What is a high-bay warehouse?
A high-bay warehouse is a warehouse with racks, or more precisely a storage system with high racks. It can have a height of 12 to a maximum height of 50 meters. This results in high space utilization and storage capacity for a few hundred to tens of thousands of pallet spaces. High-bay warehouses - also known as HRL for short - are usually steel structures, but can also be made of wood in some cases.
Executions
There are different types of high-bay warehouses: for example, fully automated high-bay warehouses in silo design, but manually operated racking systems and racking systems are also possible. In between, there are several other construction variants and forms. For example, silo construction is used when the racking is designed to support both the roof and the façade.
Single-deep storage is usually used as the storage technology, as in contrast to a double rack, access to the picking locations and therefore the goods is possible directly. This is the most common storage principle, as only one storage unit is ever stored in the depth of the racking. Single-deep storage is therefore very suitable for automation, for example for an automated small parts warehouse (AS/RS).
What is a high-bay warehouse used for?
A high-bay warehouse is used for the storage of goods and merchandise. A distinction is made between long goods and flat goods. When storing goods on pallets in the pallet warehouse, care should be taken to ensure optimum use of space in order to utilize the full capacity of all areas.
How does a high-bay warehouse work?
The function of storing and retrieving pallets in a high-bay warehouse is provided by a warehouse management system (WMS) or warehouse management software. This system communicates with a material flow computer and controls the material flow, including the conveyor technology, the storage and retrieval machines (SRMs) and any other technology in the building (hall or rack storage).
In each aisle between two rows of racking, there is both a storage and retrieval area. Here, in the so-called pre-zone of a high-bay warehouse, the goods are delivered and picked up by the storage and retrieval machine for storage or deposited for retrieval.
Storage or retrieval is carried out by moving the storage and retrieval machine in a longitudinal direction, e.g. on rails. Stacker cranes can be controlled automatically or manually. SRMs are operated manually when "person-to-goods" picking takes place in the pre-zone. If "goods-to-person" picking is carried out, the stacker crane is controlled automatically. In automatic mode, this part of the warehouse must be secured against access by persons by means of fences, light barriers, etc.
In an automatically operated high-bay warehouse, the individual load units are moved to the forklift transfer points using conveyor technology. Conveyor technology also includes components such as chain conveyors, lift tables, vertical conveyors or automated guided vehicles. If the high-bay warehouse is operated manually, the forklift transfer points are located at the front of the racking.
Advantages
- Low deployment of personnel
- Optimum space and room utilization
- Fast storage and retrieval of goods
- Direct access to individual pallets
- Simple adaptation to a changed product range
- Several application and combination options with other systems are possible, especially for order processing at picking islands, e.g. with Pick-to-Light, Voice Picking, etc.
Disadvantages
- Very high investment costs
- Extensive organization required even before commissioning
- Possibility of total failure
- High-bay warehouses can only be expanded to a limited extent
Conclusion
Although a high level of investment is required to implement this warehouse solution, high-bay warehouses have become an integral part of logistics and intralogistics.
Thanks to the use and flexibility of various picking systems and solutions and in conjunction with a good warehouse management and material flow system, a high-bay warehouse is ideal for warehousing and picking.
