The Rogan Corp. is the United States' premier knob supplier. It makes 13,000 designs. With that kind of variety, its products are constantly changing. And that, in turn, has pushed Rogan to improve its manufacturing process with the installation of new powered storage equipment.

The company aimed to increase productivity while reducing manufacturing costs and freeing floor space. Utilization of five vertical lift modules (VLM) enables the company to meet these goals. Two VLMs are in the tool room, two in a work-in-process area, and one in the sample and prototype area.

These storage systems store products on trays that sit on fixed locations mounted on opposite sides of the enclosed system. Operators access trays by entering putaway and retrieval commands on a computer-controlled keypad mounted at the access window in the front of the unit. Internally, a storage/retrieval mechanism rides a central, rigid mast. It stores and puts away trays in the fixed locations, and delivers to or takes away trays from the access window.

Up to 25 feet tall, each VLM frees floor space by capitalizing on high ceilings at the Northbrook, Ill. facility. In place of bulky pallet racks and shelving, the VLMs only occupy about 70 square feet each.

"I'd say we've gained a net 5,000 square feet of floor space by going up," says Jim Ritzema, Rogan plant manager. "With the space freed up from the elimination of the pallet racking, we were able to set up manufacturing cells using both existing and new equipment."

Rogan also used the new-found space to expand its tool room and add assembly machines within its production areas.

Two VLMs occupy the expanded tool room. They store about 150 mold bases. Each mold weighs roughly 500 pounds, which makes moving them an ergonomic challenge for workers. Previously, handlers slid molds from heavy-duty racks onto a lift walker for transport to the assembly tables. The VLM eliminates the strain of sliding. It delivers molds directly to workers through the touch of a button. Then a counterbalanced pneumatic manipulator moves the molds to their destinations.

Forklifts are no longer needed to pick totes in the work-in-process area because two VLMs store all the parts locally. The system also eliminates walk and search time, which increases plant productivity.