Industry News

King SpA has continued to optimise the service it provides customers by introducing an automatic shelving system for special parts and small quantities – further improving its warehouse capabilities.

An Italian distributor that has been involved in the marketing of standard stainless steel screws and bolts (AISI 304-316), and special parts – for more than 45 years – King has grown steadily in Italy and abroad thanks to the variety and quality of its products it is able to offer; the speed with which it responds to requests; as well as its corporate philosophy of putting people first.

King has more than 20,000 items in stock, which amounts to 5,000 tonnes of products, all ready for immediate delivery – depending on specific needs of the customer. Situated at the back of King’s immaculate warehouse, the automatic shelving system enables the company to store a wide range of slow moving products in the most efficient way possible. Over 180,000 individual boxes are stored in the system and can be automatically sent to the picking desk at the touch of a button. The system has enabled King to increase the picking time for small and special orders, as well as create additional space in other parts of the warehouse for additional ‘quick moving’ stock.

“The automatic shelving unit requires just one operator to pick all of our small and special part orders. Thanks to all the relevant products being stored in the system, there is no need for the operator to travel around the warehouse for each individual product – which helps save time during the picking process. The operator simply scans the order barcode and each product is automatically brought to them. The relevant box is then scanned and the operator moves onto the next product. If the wrong box is scanned the system will alert the operator. Thanks to the shelving system technology we have been able to reduce the amount of errors in picking, which helps us provide a better service to our customers.”