Airbus Turns to Smart Aerospace Storage Systems for Greater Capacity and Risk Prevention.

Challenge

With help from Montel's industry-leading technology and service, Airbus was able to optimize their operations simply by making their aerospace storage system smarter. This was the culmination point of a project designed to maximize storage capacity, lower operating cost and improve part dispatch delays.

Objective

Sometimes, problems seem so glaring, we have no choice but to deal with the elephant in the room». But for many companies, there simply isn’t one large issue to address, but rather a host of small inconsistencies, a bunch of frayed ends in need of tying. It’s very rare to find a solution that can straighten out these complications at once, but for the sake of budget and time, it may be a business’s only recourse. Likewise, aerospace manufacturer Airbus, for its materials center in Ashburn, Virginia, hoped to improve upon several different key elements at once. Like any other warehouse, the Ashburn facility was hampered by issues with plant cost-effectiveness, lack of storage capacity and a logistics division that could be faster and more responsive if given the proper tools.

Solution

Airbus state-of-the-art aerospace storage system rapidly met and exceeded their expectations by addressing the company's concerns headlong. All in all, the structure combined both static and powered mobile racking for a total of 90,000 feet of space capable of storing nearly 3 million pounds of material. While the benefits of on-site storage in a warehouse speak for themselves, perhaps more important is how this storage system affects daily worker operations. After all, it’s one thing to store a lot more, but another to store more efficiently, hence creating a more productive work environment and reduce order completion times.

Product description

A smart aerospace storage system powered by motorized carriages gives plant managers the opportunity to add an extra level of protection to what they store. Moreover, the closed, accordion-like design of powered mobile racking gives space otherwise reserved for aisles back to the facility’s floor plan. This means workers manning lifting equipment have more room to move about, even when the warehouse reaches capacity. This technology also helps battle a warehouse’s greatest enemy: downtime. Businesses hemorrhage money every minute their facilities are shut down, be it through missed sales, undelivered goods or complications with customer service. Montel integrated a surge protector into the electrical mobile racking units to help safeguard against disruptions. In the event of total power loss, with the help of a handy ratchet, Airbus can still open and close the units with little effort and no electricity whatsoever.

Benefits

This smart storage installation didn’t result in any extra construction or additions to the Ashburn facility and integrated smoothly into day-to-day functions. The implementation of Montel’s powered mobile racking combines 60,000 square feet of traditional storage space into 30,000 feet of smart space without moving any walls or consuming more space The system has the capacity to move more than 2.8 million pounds at any given time. For Airbus, that means greater volumes, higher efficiency and more ways to service its valued customers.