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7 Tips to Optimize Material Flow in a Multilevel Warehouse

A PFlow VRC serving three levels in a clothing retailer’s warehouse Blog Categories: Vertical Reciprocating Conveyors (VRCs), Material Handling, Warehouses & 3PL

7 Tips to Optimize Material Flow in a Multilevel Warehouse

Vertical reciprocating conveyors (VRCs) provide a right-sized, tailored lifting solution for multiple warehouse applications, opening up access to spaces that might be inaccessible using other vertical material handling equipment. They play a critical role in eliminating pinch points and bottlenecks, especially when considered as part of a facility-wide approach to optimizing workflows.

In this blog, we explore how to harness the capacity-boosting potential of VRCs to streamline material workflows, maximize your facility’s footprint, and increase your ROI. Read on for actionable insights.

How to Use VRCs to Boost Multi-Level Material Flow

VRCs do a great job of moving materials between levels and can be designed to integrate with your existing warehouse systems. Here’s how to leverage the built-in strengths of VRC technology to deliver warehouse-wide benefits.

1. Position Your VRCs Strategically

Being smart about where your VRCs are located means putting additional lifting capacity where it can do the most good. For example, installing a VRC near a picking zone on a lower level and a put-away zone next to a mezzanine can reduce travel time for picking and restocking tasks.

Identify high-demand areas or potential bottlenecks and consider how boosting lifting capacity can help. Sometimes that might mean placing two VRCs at opposite ends of a specific workflow or adding an extra VRC at a particular point to increase material flow.

PFlow’s extensive expertise in engineering and manufacturing VRCs for a wide variety of applications makes us uniquely equipped to help you optimize material handling capacity at key points in your operation, delivering maximum efficiency and performance.

2. Optimize Transfer Points

Transfer points are the places in your operation where horizontal motion needs to be transformed into vertical movement. This is the specific material handling problems VRCs were designed to solve.

Here are some questions to consider about the efficiency of your facility’s transfer points:

  • Are you using hoppers, bins, or pallets to transfer individual loads, and is there a more efficient way to move these materials?
  • Are you equipped to manage mixed transfers efficiently, or are you losing valuable time manually adjusting goods to prevent spills or ensure load balance? This challenge is particularly common in the SLAM area of warehouses (the last 100 feet of warehouse space), where handling a wide variety of goods is the norm.
  • Do you have a good staging or buffer solution to manage goods between VRC loads?

In some cases the answer to these questions might be to use sensors or automated systems to manage loads better, while in other scenarios, it may be best to integrate a VRC with existing material handling equipment such as conveyor belts or AGVs to create a seamless flow of goods between staging areas.

3. Integrate VRCs and Warehouse Synchronization Systems

For highly synchronized warehouse operations, it’s essential that VRCs are integrated with other material handling systems. In many cases, this involves connecting fully automated VRCs with horizontal conveyor systems and robotic picking systems to transfer goods between levels.

That can mean synchronizing operations on adjacent equipment or across specific applications using direct communication or via a local controller using ethernet connectivity. 

Today’s most advanced rapid-fulfillment operations may also involve integrating your VRCs with an end-to-end warehouse management system (WMS) that handles everything from receivables to shipping operations. For example, a WMS might instruct a robotic arm to pick an item only after the VRC has reached the designated level and is ready for loading.

A WMS allows operations to be synchronized across the entire plant and can be designed to respond in real-time to supply disruptions, changing demand levels, or available stock levels. 

4. Maintain Product Integrity

Safeguarding product integrity can significantly impact your operations. Proper material handling prevents costly delays and equipment damage and reduces the risk of workplace accidents, ensuring a smoother and safer workflow. 

VRCs are built with safety and predictability in mind. Unlike other material lifting solutions, PFlow VRCs incorporate features that reduce the risk of products falling as they are lifted and lowered. When used properly, drop bars, gates, and optional light bars provide clear visual and optical cues to ensure a material load is fully contained within the carriage before ascent or descent begins. Additionally, incorporating carriage enclosures enhances safety by securely confining the load during lifting and lowering operations.

