IMHX is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

Informa
Informa

Meet Industore

Exhibiting at IMHX 2022

Stand 5A40A

Ahead of IMHX 2022, Ross Powell - Managing Director at Industore, chatted to us about all things IMHX, new product launches, sustainability and key market trends to watch out for.

To learn more about BotsAndUs, visit them at IMHX 2022 or head over to the Industore website.

 

Primary staffing costs are invariably the biggest overhead for any organisation, followed by bad inventory control. It has been estimated that in a non-pandemic year, 137 million working days are lost due to sickness or injury in the UK. That’s a week per year, per worker – off sick. Following the disruption of the pandemic, it is now incumbent on responsible businesses to invest in automation in order to avoid such disruption in the future. Machines such as Lean Lifts and Rotomats don’t get sick, don’t get tired and don’t have off-days. In fact, they will boost pick times, improve security and all but remove errors and stock mishandling. Investing in automation, and ensuring that we have better integration and communication across our work places is no longer a nice to have, it’s an absolute necessity. Businesses that recognise that will reap the rewards.. 

Industore is constantly working on improvements to our service.  New trends, developments and technologies are always being considered and scrutinised, but in truth, our Lean Lifts and Rotomats are still the best in the business – and by some margin.

Industore technology and hardware is developed by German/Swiss heavyweights, Hänel, whose Office and Industrial Storage Systems are regularly and consistently ranked as one of the leading providers of intralogistic solutions worldwide. The collaboration between Industore and Hänel has made major contributions to the development of automated storage and materials handling through many inventions and patents across many years.

Developments and improvements to our services and solutions are a constant at Industore. Whether implementing new “Pick-by-Voice” technology, allowing hundreds of orders to be picked in one shift by just one person, by voice, or pushing the boundaries in secure, low temperature storage – Industore is always improving our hardware, software and architectural logic – but doing so without needing to roll out new machinery holistically. Our hardware is built to last, and built with the future in mind – allowing us to upgrade software and introduce new hardware without having to redevelop the overall solution offering. This ensures Industore clients have futureproofed solutions at the point of order – compatible with updates and new developments for years to come. In fact, it isn’t unusual to see Industore’s Lean Lifts and Rotomats operating 25-years after they’ve been installed, despite being used all day, every day – because they’re built to last, and are adaptable to change.

 

Energy-efficient systems are the key to lowering energy consumption. Consumption has an enormous impact on operating costs as well as the environment, so Industore/Hänel technology can actually improve your carbon footprint - and your bottom line at the same time. Lean Lift and Rotomat technology offer a number of features which allow customers to reduce their energy consumption, such as (but not limited to):

  • EcoDrive: Convert the kinetic energy generated from the descending extractor into electrical energy and feed it back into your electrical supply, saving energy.
  • EcoLoad: Continuous load balance reviewing in the Rotomat ensures that only minimal energy is needed at any point to set the storage system in motion.
  • EcoMode: Define your idle time and put energy-consuming systems to go into stand-by mode - minimising the energy intake of your Hänel storage system. 

Perhaps most obviously, as well the eco modes mentioned above, Industore machines operate on a much smaller footprint than what we think of as traditional racking. That essentially means that your lighting, heating and cooling bills can be cut substantially - saving on day-to-day costs and decreasing your carbon footprint. 

As a result of the pandemic, many industries turned their heads towards automation – some for the first time.  Whether due to adapting workplaces to suit social distancing measures, or to ensure growing demand didn’t outstrip capacity, automation soared during the pandemic.

The next few years will no doubt see further expansion and acceleration of investment into automated technology – as people and businesses begin to reap the rewards of their recent investments.  Now, perhaps more than ever before, the explosion of growth in e-commerce and demand for IWIY deliveries (“I want it yesterday”) will shift the attitudes of businesses from automation being ‘nice to have’ to ‘absolutely critical’.  

The recent boom in e-commerce is intensifying labour shortages in the UK, where job vacancies feature in news programmes daily – and logistics companies need to find any means necessary in order to ahead of the job-race.  Gas, petrol and electricity prices are all up – and are likely to stay there for some time.  Ensuring efficient warehouses, where overheads can remain low – less heating, less lighting and operating 24/7/365 is an easy way to save money, and increase productivity, as businesses are frequently required to do more, for less.

Investing in automation like Lean Lifts and Rotomats from Industore – particularly while there are tax incentives like the super deduction to take advantage of – is the only way that companies will thrive.