Motores: picking solutions for car spare parts

New warehouse in Poland

Founded in 1996, Motores is one of the biggest spare parts distributors in Poland’s automotive sector. The company has established successful partnerships with multiple suppliers to offer an extensive product catalogue at a very competitive price.

Recently, Motores has opened a new 2,200 m² warehouse in Jasionka (Poland) where it houses its entire product range. Items are distributed from this facility to the company’s customers all over the country, mainly automotive shops and garages.

When implementing this warehouse, Motores set out to improve management of one of its most delicate and in-demand products: car windows. It was also looking to minimise operating costs in order to sell its products at a lower cost.

Mecalux analysed Motores’ needs in detail and proposed a personalised solution that more than met all its requirements. The final result is a warehouse featuring pallet racks and a mezzanine with two additional levels of floorspace and picking shelves installed on each level.

Pallet racking

The pallet racks stand 5 m high and are divided into four levels. They house palletised goods in addition to car windows in special wooden containers. Storing the windows in containers protects them from accidental impacts while being moved in the warehouse. All the same, operators are aware that they need to handle the loads with the utmost care. The racks offer direct access to the goods. This is highly beneficial for Motores, since operators can insert or remove the unit loads more easily and cautiously. Additionally, this attribute helps to control the available stock, as each location is allocated to the same SKU.

The racking also stores bulky products and reserve pallets containing the goods for the picking shelves. Every day, the facility receives an average of 60 pallets with products sent from Motores’ suppliers.

The operators then deposit the goods in their corresponding locations based on their size and demand level.

Picking shelves

The mezzanine is 7.5 m tall and is divided into three levels.

This solution makes the most of the logistics centre's height to maximise the available space and increase the useful storage area. On the two upper levels, 2.5-metre-tall picking shelves have been set up. These shelves also stand out for their accessibility, which facilitates goods handling.

The picking shelves are very versatile, with accessories for depositing all types of SKUs (from large bottles to small boxes). They also make it possible to sort products of similar characteristics in the same areas.

Optimal organisation of the goods helps operators locate the SKUs that make up each order.

When it came to choosing a logistics provider, we really took into account the robustness and durability of the solutions. And Mecalux lived up to our expectations 100%. I wholeheartedly recommend Mecalux to any company that considers the quality and strength of the storage systems to be key factors.

Advantages for Motores

• Flexible operations: the layout of the warehouse greatly helps operators when preparing orders. Each floor is assigned a certain number of operators, which varies according to demand
• Optimal goods management: the racks offer direct access to the goods. They also incorporate components to classify products by size and characteristics.