Case studies
Keymed
KeyMed invests in Vertical Lift Storage equipment to provide additional storage space
History
Automated Warehousing with the Hanel Lean-LiftFormed in 1970, KeyMed has grown from a staff of four to become firmly established as an international leader in the manufacture and supply of specialised medical and industrial equipment. Today, the KeyMed Group employs approaching 1,000 people at its purpose-built headquarters in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. KeyMed is one of the global business centres for Olympus endoscopy products; it is the exclusive distributor and service centre for the entire Olympus range of flexible and rigid endoscopes, accessories and ancillary products in Great Britain.
Due to the increase in production at their site in South-end-on-Sea, Keymed had run out of storage space in their electrically controlled surface mount facility. With a substantial increase in production forecasted they required a solution that would enable them to stay within the same building, but allow them greater storage capacity for the Reels of components and IC Sticks used in this process.
The Solution
After researching the Automated Storage Market, Industore was chosen against all competition to provide the solution.
Automated Small Parts Storage at KeymedAfter conducting a site survey and discussing the customer's requirements in more depth, Industore specified an ESD protected Lean-Lift to fit within a limited envelop to completely utilise the 5.5 metres of height available in this area. Industore was able to provide adequate room for their current requirement but also provide an additional 50% of expansion space.
A key element of this project was Keymed's software requirements. As Industore employs its own team of software engineers it was able to write bespoke software and integrate with barcode reading equipment to match the client's exact specification. This, in turn, allowed Industore to supply a fully automated picking process facilitating the "Goods to Man Principle" and utilising the Lean-Lift's "Pick to Light System".
Commenting on the implementation of the Hänel Lean Lift, Mr Ed Lee, Manufacturing Engineer at KeyMed said, "Our goal was to provide adequate storage for our requirements both for now and in the future, being able to speed up the picking whist improving accuracy in a machine that was ESD Protected was a real bonus"
We chose Industore because were happy with the way they handled our enquiry, we were also impressed with the build quality of the Lean Lift and the software solution they provided."
