How to Store Heavy, Irregular and Scattered Industrial Materials

Industrial material warehouses often face a problem that standard pallet warehouses do not: materials are not always neat, uniform, or easy to store.

In coal, mining, energy, and heavy industry environments, warehouses may need to manage spare parts, mechanical equipment, steel pipes, non-standard components, special pipes, labor supplies, consumables, lubricants, paint, catalysts, and many other materials.

A Smart Warehouse Solution must start from this reality.

Why These Materials Are Difficult to Manage

Heavy industrial materials create several operational challenges.

First, material types are diverse. Different materials have different storage requirements, dimensions, handling methods, and turnover frequencies.

Second, many items are irregular. Long parts, steel pipes, non-standard components, and special equipment cannot always be stored in standard pallet racks.

Third, materials may be scattered across multiple areas. This makes searching, picking, stocktaking, and traceability more difficult.

Fourth, heavy and long materials create high labor intensity and safety risks if handled manually.

For these reasons, the warehouse must be planned by material characteristics rather than using one single storage method.

DELIECN Project Approach

In the coal industry material distribution center project, DELIECN designed a multi-zone storage model.

The project included:

• Stacker Crane Asrs area
• irregular goods area
• steel platform area
• cantilever racking area
• vertical lift nodular area

Different materials were matched with suitable storage methods.

Medium and large materials such as mechanical equipment, spare parts, and labor protection supplies could be stored in the ASRS area.

Irregular materials such as steel pipes, non-standard components, and special pipes could be handled in dedicated zones.

Small materials such as office consumables and logistics supplies could be stored in vertical lift cabinets or compact storage areas.

Why Zoning Matters

Zoning is not simply dividing warehouse space. It determines how materials are received, stored, picked, transferred, and dispatched.

For complex industrial warehouses, proper zoning helps:

• reduce mixed storage confusion
• shorten searching and picking time
• improve inventory visibility
• match handling equipment with material type
• reduce unnecessary manual movement
• improve safety for heavy and long materials

This is especially important in coal industry material centers, where a wide variety of goods must be managed within one operation system.

Automation and Manual Assistance

Not every material should be forced into a fully automated system.

For standard or semi-standard materials, Stacker Crane Asrs and AGV transfer can improve automation.

For long, heavy, or irregular materials, KBK-assisted handling and dedicated storage zones can reduce labor intensity while keeping the operation practical.

For small materials, vertical lift cabinets can support compact storage and easier access.

The right solution combines automation and assisted handling where each method adds real value.

Customer Value

A well-designed heavy industry material warehouse can help customers:

• manage many material categories more clearly
• store heavy and irregular materials more safely
• reduce manual handling intensity
• improve picking and outbound efficiency
• support digital inventory and traceability
• improve space utilization
• build a more flexible material distribution center