Overcoming Automation Obstacles During COVID-19: A Case Study about the implementation of Swisslog AutoStore at Radwell International in Arlington, TX

THE CUSTOMER

Radwell International supports its customers with a broad range of new and used industrial products including industrial automation, MRO, pneumatic, motion, electronic, hydraulic, HVAC and electrical control equipment for plant floors and facilities. The company also provides component-level repair for all industrial electronic and electrical equipment, and buys new and used surplus for resale.

Radwell has major distribution hubs in New Jersey and the U.K., which support the bulk of product shipments and also include production facilities for repair. The hubs are supported by a network of satellite facilities that focus on repairs and localized sales. In early 2020, Radwell began construction on its newest automated distribution center. Radwell would locate this AutoStore in its 86,000-square-foot Arlington, Texas, branch.

If you know anything about Radwell, it won’t come as a surprise that we planned our newest regional distribution center in East Arlington, Texas, around automation. After all, we work with our customers to make sure they have the equipment they need to keep their automation systems running, so we understand how valuable automation is to business success.

Plus, we had already successfully automated our New Jersey distribution center. That project met all of our expectations by improving inventory management, making more effective use of our warehouse space and cutting picking times dramatically. Based on that success, we didn’t have to spend time evaluating and selecting an automation system and integration partner. We knew we would design the Texas facility around the AutoStore system and work with Swisslog as our partner. We also had the benefit of our experience and learnings from the earlier project.

It is often during times of crisis in a manufacturing facility that Radwell International is called upon to deliver a solution. Our technicians have spent years honing their skills for exactly the type of situation that occurred with one of our customers this summer.

We received a call at Radwell from one of the manufacturing plants for a large global food manufacturing company. They had called in for an after-hours rush and discovered that Radwell also offered field services which they desperately needed. They were in crisis: their plant was not operational. This was caused by a power surge from one of the utility sub stations, resulting in over 100 drives and other controls and protection devices failing or blowing up due to excessive voltage. This was a major equipment failure situation.

Obsolescence is an unavoidable part of any manufacturing endeavor. No matter how well your company has planned, some factors are more challenging to consider in advance than others.

In the era of Industry 4.0, new technology continues to revolutionize the manufacturing industry. Industry professionals view it as the latest industrial revolution, hence the Industry 4.0 moniker. Big data and computing technologies are the front-runners in innovations proving value to manufacturers. It is more crucial now than ever to remain on the leading edge of new technology. Upgrading equipment to provide greater efficiencies will provide a greater return on the investment.

This article was originally published at Epicor's The Shop Floor. View original post here 

It was October 1st of 1984.

Prince Harry had just been born. MTV held their first Video Music Awards. “Lets Go Crazy” by Prince was playing on every radio station. And a young man named Mark King started a new job at a small industrial repair company called Speck Industrial Controls. That company was the beginning of what has become Radwell International today. On October 1^st, 2019, Mark has been employed at Radwell International for 35 years. Brian Radwell, the company President and Owner, is the longest tenured employee at Radwell. Out of almost 1,000 employees, Mark King has the next longest tenure as a Radwell employee.

We sat down with Mark to hear his story and to look back at the early days of Radwell International.

Like most companies, the story of Radwell International is one of humble beginnings. The company story began 38 years ago in Mount Laurel, NJ and has survived and thrived through many changes. Brian Radwell, too, has gone through his share of challenges, both personal and professional. To read the detailed story of Radwell, you can check out this blog post The Story of Radwell.

To truly understand the Radwell story, you have to understand a little bit about Brian Radwell's motivation, which stems from supporting his father who was the kindest man in the world according to many people within the company who knew him when he was alive. I had the rare opportunity to ask Brian Radwell a question about fear of failure and the family culture of giving back .

Video transcribed by Ryan Neuman for Radwell International

In today's manufacturing environment, safety fencing plays an integral role in protecting employees from hazards posed by industrial machinery. Threats to operator safety can be found on automated machinery, process control equipment, robotic work cells, and many other areas on a manufacturing floor.

A physical barrier between hazards and operators is an effective, low-tech solution for significantly reducing the risk of injury and the costly lawsuits or machine downtime that result from these accidents.

Before implementing a safety fencing system, these five considerations should be taken into account.