5. Reduce Warehouse Deadspace

When space is tight, look upwards. Many warehouses, especially repurposed buildings, have significant unused “airspace” above existing storage structures. 

VRCs enable you to add additional storage space, such as mezzanines, to your facility by making items stored on upper levels easily accessible. You can add more square footage to your existing facilities without reducing the efficiency with which you can access them, putting more goods closer to your customers.

6. Transform Any Space Into a Lifting Solution

There is virtually no limit to where you can place a VRC. Engineered with versatility in mind, PFlow VRCs are constructed to fit the needs of your facility and application and you don’t need to find extra space for placement. VRCs can be placed into an existing elevator shaft and even on the exterior of a building, turning even the most unconventional spaces into the perfect spot for this efficient material lifting solution.

If you’re limiting the efficiency of your operation or leaving valuable square feet unused because you think it might not be possible to add the lifting capacity you need, think again. Talk to an experienced VRC manufacturer like PFlow to learn more about how our custom designs can add lifting capacity in unexpected spaces.

7. Add Capacity

Also consider how boosting the capacity or speed of your existing material lifting equipment will deliver meaningful benefits, especially if your handling needs have changed since your equipment was installed.

Increasing the load capacity or speed of your equipment allows your operations to keep up with current business needs, while also planning for future demand.

5 Ways to Unlock the Full Benefits of VRCs

Looking to access even more benefits of using VRCs in your multi-level warehouse facility? Here’s how:

1. Reduce Manual Material Handling

Minimizing manual handling of goods in your warehouse speeds up operations, improves safety, and reduces your labor requirements, especially when it comes to moving materials between vertical levels. Avoid repackaging goods on the loading dock. Move materials on the pallet or in their original packaging using VRCs.

2. Prioritize Safety

Safety is not an “add-on”. Limit your dependence on potentially hazardous lifting solutions like scissor lifts or forklifts, especially when lifting bulky or heavy loads to multiple levels. Reduce injuries by reducing or limiting manual handling of goods. You’ll ensure staff safety and reduce time disruptions and damage to your goods.

3. Obtain Peak Performance by Performing Scheduled Maintenance

Regular maintenance is the key to ensuring your VRCs operate at peak performance. Following a scheduled maintenance checklist, like these comprehensive guides from PFlow, helps identify potential issues before they become costly problems, extends the lifespan of your equipment, and ensures reliable operation. By staying proactive, you can maximize efficiency, reduce downtime, and keep your material handling processes running smoothly.

4. Future-Proof Your Facility

Choosing high-quality material lifting equipment helps you deliver on your promises today and allows you to adapt to the challenges of tomorrow. PFlow VRCs can be customized to meet your current needs while offering the flexibility to accommodate future growth, ensuring seamless adaptability as your business evolves.

5. Build Partnerships

Be sure to choose a lifting equipment supplier who’s in it for the long haul. At PFlow, we don’t just build class-leading equipment. We build partnerships that last for decades. We work with you to design and fabricate VRCs tailored to your needs, assist with integration and optimization, and back it up with parts, service, and support for as long as needed.

Optimizing Systems, Exceeding Expectations

VRCs are essential to operations in today’s crowded, fast-moving multi-level warehouses. Trust PFlow to deliver the powerful, reliable, tailored performance your facility needs to make the best use of your available space.

PFlow pioneered the original VRC concept and has designed, delivered, and supported thousands of installations in warehouses and other facilities around the world. We continue to develop equipment that meets the needs of the most demanding, automated material handling environments.

Contact us to talk with our knowledgeable staff about your multi-level warehouse lifting needs, or click below to learn more about how VRC equipment can be integrated with advanced warehouse automation systems.

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