Argos has sales of over £5.5 billion andover 17,000 lines on offer, experiencedphenomenal growth from their 670stores and internet orders.

Facilities Manager, Roy Siggery,commented, “Incomparing live store products, DuraFlow wasthe only system providinga complete bed of wheelsfor handling flexibility, asvirtually all cartonvariations can beaccommodated withoutthe need for track andguide re-configuration; so

inventory change can be easilymanaged. In trial, Duraflow was mostcompatible in meeting our storageneeds and even at very low gradients,products ran smoothly and true fromloading to pick face.”

“I was most impressedby the quality and thespeed in which thisversatile flowracksystem can be fitted.

A shelf consisting of 5-7 tracks hooked overexisting rack beamscan be installed in lessthan 10 minutes.” Argos Facilities Manager,Roy Siggery

Argos pick their catalogue orders from DuraFlowand improve order picking efficiency by 10%

When Argos Facilities Manager saw a test unit of Flowstore’srange of DuraFlow modular multi-wheel roller track sections, he

immediately recognised that DuraFlow had potential toprovide a flexible solution to their storage needs.

The subsequent changes at Argos have improved order pickingefficiency by up to 10%, increased warehouse capacity, allowed for

better inventory of stock and some 1,600 pick locations.

Eliminate wasted spaceOur multi-wheel DuraFlow systemenables virtually any box width to beaccommodated without loss of space,unlike standard conveyor tracks, whichlimit carton widths and give rise towasted shelf space. Speed and ease ofinstallation from pre-assembled unitsgives our customers tremendous

flexibility, and theproblem ofreconfiguring lanewidths becomes athing of the past.

Argos’ objective attheir Lutterworthwarehouse was tomaximise floorspace and picklocations. Havingused live storagein the past, Argoswas familiar withthe concept offirst-in, first-out

picking techniques andhow stock lines can becondensed into shorterpick routes, speeding uppicking and concentratingareas of operation. Thisobviously met their projectcriteria, providing bothspace saving and handlingefficiencies, as well asimproving supervision ofpick activities.

Roy further noted “The DuraFlowmulti-wheel track sections come readyassembled and couldn’t be quicker toinstall. Re-position a beam at theloading face to create the requiredgradient and then simply hook the tracksection onto existing pallet rack beams.With over 260 shelf levels it only tookFlowstore 2 days with 3 installers to fitthe entire system!”

FlexibilitySystem flexibility for Argos is important,as seasonal fluctuations in productsales may require flowrack bays to beconverted back to pallet pick locationsas volumes dictate higher or low stocklevels. “The DuraFlow system providesthis facility - unhook and remove thetrack section and reposition the palletbeam - it’s as simple as that!”

Product FactfileDuraflow is a modularsystem of pre-assembled, multi-wheelroller track sections inwidths of 305mm and405mm. A typical shelf level2.7m wide x 2m deepcan easily carry 1300kg –1600kg ofproduct, without anyintermediate beamsfor support.Flowstore salesengineers can advisecorrect sizes for fittingto existing palletracking, or we cansupply a completesystem with rack frame-work and the DuraFlowtracks.

Flowstore Systems Ltd, Fairview Business Centre39 Clayton Road, Hayes, Middx, UB3 1AU, UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 8581 5555 Fax: +44 (0)20 8581 5575www.flowstore.co.uk Email: sales@flowstore.co.uk