Link 51 has responded to a changing marketplace by
broadening its portfolio of racking and storage solutions to
include an automated shuttle. The result, says the company,
is more efficient use of warehouse space

Managing director John Halliday
says: “Customers are demanding a
range of products from traditional
racking to shelving, mezzanines, and now
shuttle systems. We’re not saying that every
customer will need it but we must have it in
the range for those applications when it is
the best option.”
The units can be configured to operate on
a FIFO or FILO basis, will automatically
detect and handle both CHEP and Euro
pallets, and are capable of 300 missions per
charge, which is comfortably a day’s work.

The shuttle is easy to operate from a remote
control, which can control four units. The
system is designed to be easy for forklift
operators to use.

The Shuttle’s expected sweet spot is
storage applications with low SKU and high
pallet volume, with logistics,
pharmaceuticals, food and drink, and some
import/export businesses key target sectors.

Group product manager, Dagan Hyde
explains: “Customers currently considering
push-back, drive-in or pallet live should add
shuttle to the mix. However, the choice of
storage solution, of course, depends on what
the business is trying to achieve. You need to
sit down with the customer and come up
with solutions that match the challenge.”
Shuttle can provide a numbers of benefits
over some other forms of storage. For
example, they service deep and densely
packed levels of racking, which depending
on how quickly pallets need to be accessed,
can lead to highly efficient warehouse
utilisation.

In comparison, gravity fed systems
operate at a slope and the triangles of space
lost at the top and bottom, can lead to less
complete storage utilisation. Shuttle systems
can maximise the cube better, at the trade-off
of accessibility to those pallets deep in the
racking.

Link 51 has installed shuttles with
Toolbank. The company needed a storage
solution that would very efficiently use space
as it was locked into a site with limited room
to manoeuvre. The customer uses the
shuttle-fed racking to store container loads of
products from overseas. The pallets contain
similar products and are generally slowmoving.

In comparison with drive in-racking,
shuttle-fed racking decreases reliance on
forklifts. Operating fewer forklifts allows for
savings to be made on equipment, as well as
operators. In addition, with fewer forklifts
driving into aisles, the risk of accidents and
damage to racking and goods is reduced.

Sales director, Keith Evans says:
“Deploying shuttles may mean a customer
does not need to operate two buildings but
can get away with one. They also may be able
to lower the number of forklifts. The shuttle
is effectively acting as a truck. The cost is
similar to a lower end forklift, but a
customer will certainly reduce costs in terms
of operators.”
The shuttle available through Link 51 is
said to be reliable and, being of a modular
design, points of potential failure or
accidental damage, such as sensors, use offthe-
shelf components that are not a headache
to replace.

Dagan Hyde adds: “The equipment is
reliable, but maintenance is important and
sensors should be kept clean. In most cases,
in-house teams will be able to manage the
shuttles, but we have a 60,000 mission
service package, a trained service team, and
stock of spare parts to back up the new
range.”
The addition of the shuttle to Link 51’s
portfolio is also, in part, a response to an
increasingly fast-moving market, meaning
suppliers must be ready to move quickly with
complete solutions. This is partly due to the
diversification of tasks undertaken in storage
facilities, with activities such as fulfilment,
returns, picking, and packing much more
common.

John Halliday says: “We are also seeing the
procurement process shortened as
companies are often downsizing or see their
supply chain processes as offering
competitive advantage and want to keep
details under wraps.