Pallet racks in Poland with the furniture of HSF e-commerce

More than 10,000 SKUs

With more than a decade in business, the company HSF e-commerce is a logistics operator specialized in serving furniture companies and e-commerce companies.

Recently, it has opened a new 6.67 acre facility in the Polish town of Sady, where it manages more than 10,000 customer SKUs, “mainly garden furniture made of wood, metal and plastics,” explained Jacek Stachowiak, the warehouse manager.

“Our products often have irregular shapes,” Stachowiak pointed out. Its catalog includes different products with different rotations, dimensions and features. Therefore, HSF e-commerce's priority was to find a storage system that would help manage that huge variety.

“In addition, we needed the warehouse to be ready to tackle our work rhythm,” Stachowiak said. Between 100 and 120 pallets are received each day from Asia (three to four sea containers) and other European countries (via road transport).

Storage versatility and capacity

Interlake Mecalux has equipped the warehouse with selective pallet racks, in line with the requirements of HSF e-commerce. This solution stands out for its versatility, as it can adapt to any type of pallet with variable weights and volumes. .“Here we set various sized and shaped unit loads. So, not only do we store pallets, but also carts,” the warehouse manager explained.

According to Stachowiak, “we use carts to store long, narrow, fragile, odd shaped and non-stackable items (such as tables and sun umbrellas).” The warehouse racks contain a wide range of products, from stacked chairs to boxes, pallets and large-sized panels.

The racks measure 28' high and 400' long, in an effort to provide the greatest possible storage capacity: a total of 11,592 pallets. With such long aisleways, an underpass has been opened that crosses the racks transversely to ease the flow of operators and, in turn, use it as an emergency exit.

Jacek Stachowiak - Warehouse Manager at HSF e-commerce
“Interlake Mecalux caught our attention because of its good price-performance ratio and the innovative pallet storage system. This solution means we can tailor the racks to meet the needs of our customers. We also appreciate the knowledge and professionalism of its consultants.”

Agile logistics

Agility is another of HSF e-commerce's priorities, because the logistics operator needs its workers to manage all products as fast as possible.

It prepares around 2,000 orders per day, each one comprised of between one and six order lines. “These orders are mainly shipped to our customers in Germany and other Western European countries. Moreover, as of this year, Polish customers can also purchase our products from the online shop outliv.pl,” Stachowiak said.

The racks offer direct access to the products, which facilitates storage and order preparation. It also guarantees perfect stock control, as each location is assigned to a single SKU.

However, the distribution of goods is also essential to achieve higher performance of all operations. The entire warehouse organization is designed to simplify the work and optimize the operator and handling equipment movements.

The docks are located on opposite sides of the warehouse. Receipts are carried out on the one side, “where the arriving goods are checked,” Stachowiak noted. On the other hand, there is a ground floor preload area, where finished orders are grouped according to whether they correspond to the same order or route. This speeds up their subsequent loading on trucks.

Consumer goods are deposited directly in the shipping area to save time and bypass picking tasks. Those with the lowest demand are stored on the racks so that the operators can pick them with the help of a forklift.

Advantages for HSF e-commerce

• Versatility: the pallet racks accommodate the 10,000 different sizes, rotations and feature SKUs of HSF e-commerce.
• Space utilization: pallets occupy almost every inch of warehouse space to reach an 11,592 pallet storage capacity. Each season, the warehouse can handle up to 25,000 pallets.
• Speed in order prep: the layout of the warehouse and selective pallet racks are designed to facilitate and expedite the preparation of 2,000 orders per day.