Southward | Pallet Shuttle, satellite racking, automated racking

Atlas Pallet Shuttle

The stow Atlas® 2D shuttle system is a deep lane storage and retrieval system. The heart of the system is a carrier able to move on either the storage lanes, or on one or more main lanes. In this way the shuttle may change lanes without intervention of an operator or other transporting device. This highly efficient storage system can be applied in both semi and fully automated warehouses.

2D Racking design

The racking construction is based on Stow’s pallet racking system, which complies with all European EN/FEM regulations. The extended range of standard profiles allows an optimized and economic design for a large variety of projects in regard to warehouse layout, pallet sizes, pallet weight. The shuttle rails in both the storage lanes and the main lanes are fixed on the pallet racking system.

The crossing at the intersection of the lane and main rails is constructed of simple galvanized components, which can be individually adjusted allowing a smooth transition of the stow Atlas® 2D shuttle when changing direction. Much attention has been given to keep the height of the entire road way as low as possible.

The operation

The stow Atlas® pallet shuttle system consists of a number of Atlas shuttles, the specially designed stow Shuttle-rack system and the local controlling system (STC). The stow Atlas® 2D is a self-powered pallet carrier, which may transport pallets on both the rails of the storage lanes and the rails of the main lanes. The so-called crossings or intersections between the storage lanes and the main lanes are designed for a smooth transition of the stow Atlas® 2D shuttle, unloaded but also loaded. In a semi-automated warehouse the pallets are received and picked at the frontside of the pallet rack by means of a conventional forklift truck. The orders are issued from the client’s WMS to the local warehouse control system (STC), which among others selects the stow Atlas® 2D to perform the specific task and determines its optimum path. The occupancy rate of the various storage lanes, the status and operation of each shuttle and an overview of all performed tasks can be consulted on the STC or are transferred to the client’s main system.