Description
Sandvik is manufacturer and distributor of high-technology metal products. Operations comprise the Tooling, Mining & Construction and the Materials Technology business areas. HQ in Sweden, several plants and warehouses in Europe and rest of the world.

Opportunities
Due to growth of their Tooling business, Sandvik Materials Technology had to move their Fittings & Flanges operation from their warehouse in Schiedam, The Netherlands, to their existing warehouse in Venlo. In Venlo 4,000 m2 of the 12,000 m2 was reserved for it. Sandvik needed an entirely new concept for the warehouse to accommodate this move.

Solution
A pre-study was performed to find the optimal logistics concept. During the implementation, the complete project was managed and controlled, from tendering & contracting until go-live. Elements in this assignment:

• Warehouse solution with e.g.: cantilever racking for long tubes, side loader for long tubes, narrow aisle racking with combi-trucks and order pick trucks, wide aisle racking with reach truck, goods elevator, (un)packing area with lifting equipment and lifting tables
• New building mezzanine with piling done inside existing building
• Floor grinding to create flat floor for narrow aisle trucks
• Change existing building installations to new lay-out
• Permits and other arrangements with authorities
• Tent for temporary storage during construction period
• Upgrade existing WMS solution, own-made by Sandvik
• Physical move of 40 truck loads.

Benefits
quotes from Sandvik:

• “The pre-study was done in a thorough and expert way and answered all of the questions we had”
• “They had the ability to negotiate good deals with the suppliers and contractors”
• “They convinced authorities that sprinkler was not needed, and saved us money and kept us within schedule”
• “Everything came in well below the budget and within the scheduled time”

Click here for the interview “New warehouse will improve Sandvik’s services to customers in the Benelux and Germany” with Mr. Mathias Johansson, project manager at Sandvik Material Technology in Sweden by Tjaart Theron.