RAJA UK

SEC Storage Reaches New Heights at RAJA

RAJA UK, is part of the RAJA Group, Europe’s leading packaging supplier with over 5000 products spanning all areas of packaging. The Bedfordshire-based company has benefited from continued organic growth with substantial increases in sales and market share as well as an expanding product range through business acquisition. With such a significant number of SKUs (stock keeping units), an efficient storage, picking and distribution process is essential to its ongoing efficiency.

RAJA UK approached SEC Storage regarding their newly acquired building which was nearing completion close to their existing facility. The key support they needed was to move into the new warehouse in the most efficient manner possible and SEC Storage was tasked with devising a solution to achieve this.

Data Driven Solution

Just one of the key challenges of designing a solution was that the majority of their products are bulky and light weight such as bubble wrap and cardboard. As they are of relatively low value per item, they have vast quantities of stock.

With the new facility offering 270,000ft of warehouse space, SEC conducted a detailed space utilisation analysis to ensure the optimised space solution provided 40,000 pallet bays, five-times more than they previously.

SEC Storage was able to design a storage solution which would house all their stock in just two thirds of the building allowing them to benefit from the additional space in which to grow as part of their ongoing expansion strategy.

Whilst conducting in-depth pallet analysis, SEC was able to reduce the amount of steel and consequently, the capital expenditure required on the project, by carrying out a full pallet analysis that demonstrated just 11% of pallets were heavier than 500kg, as opposed to the 1 tonne pallets previously assumed.

Pick Efficiency Up 50％

SEC undertook a detailed simulation of the available space and demonstrated how best to operate within the facility and were able to create a new picking methodology that will see pick density, travel distances and idle times, reduce to create an increased picking efficiency of at least 50%. Further phases planned for the future which are focused on small unit-volume products should see this increase further still, and could increase by as much as 320% compared to the previous solution.

Specialist Loads

Designs were also provided for specialist loads with oversized racking taking larger products, and these were optimised through the analysis. Additionally, SEC ran the SKU data through their aperture optimisation software, which concluded that the client was able to compress all oversized products into one aisle, thereby resulting in only one wide aisle with an extra deep rack being required in the entire warehouse.

Bulk Storage System

Additionally, SEC Storage has created a bespoke bulk storage system on a FIFO (first in, first out) basis for their eco-flow material, of which the customer sells substantial quantities. The product is 2m high and 750mm wide, so a hopper system of 15m x 15m was installed to allow the product to be fed in from top and picked the from bottom when required.

Future Proofed

The design solution offered by SEC Storage was a two-phase process, with the second phase focused on creating a small part picking area to increase pick rate efficiency by up to 4 times due to the far denser storage capacity of the SEC solution. This was also shown via the simulation analysis undertaken to demonstrate the operational benefits of the proposed solution.

Safe Installation During COVID-19

The team at SEC Storage has undertaken the installation at the new facility during the COVID-19 Pandemic, adhering to strict health and safety protocols including social distancing, ensuring safe operating procedures were maintained at all times both for the SEC team and the customer’s own staff.

Tom Rodda, Managing Director, RAJA UK

“During COVID-19, SEC were outstanding. Even though we were in the middle of a pandemic, the project ran smoothly with the fitters and steel arriving on schedule. I couldn’t have asked for any more from SEC.”