Thanks to the expansion and consolidation process of Papel Aralar in the international market, the client needed to increase its storage capacity and optimize logistical processes. To achieve this, POLYPAL and ULMA Handling Systems built a new automatic self-supporting warehouse designed for storing products strapped on rails, with a capacity for more than 10,000 tons of paper.

Papel Aralar is a manufacturer of special papers for various sectors such as textiles, healthcare, and food, with products like food labels, packaging, and paper for manufacturing surgical gowns. The facility covers 3,000 m², with a depth of 22.2 meters, 15 load levels in height, and consists of shelves operated by a shuttle system to facilitate the movement of the more than 5,300 paper reels the warehouse can house.

The maximum load per level is:

• 1st level: 1,300 kg/m
• 2nd to 7th level: 1,200 kg/m
• 8th to 15th level: 288 kg/m

Due to the terrain where Papel Aralar’s facilities are located, the new warehouse was built in a pit, requiring the introduction of all materials and machinery for assembly. For the same reason, the shelving was lifted with a self-supporting crane, which had to be installed in an area adjacent to the assembly zone.

In self-supporting warehouses, the shelves not only store the goods and receive their loads, but they also support the structure of the enclosure and the roofing, minimizing the need for civil engineering work. This results in a lower execution cost compared to a traditional warehouse.

Self-supporting warehouses are large engineering projects that require precise design. In addition to the weight of the load units and the forces generated by the automated handling equipment, external elements affecting the warehouse must also be considered, such as wind force, snow and rain overloads, or seismic loads.

Project Technical Details:

• Storage of paper reels
• Automatic self-supporting warehouse
• LIFO system
• Total surface area: 3,000 m²
• Depth: 22.2 meters
• Height: 32 meters
• 15 load levels in height
• Shelves with shuttle system for reels
• The warehouse has the capacity to store over 5,300 paper reels on rails.