AS/RS integrator · Kansas City · Since 2004
Fictional company · demonstration
Tote shuttle systems and pallet stacker cranes for distribution centers, food plants and 3PLs that are out of floor. Designed and tested in Kansas City, installed nationwide.
At a glance
One Kansas City team runs the order-line analysis, the simulation, the steel, the controls and the 2 a.m. service call. Nothing gets lost between the drawing and the dock door.
Catalogue
Every Talloway system is built from the same three parts and runs on the same warehouse control software, so a freezer crane and an ambient shuttle aisle report to one screen.
TS-6 · goods-to-person storage
One shuttle per level, running the aisle on its own rail and handling totes or cartons single- or double-deep with telescopic arms. Add levels for storage. Add lifts for rate.
| Rack height | 4–24 m (13–79 ft) |
|---|---|
| Levels per aisle | up to 40 |
| Throughput | 300–1,000 totes/hr per aisle |
| Travel | 4 m/s (790 fpm), 2 m/s² |
| Payload | 50 kg (110 lb) per tote |
| Load size | 600 × 400 mm totes, cartons to 650 × 450 mm |
| Temperature | +2 to +40 °C; −25 °C freezer variant |
| Locations | 2,000–12,000 per aisle |
PX-40 · unit-load storage
One stacker crane per aisle, in a free-standing rack or a rack-supported building where the rack carries the roof and walls. The same crane runs ambient, chill or freezer.
| Rack height | 10–40 m (33–131 ft) |
|---|---|
| Throughput | 25–40 double cycles/hr per crane |
| Payload | up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) |
| Pallet | 48 × 40 in, 1,200 × 800/1,000 mm |
| Travel / hoist | 4 m/s travel, 1.5 m/s hoist |
| Storage depth | single- or double-deep |
| Temperature | −25 to +40 °C (−13 to 104 °F) |
| Locations | 1,500–6,000 per aisle |
VL-2 · lift and front-end
The lift sets the rate of a shuttle aisle, so we size it first. Twin-tote carriages feed a zero-pressure accumulation loop that brings totes to each pick port in order.
| Lift rate | 400–700 totes/hr per lift |
|---|---|
| Lift height | up to 24 m (79 ft) |
| Carriage | twin-tote, 2 × 50 kg (2 × 110 lb) |
| Front-end | zero-pressure accumulation, 120–200 fpm |
| Pick port | 300–600 lines/hr, goods-to-person |
| Sequencing | pick order, 8-tote buffer per port |
| Controls | Talloway WCS, one PLC per aisle, WMS interface |
Where it fits
01When density is the constraint
Most buildings we walk have 40 ft of clear height and use 24 ft of it. A double-deep shuttle system to 38 ft holds the same SKUs on about a quarter of the floor, and the floor you get back becomes pack-out or dock.
02When throughput is the constraint
A shuttle aisle is almost always lift-limited. We simulate the lift first, then add a second lift or a twin-tote carriage before we add steel. It is the cheapest rate in the building.
03When temperature is the constraint
In a freezer, every forklift hour costs heat, labor and safety. Our freezer cranes and shuttles run cold-rated drives and heated control enclosures, and people pick at a +2 °C front-end on the warm side of the airlock.
Industries
Typical loads, temperatures and systems from our last five years of proposals.
| Industry | Typical load | Temperature | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parcel | Totes of polybags and small cartons, 10–25 kg | Ambient | TS-6 buffer with outbound sequencing |
| Grocery | Pallets to 1,000 kg; totes for each-pick | −25 °C freezer, +2 °C chill | PX-40 freezer cranes, TS-6 for split-case |
| Apparel | Polybagged units in totes, 8–15 kg | Ambient | TS-6 to G2P ports, returns decant |
| 3PL | Mixed totes and cartons, to 50 kg | Ambient | TS-6 with multi-client WMS interfaces |
| Pharma | Totes, 5–20 kg, lot and expiry tracked | +15 to +25 °C; +2 to +8 °C | TS-6 with lot and expiry sequencing |
| Auto parts | Bins to 50 kg; pallets to 1,500 kg | Ambient | TS-6 for small parts, PX-40 for bulk |
Projects
Illustrative project · fictional
The old freezer was drive-in racking worked by forklifts at −10 °F. The new one stands on the same lot: four aisles of PX-40 freezer cranes, with pallets handed out at a +2 °C chill dock. The old freezer became chilled staging.
Illustrative project · fictional
Three e-commerce clients shared 110,000 sq ft of static shelving, walked at 95 lines an hour. Six TS-6 aisles, 16 levels high, now deliver totes in sequence to eight goods-to-person ports.
Process
Five stages. The same engineers stay on it from the first spreadsheet to the day it goes live.
Stage 01 of 05
Send us 12 months of order, SKU and receipt data. We build velocity and cube profiles, lines per order, and a design day that matches your real peak, not your average.
Stage 02 of 05
Every concept gets a discrete-event model of shuttles, lifts, conveyor and pick ports, run at design day plus 30 %. You see where it saturates and what the next lift buys you.
Stage 03 of 05
Rack and steel, fire protection coordinated with your fire engineer, controls architecture, and the interface spec for your WMS. The proposal is fixed-price against those drawings.
Stage 04 of 05
Shuttles, lifts and controls are tested together in our Kansas City shop before they ship. On site we commission aisle by aisle, so the first aisles go live while the rest are finished.
Stage 05 of 05
A 24/7 service desk, remote diagnostics on every aisle, spare-parts kits stocked by criticality, and resident technicians for multi-shift sites. You get an availability report every month.
Service
Already running a Talloway system? Call the service desk directly. It is not a call center.
Inquiry
Clear height, footprint, SKU count and a design-day rate are enough for a first look. An engineer replies within two business days with a rough system concept.
Demonstration form. Nothing you enter is sent or stored. Submitting opens a preview of what the team would receive.