Modern Materials Handling Magazine Article by Chad Young on Scribd
During the height of a global pandemic, Pitman Creek, one of the largest distributors of freshwater fishing tackle in North America, opted to consolidate two former warehouses and operate out of a new state-of-the-art facility in Stanford KY. From the beginning, this project was an unusual circumstance for Lafayette Engineering, due in part to challenging lead times and protocols for covid-19. And one huge advantage: being in such close proximity to our main office. 90% of our workload comes from out of state, so being located 15 minutes from the job site gave us a few options we typically don’t have. The LEI team took on the Mechanical installation, Electrical installation, Electrical Engineering, PLC controls, Human-machine interface, and Warehouse Control System, and a fixed deadline fast approaching.
With two panels on-site, we worked with the Allen Bradley Plc. in order to control the conveyor system. Sick Cameras were used to scan the totes in the picking area and boxes in shipping. It was the first time Lafayette using the Balluf communication blocks but in the end, they seemed to be a solid solution. And using the Panther P9 to print and apply the labels. After scanning, Lafayette’s Conveyor Works was used to deliver the message for the PLC to divert to which. Going through the right-angle Narrow Belt we were able to achieve XX rate with the customer spec XX.
In all, this upgrade resulted in a 250% improvement in picking, managing 40 units per minute, with shipping handling over 20 units per minute. With the help of the Hytrol Integrator HOJ Engineering, we were able to meet the customer’s deadline and hand over the system prior to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear officially opening the building in a ceremony on Oct. 28, 2021. This article from Modern Materials Handling Magazine highlights many of our triumphs in helping Pitman Creek to achieve its highest level of efficiency to date.
