Bart van Dijck, Operational Director at Faes, didn’t have to think long about what he sees as the main added value of the new StackAssist Multi Stage module:
“It ensures that you know immediately how many pallet spaces you need, even in situations where that is not at all easy to estimate.”
“In practice, an estimate is often made. The more complex your load, the greater the chance of errors. This means that you book too many loading metres or, worse still, that you have to arrange a transporter last minute if things are not as expected.”
Different scenarios
“The most obvious situation is an order with a large mix of products. It is then very difficult to estimate what the volume, weight and loading metres of all pallets together will be. The Multi Stage module calculates in one go which boxes should go on which pallet and how they will best fit in the trailer or even trailers. Because you can make this calculation immediately after placing the order, you instantly book the exact number of pallet spaces required. No surprises afterwards!”
“We also often see that both full and half pallets are picked. Which ones you can put on top of each other is usually not known in advance. That is why it is not done, just to be sure. By setting up StackAssist in the right way, this can be taken into account. In other words, even better use of the loading space.”
“But there are also other situations where the module is a real winner. One of our customers sends large products and loose parts for assembly such as screws and bolts. The boxes with loose parts are neatly picked in a single outer box. This is then fitted in with the large parts on one of the pallets. This way, nothing is forgotten and there are no loose parts wandering around in the load.”
In practice
“The main challenge in the development of the StackAssist Multi Stage module was the translation into a workable solution. There are quite a few tools in the market that simply don’t connect well enough to the complex practical situation. You can set everything up per order, but if you spend too much time setting up, you will miss the goal.”
“What distinguishes StackAssist is that a lot of settings are well tuned and linked. This allows you to easily calculate almost any complex practical situation.”
Erik Drissen | Business Consultant at Faes
An example of what a multi-stage load looks like in StackAssist:
Overview of the order:
Detailed instructions in several steps:
The StackAssist Multi Stage module is part of the StackAssist Pro version.
