MATERIALS HANDLING SYSTEM DESIGN - Environmentally Conscious Materials Handling - page 26

A typical warehouse consists of two main elements:
1. Storage medium
2. Material handling system
In addition, there is a building that encloses the storage medium, goods, and
the S/R system. Because the main purpose of the building is to protect its contents
from theft and weather elements, it is made of strong, lightweight material. So,
warehouses come in different shapes, sizes, and heights, depending on a number
of factors, including the kind of goods stored inside, volume, type of S/R systems
used. For example, the Nike warehouse in Laakdal, Belgium, covers a total area
of 1 million square feet. Its high-bay storage is almost 100 feet in height, occupies
roughly half of the total warehouse space, and is served by 26 man-aboard stacker
cranes.

6.3 Inverse Storage

There is limited landfill space available for dumping wastes created through-
out the supply chain. And the increasing cost of landfills, environmental laws
and regulation, and the economic viability of environmental strategies are push-
ing manufacturers nowadays to consider reverse supply chain — also known as
reverse logistics — management.
Manufacturers now must take full responsibility for their products through
the product's life cycle, or they may be subject to legal action. For example,
new laws regarding the disposal of motor or engine oil, vehicle batteries, and
tires place the disposal responsibility on the manufacturer once these products
have passed their useful life. Many manufacturers also realize that reverse logis-
tics offers the opportunity to recycle and reuse product components and reduce
the cost and the amount of waste. Therefore, manufacturers are developing dis-
position stocking areas and collecting used or expired original products from
the customer and reshipping to their stocking places. For example, Kodak's
single-use camera has a remarkable success story involving the inverse logistics
philosophy. The products are collected in a stocking place to be remanufactured.
In the United States, 63 percent return rate has been achieved for recycling.
The details about the procedure can be obtained from Kodak's Web site at
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/environment/performance/recycling.html.

7 AVS/RS CASE STUDY

Savoye Logistics is a European logistics company that designs, manufactures,
and integrates logistical systems. It provides solutions for order fulfillment and
packing and storing/retrieval of unit loads.
Savoye has various teams to assist its customers with logistic expertise
to provide them the best solution corresponding to their needs. Their aim is