next

NEXT is a UK-based furniture and retail company that was founded in 1864.

Industry: Furniture distribution

Location: Doncaster, UK

Challenges:

NEXT needed additional capacity to handle its growing furniture business. The company was faced with:

• Building a second warehouse in Doncaster next to its existing facility
• Creating a connection between operational areas on different floor levels, as well as linking them to the existing furniture warehouse across the road

Solutions Implemented:

An automated warehouse solution was designed specifically to handle NEXT’s unique layout. It included:

• Smaller pallets stored in a double deep configuration and larger pallets stored in a single deep configuration
• 18 stacker cranes capable of switching from one aisle to another
• Cranes able to travel to a dedicated maintenance bay for fast, easy, and safe access to all stacker crane elements

Benefits:

NEXT saw tangible business productivity improvement, paving the way to increased growth in the UK market. This meant:

• Designing a 120-metre long double deck bridge to enable exchange of stock
• Establishing an innovative set-up based on several RGV loops to link the receiving area, the automatic warehouse, and custom made picking stations