The STC 2B1A stacker crane was designed by Jungheinrich. Shortly after the premiere in the middle of last year, this solution was used in an automated miniload warehouse belonging to the Vahle Group.
Vahle is a well-known manufacturer of power supply and data transmission systems. In its offer, also for the Polish market, it has hundreds of products. Recently, the company decided to build a new small parts warehouse. The contract included traditional solutions (conventional warehouse technologies and forklift trucks) as well as modern storage systems, including a miniload stacker crane. The STC 2B1A has been selected.
In the small parts warehouse, two different container formats are used simultaneously – boxes measuring 600 x 400 mm, which are stored double-deep and lengthwise, and boxes measuring 300 x 400 mm, which are stored four-deep and crosswise.
The STC 2B1A Miniload is relatively lightweight, weighs approximately 1.9 tons and can handle a total of 7314 rack storage locations. That’s how many of them there are in the Vahle container rack in Kamen.
The stacker crane moves at a speed of 6 m/s (lifting).
We were impressed by the innovative power of the new stacker crane. We are working with Jungheinrich on this project to implement a wide aisle warehouse, cantilever racking for longitudinal goods and drive-through shelving for packages in addition to the small parts warehouse,” explains Rüdiger Kuhn, Head of Purchasing and Materials Management at VAHLE.
The stacker crane saves more than just space
Jungheinrich’s STC 2B1A is considered to be the most powerful stacker crane for automated miniload warehouses in its class. It has energy buffers specially adapted to its handling characteristics called SuperCaps. They store energy released during braking processes and feed it back into the drive system during acceleration. As a result, Jungheinrich has succeeded in reducing the energy requirement. At the same time, the relatively high maximum load of the stacker crane is maintained.
The energy is transferred by a VAHLE busbar system (the design allows the distance required for the guide rollers to be only 55 mm above the floor).
Jungheinrich has designed the STC 2B1A for maximum efficiency in terms of space utilisation. It turned out that due to the innovative design of the travel rail and the Omega drive system (patented) — which, unlike other stacker cranes, is integrated into the foot of the mast to save space — the system achieves relatively low approach dimensions.
Jungheinrich’s STC 2B1A enables its customers to save space while maintaining the same storage capacity or expand their storage capacity while increasing their throughput. Another innovation is the new modular mast design. Despite its lightweight construction, it ensures particularly high stability of the device up to a height of 25 metres.
Photo: Jungheinrich