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Stacker Cranes
Stacker Cranes are rail mounted devices providing storage & retrieval in high rise warehouses i.e. Racking installation 7-20 mtr which would generally be beyond the scope of fork lift or Reach truck or Narrow aisle truck.

Since stacker can operate in narrower aisle than conventional fork lift they can increase the storage potential of a given floor area by 3 to 5 times. Though this saving would be smaller in comparison with narrow aisle truck , in addition to saving in volume there are also considerable labor savings since the stacker crane offers automation opportunities.

Automated warehouses create further advantages such as real time inventory control which leads to reducing inventory (tied up capital), improved material administration, Reduced damage to goods, simple stock taking , segregating quarantine goods, integration of warehouse with production & distribution.

Pallets
Pallets come in many different design and may be made from wood ,cardboard plastic ,aluminium,steel , combination of material etc, A distinction is made between re-usable & disposabel pallets. Re-usable pallet include the standardized Euro pallet) Essentially a European exchange pallet ) predominantly in European contries The Euro pallet is Four way non reverssible pallet of size 800width x1200 depth x 114mm hight . It is standardized with regards to size , material & construction including nailing. On the basis of this standard , European contries have agreed to exchange Euro pallets between their respective railway administration & between various domestic transport users. In addition to 800x1200 standard Euro pallets , there are several other standard sizes
400 x500 mm builder pallets
600x800mm half pallet
1200x1600mm marine pallets
Euro pallet fit ISO container badly ( 20 feet container can accommodate only 11 i.e 77.4% area utilization). Therefore compromise proposal based on 1000x1200mm pallet size envisaged satisfactory container filling ( 20 feet container accommodate 10 nos i.e 87.6 % area utilization)

In India there is no standard followed as regards pallet size , material etc , however there are different design as illistrated below
· Two way entry pallet - handled from two sides only
· Four way entry pallet
· Single Deck flat pallet (non reverssible) - one deck & bearer
· Double deck non-revesible pallet
· Reversible pallet - top & botton deck can carry the load
· Wing pallet -
It is obvious from above that Euro pallet is nothhing but standard pallet of 800x1200.

Defining pallet size
Pallet size & pay load is very important in concept design of AS/RS. The size of the pallet is merely not the function of Stacker crane capacity but it has to be design in considering following
· Material to be stored
· Inplant handling
· Handling by conventiona equipments such as fork lift or Battery operated Stacker
· Handling by hand pallet truck
· Derated capacity of handling equipment for given load center.
· Loading on fixed station · Handling by Stacker Crane
· Fitting in to container ( if sent out with the material)
For Stacker crane there is no limit on pallet size design & capacity however our stacker crane is designed for pallet size maximum 1500w x 1500d with max capacity of 1500kgs.
All conventional equipments are designed for Euro pallet with 1000kg capacity. Therefore it is advisable to consider Euro pallet size to achieve compatibility with all the above equipments Keeping the above parameters in mind a suitable AS/RS concept layout can be designed.