Automation: Knapp celebrates 10,000 shuttles in the market

Knapp, a market pioneer for shuttle systems, has another reason to celebrate the new year: an order for the 10,000th shuttle for brand footwear manufacturer CLARKS US. The almost 450,000 ft2 logistics center in Hanover, Pa., will go into operation at the end of 2013. The OSR Shuttle System ensures the storage, goods-to-person picking and properly sequenced supply of 50 million pairs of shoes each year.

The new generation of OSR Shuttle is even more powerful, cost efficient and flexible, and now makes it possible to store containers and cartons of different dimensions without having to use additional trays. This means a significant reduction in costs for the entire system: no investment costs for trays and no more time-consuming repack processes within the warehouse.

Another new feature is the capability of OSR Shuttle Systems to store loads in different sizes up to four deep. Due to the possibility of two-deep storage for containers with a length up to 31.49 inches (800 mm), Knapp offers the Shuttle System with the highest storage density on the market. An added advantage is the extremely broad range of products: the new OSR Shuttle handles very small products just as gently and reliably as oversized products.

With the OSR Shuttle System as core technology, Knapp combines the most important warehouse processes in one system. “A shuttle solution, in which a single system takes over storage, order picking, replenishment and shipment sorting is a true trendsetter”, says Josef Mentzer, COO, KNAPP USA. Knapp owns 80% of the market share for Shuttle Systems worldwide and has more than 150 reference customers already operating an OSR Shuttle.