Van den Ban group is prepared for the future together with state-of-the-art tire handling system
Van den Ban car tires B.V., established 40 years ago and located in Hellevoetsluis, the Netherlands, built a new automated distribution center in order to be prepared for the future. Van den Ban group has a broad assortment of summer and winter tires for cars, vans, 4X4, SUV and trucks. Especially the availability of (ultra) high performance tires is important. All well known A-brands are available such as Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Firestone, Goodyear, Michelin and Pirelli. Also brands such as Vredestein, Kleber, Uniroyal and BF Goodridge (4x4) can be delivered directly from stock. Furthermore van den Ban group has 2 private labels: Blackstone and Novex and exclusive brands such as Maxxis, Sava, Silverstone, Federal, BCT, Barum, General, Marshal and Double Coin. This fits all within the strategy of “total tire supplier” for customers within the international tire business.
Facts & figures tire handling system
The new distribution center has an area of 44.000 m2 of which 20.000 m2 is used as a container terminal and 24.000 m2 for the fully automated tire handling system that was delivered by Vanderlande Industries. Target is to realize a total storage capacity of 1,5 to 2 million tires. Van den Ban selected Vanderlande Industries to design and implement the tire handling system, including storage, order picking, consolidation and truck loading. The system was taken into full operation in March 2010.
Tire handling process
A batch picking methodology is used in the order picking process. The picked car tires are merged from 18 picking aisles and transported to the consolidation area.
Here they are stored temporarily in an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) based on the QUICKSTORE.HDS. This system is an order consolidation buffer and is also responsible for realizing the exact sequence for the loading of the trucks. Van den Ban saves approximately 50% on labor costs with the new system and drastically improves the quality of delivery and the service level.
Warehouse management
The VISION logistics software suite takes care of the logistic control of the activities in and around the distribution centre. VISION is responsible for location management, order picking and loading of the trucks in the right sequence. All car tires are transported to and from the storage locations through a conveyor system.