Coal Industry Warehouse Automation Case Study: Solving Diverse, Heavy, and Scattered Inventory Challenges

Coal and energy enterprises often manage a wide range of materials, including mechanical equipment, spare parts, long steel components, maintenance items, controlled materials, and small consumables. These materials are often diverse, heavy, irregular, and scattered across different warehouse areas.

For one leading coal-sector enterprise, traditional warehouse operations could no longer support the requirements of a modern material distribution center. The customer needed a smart warehouse logistics system that could improve storage density, reduce manual handling, increase inventory visibility, and support full-lifecycle traceability.

Customer Challenges

The customer faced three major warehouse challenges:

 1、Many material types and specifications required classified and high-density storage.

 2、Long, heavy, and loose materials required repeated manual picking and transfer.

 3、The warehouse needed intelligent inventory, traceability, and refined management.

These problems are common in heavy-industry material centers, especially when inventory includes both standard pallets and non-standard goods.

DELIECN Solution

DELIECN provided an integrated smart warehouse logistics solution. The system included:

• stacker crane ASRS
• conveyor system
• AGVs
• high-precision racking
• cantilever rack
• steel platform
• vertical lift module
• WMS and WCS
• 3D visualization control system

This multi-zone design allowed different materials to be stored and handled according to size, weight, turnover frequency, and operation requirements.

Project Results

The material distribution center achieved:

• 3,745 effective storage locations
• about 50% improvement in space utilization
• 90% automated material handling and storage network
• outbound capacity of 80+ pallets/hour
• management of around 10,000 material types
• improved visibility through WMS/WCS and 3D visualization

Why This Case Matters

This project shows that heavy-industry warehouse automation is not about using one type of equipment. It requires system-level planning, multi-zone storage logic, intelligent handling equipment, and digital warehouse control.

For coal, energy, mining, and warehouses, this model provides a practical path toward safer, denser, and more traceable warehouse operations.

FAQ

Why is coal industry warehousing difficult to automate?
Because materials are often diverse, heavy, irregular, and distributed across different storage zones.

What equipment was used in this project?
The solution included stacker cranes, conveyors, AGVs, high-precision racks, vertical lift modules, WMS/WCS, and a 3D visualization system.

What was the main benefit?
The project delivered 3,745 effective storage locations, improved space utilization by about 50%, built a 90% automated material handling and storage network, supported 80+ pallets/hour outbound operation, and strengthened inventory visibility and traceability.

Planning a heavy-industry warehouse upgrade?
Talk to DELIECN about ASRS solutions for diverse, heavy, and irregular materials.