Gebhardt European Conveyor Systems Limited has provided a multi-level shuttle system to increase efficiency and utilisation at the Jaguar Land Rover factory in Coventry.

When the new Coventry factory opened, the internal logistics systems used at the previous premises continued, with the various seat components being picked manually and delivered on trolleys to the assembly lines, requiring large numbers and staff and wide aisles. JLR decided to replace the manual system with an automated retrieval system that would take components with minimal manual handling from the racking to the production area.

The Gebhardt warehouse control system controls all functions in the automation, such as the routing of the trays on the ASRS and the conveyor systems, the location of the trays in the ASRS, the linking of products with tray identification, and it also manages the operator (HMI) screens on the system.

Following the award of the contract, Gebhardt-ECS and Lear worked closely together to produce the detailed design and implementation strategy for the entire project, which included racking and mezzanines as well as the automated storage and retrieval system itself. Installation and system commissioning took six months and were handled from the Gebhardt-ECS Nottingham office.