Industrial Racking Automation

The Economics of Frozen Space: Density is Profit

In standard ambient warehousing, air is free. In a cold storage facility, every cubic meter of air represents a continuous electricity cost. Traditional selective racking creates a “honeycomb effect,” where up to 60% of your refrigerated volume is dedicated to forklift aisles rather than product storage.

For food manufacturers managing large batches of SKUs (like frozen fries, ice cream, or meat blocks), the solution lies in Industrial racking automation designed for density. By utilizing a Starack-Shuttle system, we sacrifice immediate selectivity for extreme volumetric density.

The system shown above utilizes multi-deep lanes (4 to 10 pallets deep). A satellite shuttle detaches from the mother stacker crane and travels deep into the rack structure. This eliminates the need for aisles between every row. By compacting the footprint, you reduce the surface area of the building envelope, directly lowering the thermal load and slashing energy consumption by up to 30% compared to conventional layouts.

Engineering Out the “Human Factor” in Sub-Zero Environments

Operating a manual forklift at -25°C is physically demanding and dangerous. Thick freezer suits limit mobility, and the condensation “fog” often obscures vision, leading to rack damage. Furthermore, strict adherence to FIFO (First-In, First-Out) is critical for food safety and expiration tracking, yet manual pickers often grab the most accessible pallet (LIFO) out of fatigue, leading to spoilage.

Industrial racking automation solves this via the “Rack Clad” structure and precise WMS integration. The Geautomatiseerd palletmagazijn uses Q355 high-strength steel structures that can support the building roof and walls directly (Rack Clad). Inside, the stacker cranes operate in total darkness (Lights-out Manufacturing), managed by a WMS that rigidly enforces FIFO logic based on batch codes or expiration dates.

As seen in the image above, the single mast stacker crane utilizes laser positioning systems to achieve ±3mm accuracy, even at heights of 25+ meters. This eliminates the risk of human error causing pallet collapses or rack damage, ensuring continuous operation without the need for warm-up breaks.

Turning Gravity into Electricity: Regenerative Braking

In a high-throughput food distribution center, pallets weighing 1,000kg to 1,500kg are constantly being lifted and lowered. In a standard system, the energy created when lowering a heavy load is dissipated as heat—heat that your refrigeration system then has to work harder to remove.

Our Starack systems utilize Regenerative Braking Units on the hoist motors. When a 1-ton pallet of frozen dough is lowered from 30 meters, the motor acts as a generator, converting potential energy back into electricity. This power is fed back into the DC bus to drive the horizontal travel motors or returned to the grid.

This creates a double benefit: you reduce the electrical draw of the crane itself, and you reduce the thermal load on your cooling system by preventing brake resistors from generating heat. For 24/7 cold chain operations, this feature alone significantly contributes to lowering the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Summary of Commercial Value

Pain Point (Cold Chain)	Starack Solution	Measurable Outcome
High energy costs cooling empty aisles	Starack-Shuttle High Density Storage	Refrigerated volume reduced by 40%+
FIFO errors & expired product	WMS Integrated Control	100% Batch/Lot Traceability
Equipment heat generation	Regenerative Braking Units	20-30% Energy savings & reduced heat load

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Frequently Asked Questions (Food & Cold Chain)

1. Can the electronics in your Industrial racking automation survive -25°C continuously?
Yes. All sensors, cabling, and motors in our cold storage packages are rated for sub-zero operation. We use specific lubrication oils that do not thicken at low temperatures and include heating elements in control cabinets to prevent condensation on sensitive PCBs.

2. How do we handle cleaning and hygiene in an automated rack system?
Our systems are designed with hygiene in mind, particularly for the food industry. We use galvanized or stainless steel components to prevent rust. The automation allows for specific “cleaning modes” where the system clears a lane for maintenance access without shutting down the entire facility.

3. What happens if a pallet of frozen goods collapses inside the rack?
Our Profile Gauge system scans every pallet at the induction point. If a pallet has an overhang greater than 50mm or is tilted due to poor wrapping, it is rejected before entering the system. This “pre-flight check” prevents 99% of internal spills.

4. Is “Rack Clad” construction suitable for food warehouses?
Absolutely. Rack Clad buildings are ideal for cold storage because the insulation panels are mounted directly to the rack exterior. This creates a tighter thermal seal compared to building a rack inside a traditional warehouse, minimizing thermal bridging and energy leaks.

5. We handle heavy pallets of liquid (juices/sauces). Will the movement cause spillage?
We utilize S-Curve acceleration and deceleration profiles in our PLC logic. This ensures that the crane starts and stops with extreme smoothness, preventing the “sloshing” effect that occurs with sudden jerky movements, protecting liquid loads.