APC Storage Solutions SA was contracted by a large tyre manufacture in South Africa to construct a new warehouse at the company’s head office and manufacturing plant in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN). This followed an already completed project, which was to maximise storage capacity in its Cape Town distribution Centre.

Both projects, which included specifications to cater for the customer’s highly-flammable stored products, were completed in the 2015 calendar year – the Cape Town upgrade in May; and the KZN installation during October – in 15 days only.

Cape Town upgrade A turnkey solution to maximise storage capacity in a 4 000 m² operational distribution centre in Montague Gardens was required. Enhancing existing racking systems and installing new racks with in-rack sprinkler designs provided by a third party formed the scope of work. The installation was a two-month-long phased installation, necessary to avoid disrupting ongoing distribution operations.

APC Storage Solutions SA first consolidated the existing racking infrastructure of one single and one-and-a-half back-to-back rows. Adding four new back-to-back rows and a single row of approximately 60 metres in length, all with 1 500 mm in-frame depth, followed. “The warehouse remained operational throughout the upgrade,” says Deon Jennings, General Manager, Cape Region, APC Storage Solutions SA. “We therefore worked closely with our customers’ management team to achieve the objective without interrupting operations, and developed a row-by-row project plan.”

The result was a relayed approach – stock removal; racking built; production stopped; racking populated, cycle repeated. Only once all racking was complete did APC Storage Solutions SA begin with the sprinkler system installation. “This approach meant a lengthy project, but we completed everything according to spec and without interrupting distribution centre efficiencies or operational safety,” Jennings points out.

KZN installation APC Storage Solutions SA was contracted to design and build a 60 metre long and 38 metre wide (2 241 m²) warehouse for the tyre manufacturer’s existing plant. Two single rows and five back-to-back rows of 15 bays, totalling a length of 50 metres were installed. Each row can accommodate four pallet/stillage levels at 8.4 metres top-of-pallet height.

The steel stillage size – 1 300 mm wide and 1 300 mm deep – necessitated the installation of steel supports in order to safely store them on the racking. To further increase the safety factor, APC Storage Solutions SA installed steel pallet back stops behind each pallet. “This keeps the pallet Flu space (back-to-back clearance) uniform throughout the system and prevents pallets from being pushed too far back,” explains Ettienne Meyburgh, General Manager, Kwa-Zulu Natal Region, APC Storage Solutions SA. The new warehouse comfortably caters for 1 392 pallet positions.

The scope of work was to fit as many pallets as possible into the new warehouse, “which we achieved,” Meyburgh says. “To attain this and meet the stillage storage size requirements, we installed a non-standard beam and frame depth, while ensuring the structures adhered to all fire regulations.”

Aftersales and maintenance Each of these facilities opted to include APC Storage Solutions SA standard aftersales and maintenance agreement, which consists of two site visits per year for five years. The agreement forms part of the storage solutions professionals’ five-year guarantee and lifetime warranty. “Under the agreement, we conduct a full site inspection and provide a comprehensive report after each visit,” Meyburgh explains. “Clients can use this information for insurance and audit purposes,” Jennings adds.

For both these projects APC Storage Solutions SA played a pivotal role in the overall solution planning, with the two branch’s engineers and technicians working closely with those of the customer’s.   “Our customer is part of a very large multinational company,” Meyburgh concludes, “and the fact that they chose APC Storage Solutions SA due to our quality and service is a feather in our cap.” “