High-bay concept still in infancy
18 Feb 2009
The most advanced stacking systems of the moment are the latest automated stacking crane (ASC) systems such as those at Euromax in Rotterdam, and Altenwerder and Burchardkai in Hamburg, stacking five or six high, says Jan van Beemen of Haskoning.
There are, he says, a
number of concept plans for container stacking systems similar to
high-bay warehouse systems. These are high and dense stacks in which
each container would be accessible without moving any other container.
"Such systems would be operationally ideal but also very expensive. Besides the cost, there are a number of technical and safety problems to be resolved," he says.
Dense stacking and automation no not necessarily need each other - but in the real world they go hand in hand, says Mr van Beemen. Here there are two aspects: operational automation, the system which determines which container is to be moved from where to where and via which route, and technical automation, the system that operates the crane in order to execute that move. "You need both systems."
