stow
With 13 commercial organisations, offices in 15 countries, and 9 industrial sites, Belgian company stow is a leading player in the world of storage solutions. For more than 40 years, stow’s core business has been the development and manufacturing of top-quality racking systems used to store palletised or small goods and longer items. More recently, stow has become a major player in the development and deployment of robots which automate the storage and retrieval of stored items. ArcelorMittal’s Amstrong® and Magnelis® help stow create their top-quality systems.
Stronger steels to meet new norms
Racking systems are used by a wide range of industries to store products ready for delivery to customers and consumers around the world. As a result of the rapid growth in e-commerce, which requires substantially more warehouse space compared to traditional retail, there is a surge in warehouse demand. stow is meeting this demand with its nine factories where production processes are fully automated and optimised to enable a vast production capacity.
stow has a strong focus on producing high-quality and flexible system solutions that fully comply with the latest norms and regulations. A recent development in the racking industry has been the release of a new norm for racking systems. “EN 15512:2020 is designed to enhance safety for people working in warehouses,” says Karel Boone. “If we were to use our current grades, we would need more steel to achieve the standard. Instead, we are testing Amstrong® grades such as S460MC, which offers higher strength without increasing the amount of steel required.”
Steels that can withstand the elements
stow began working with ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products in 2009 after the installation of the first slitting line at its Dottignies factory in Belgium. Instead of buying slit coils from service centres, stow chose to purchase mother coils from ArcelorMittal. The cooperation continued from there with the need for highly durable steels.
To simplify the construction of high-bay warehouses, the racks are the first things installed – up to a year before the external cladding and roofing is applied. This is why stow has selected Amstrong® and Magnelis® from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products as the basis of the racking systems they manufacture. These unique steel solutions can withstand the elements and provide long-term durability and quality.
Magnelis® is becoming increasingly important to stow. “We use it in applications where there is friction such as the rails automated shuttles use to move goods around the racks,” says Karel Boone, Supply Chain and Purchasing Director at stow. “We don’t notice any difference when processing Magnelis® compared to hot dip galvanised material. But we do notice the quality.”
Reducing its carbon footprint
Producing environmentally friendly products is a key priority for the company. stow has been taking great strides to reduce its carbon footprint. For example, stow asks its suppliers to ship products by barge, which equals a reduction of 50 lorries on the road, and the company is also staying on top of new developments: “We’re also keeping up to date with market evolutions and ArcelorMittal solutions such as XCarb® recycled and renewably produced products,” notes Karel Boone.
