After being derailed by
Hurricane Harvey in 2017,
manufacturer Pepperl+Fuchs’
newly automated DC is now
up and running—speeding
customer deliveries and
streamlining the
manufacturer’s North
American supply channel.
AUTOMATING YOUR DISTRIBUTION CENTER IS OFTEN DESCRIBED
as a journey, and that couldn’t be more true for manufacturer Pepperl+Fuchs
and its automation-project partner, material handling equipment provider
SSI Schaefer.
Pepperl+Fuchs is settling into its newly automated distribution center
near Houston for the second time. The maker of electrical explosion protection products and sensor technology embarked on a relocation and facility
upgrade in 2016, but the project was derailed by Hurricane Harvey, which
hit the Texas Gulf Coast shortly after the facility opened for testing in 2017.
The Category 4 storm swept through Houston that August, bringing with
it a series of tornadoes. One of those tornadoes ripped the air-conditioning
units off the top of the new building, leaving a hole in the roof where the rain
poured in, flooding the facility.
The damage required Pepperl+Fuchs and SSI Schaefer to reconstruct what
the manufacturer refers to as “a showcase” of both companies’ automation
and technology capabilities. As company officials explain, the modern DC
came together in a unique partnership that combines SSI’s warehouse automation and material handling solutions with Pepperl+Fuchs’ industrial sen-
Back in business
(and better than ever)
BY VICTORIA KICKHAM, SENIOR EDITOR
GOODS-TO-PERSON PICKING MATERIALHANDLING
