ITWWA predicts US take-off for ‘shuttle-based’ storage systems

John Barry, VP, sales and marketing, Americas explains to Ben Bouckley that such systems – ITWWA presented a new one, StorFast, at Drinktec 2013 in Munich – have traditionally been more popular in Europe, since warehouse operators housing beverages in US had the ability to grow out.

Increasingly though, people are looking to expand using existing buildings and the same footprint, and he insists that that’s where ASRS “really shines”​ over older, crane-based retrieval systems.

“ASRS allows for a greater density, and it’s much cheaper to use an existing building than to build brand new, that’s a real advantage,”​ Barry says.

Alejandro Cox, commercial director, ITW Warehouse Automation, also contributes to this exclusive podcast recorded at Drinktec, and says the firm’s cart-based system is often able to double clients' warehouse capacities using the existing footprint.