Less forklift handling

“First of all, less forklift handling is needed”, Heezen begins.
“Our forklift engineer told us that last year our forklifts were used only half as much. That is not only safer, but also saves us a lot of time.”

Efficient configuration

These time savings that Lurvink has achieved are due in part to the efficient configuration: “We have laid everything out logically. The racks are aligned with our laser cutter. The overhead crane picks the sheets up from the rack and places them on the laser cutter’s bed. This takes just five minutes, or perhaps no more than a minute. With a forklift it would easily take us twenty minutes longer for one sheet.”

Saving space

Heezen mainly sees these time savings as an ‘added bonus’.
Its main reason for purchasing the storage racks was to save space: “Yes, we simply did not have enough space. I think this is a problem for every metalwork company. We were still using one old rack, but wanted to acquire another. Then we made an appointment with aalbers|farina.”

Simple calculation

Lurvink’s decision to immediately purchase two racks was the result of a simple calculation: “We work with a wide range of sheets with different qualities and thicknesses: stainless steel, steel and aluminium. Our range for the laser cutter is between 1 and 15 millimetres and some types take up three drawers on their own. That means it doesn’t take long to fill up a rack. We also wanted to keep positions free for leftover materials, so we quickly came to the conclusion that one rack was not enough.”

Already filled

So does the company finally now have space in abundance?
“The space that we gained has already been filled up”, laughs Heezen.
“At the beginning of last year we purchased a welding robot and this has been busier than expected.”