Schaefer speeds workflow with Navette shuttle

Schaefer Systems International, a provider of storage, material handling, logistics, and software solutions, came to the ProMat trade show in Chicago this week with a new shuttle design that allows more flexible access to materials stored in racks.

The Navette flexible multilevel shuttle can increase efficiency in the storage and picking of trays, totes, or cartons in automated warehouses. By scaling the shuttle to each customer's requirements, Schaefer can construct a system with access to the widest range of items in the storage aisles as well as optimum workflow through parallel processes.

The shuttle carries either Schaefer's 600mmx400mm tote or the larger 600mmx800mm tote, allowing users to load it with two small boxes if needed and reduce the number of nonconveyable items. Schaefer has also designed specialized totes for grocery applications, with open slits designed to allow enough ventilation for refrigeration as well as for draining away most of the fluid in the case of a spill or leak. Another new tote is made of plastic mixed with a copper additive, giving it antimicrobial properties for use in food handling or healthcare, said Mark Dickinson, executive sales manager for the automated systems division.