April/May 2005

This striking view shows part of the 320,000 sq ft automated distribution centre opened by retailer Matalan in Corby. Its features include multi-tier live racking, narrow-aisle racking, and a support structure for a three-tier "goods on hangers" (GOH) system.

Design, build and project management were handled by SDI Greenstone, and the racking and related equipment have been supplied by Linpac Storage Systems. The base is being operated by Wincanton.

The centre is intended to hold boxed and hanging garments, and will eventually serve 90 stores in the south of Britain.

Reserve pallets and bulk items are stored in a five-level narrow-aisle Linpac pallet racking system, which is designed to hold 4,525 pallets of moderately fast-moving stock. Pick and deposit stations have been fitted to alternate aisle ends to facilitate the movement of stock in and out of the racking, and trucks are guided by heavy-duty floor-fixed angle guide rails.

Each tier in the three-tier GOH system has a central transverse lane, from which hanging garments are diverted into allocated storage zones.

Fast-moving stock allocated to a specific store is held in two three-tier picking towers of four-deep pallet live racking, which contains over 1,700 pallets.