MHIA updates planning tool for carousels and VLMs

Free software calculates space requirements, throughput and cost justification for automated storage systems.

-- Modern Materials Handling, 3/15/2007

Justifying the cost of a carousel system or a vertical lift module (VLM) just got easier. The Material Handling Institute of America (MHIA) recently released Version 4.0 of its “Carousel & VLM Planning Package.” The free software tool is available for download at MHIA’s online store.

The tool, which requires Microsoft Excel, calculates the space requirements and throughput capabilities of a VLM, vertical carousel or horizontal carousel. The new version also provides a comparison of the space and labor needed for an automated system and that needed for static shelving. With additional user input about the price of space and labor, the tool can then calculate a cost justification for an automated system.

Researchers at Virginia Tech developed the tool for MHIA’s Automated Storage/Retrieval Systems Product Section. According to that group, carouses and VLMs can increase productivity by two-thirds while reducing floor space requirements up to 75%.