they called on me and our team at Nelson Equipment Company (Shreveport, LA).
To maximize the efficiency of the WMS change, the system
required a more organized configuration of the company’s
250,000 sq. ft. warehouse.
Hardware, Inc. needed to add additional picking
levels in order to utilize hand picking as well as pallet
storage. The challenge lay in the company’s hodgepodge of
pallet racks that had been bought from various manufacturers
over the course of 20 or 30 years.
Hardware, Inc. is a longtime Nelson customer, so at that
point I stepped in. I contacted American Wire Products and Steve Marcozzi, AWP manager for material handling storage
products. I knew Steve had experience and expertise in
providing customers with products for unique applications such
as this one. 
By adjusting beam levels on the existing pallet rack, we were able to add an average of two additional picking rows to each rack. The beam levels were brought into alignment so that front and back rows were at the same level, allowing wire decking to cover not only the beam levels, but also the flue space between the back-to-back pallet racks, which would prevent product from falling off the back of the rack. A reverse rear waterfall also was added to prevent items from falling.
American
Wire Products grew the decks rather than the racks to
establish a deeper rack footprint, so the customer gained
storage without having to change rack sizes. Because we were
dealing with racks from different manufacturers, it wasn’t a
cut-anddried project, and we had to order parts and pieces to
fit different racks. AWP was very flexible and was able to
custom-build whatever we needed.
Photo on the Right:
Wire mesh decking from American Wire Products allowed a
customer to triple its shelving capacity.
The $100,000 project took eight months to complete as Hardware, Inc. did its own installation after hours. When completed, average storage per location increased from eight SKUs to 24, saving the client from the need to expand its facility and providing a simplified inventory management solution to a complicated storage problem.
Photo Below:
Nelson Equipment added an average of two additional picking
rows to each rack and realigned the beam levels.
Source: “Nelson Makes It Easier for Hardware Distributor” The MHEDA Connection:
October 19, 2006.
