Automated sheet metal storage system

Ter Horst Metaaltechniek B.V. from the Netherlands deals with a wide range of metalworking. With an advanced machine park including laser cutting machines, 4 and 6 metre press brakes and welding robots, the company is able to manufacture customised products.

As a result of the company’s continuous growth, a decision was made to build a new production hall, which was equipped with the latest technological solutions in the field of Industry 4.0, including an automated sheet metal storage system, designed for sheets with a maximum dimension of 6 m x 2 m, integrated with a laser cutting machine.
After precise analysis of the production process, production volumes and the type of components to be manufactured, we designed and implemented a MultiTower system with a stacker crane, equipped with two movable loading-unloading stations and a duo station to operate the loading-unloading system of the laser cutting machine. The duo station has two levels – an upper level with a shelf for raw sheets and a lower level with a shelf for cut parts. The MultiTower system contains 8 storage columns with 131 shelves with useful dimensions of 6100 and 6150 x 2100 mm and a load capacity of 4 000 kg to 5 000 kg.
MultiTower consists of a 9-metre high supporting structure, inside of which moves the stacker crane responsible for transporting the shelves between storage columns and stations. The delivery of new sheets to the storage system is carried out at a loading-unloading station equipped with a depalletiser, used to separate the sheet pack from the pallets. In addition, the station is equipped with a weighing device which allows the weight of the supplied metal sheets to be controlled. Cut out details from the laser cutting machine are put on specially designed for this purpose shelves which are transported to storage columns or to the loading-unloading station, where sorting of elements takes place. The construction of the shelf for the cut-outs enables them to be picked up by a crane and transported inside the production hall. Other shelves, used for storing raw sheets, are adapted to store sheets of different sizes, providing flexibility in production. A high-capacity automated sheet metal storage integrated with the laser cutting machine ensures high production efficiency, while Baumalog software allows for productive article management.