Posted to News on 24th Jun 2025, 15:00
KABELSCHLEPP Metool develops retrofit kit for DEMATIC
With the TKVG (vertical guide), KABELSCHLEPP Metool has developed a smart retrofit solution for the shelf stacker cranes from DEMATIC, offering less noise, less wear, and a longer service life.
(See KABELSCHLEPP Metool at MachineBuilding.Live, 15 October 2025, on stand 6)
The aluminium duct system for vertically suspended applications stabilises the cable carriers while minimising operating noise and maintenance work. The TKVG is now being used successfully by different end customers.
DEMATIC is part of the German KION Group and a worldwide leading supplier of integrated automation systems, software, and services for optimising the supply chain. The portfolio of the company with headquarters in Heusenstamm in the German state of Hesse includes everything from individual products to turnkey complete solutions such as warehouse systems, conveyor system, and sorting systems as well as systems for manual and automatic order picking.
The stacker cranes for high-bay warehouses from DEMATIC work with precision, efficiency, and partially with great speed. Where the application requires extreme accelerations or abrupt deceleration, this previously caused audible rattling in the system, due to the cable carrier knocking against the connecting plate. While this did not affect operation itself, it was annoying and caused unnecessary wear on the cable carriers.
"We have been using the cable carriers from the UNIFLEX Advanced 1555 series from KABELSCHLEPP Metool for our stacker cranes for many years," explains Patrizius Chmielorz, Mechanical Project Engineer at DEMATIC. "But the knocking of the cable carriers during operation was a problem that we urgently needed to resolve. With the TKVG, KABELSCHLEPP Metool offered us a customized solution that we have installed for different end customers in the meantime."
The turnkey duct system is ideal for vertically suspended applications with rapidly moving stacker cranes and high lateral accelerations. As the TKVG is supplied as a turnkey complete system including drivers, cables, hoses, and strain relief elements, it is easy to install and easy to integrate into the existing stacker cranes.
After intensive testing, the solution has now been trialled at different end customers - with positive results throughout: lower noise emissions, less wear, and a clear improvement of operational reliability. "There have been no complications to date," confirms Patrizius Chmielorz. "The tests have exceeded our expectations such that we have now also successfully implemented the retrofit for a large beverage producer in Belgium."
The cooperation with DEMATIC has been a great success for KABELSCHLEPP Metool as well. "It was our aim to solve a problem that has been bothering the industry for a long time," says Marco Strunk, Industry Manager Intralogistics at TSUBAKI KABELSCHLEPP. "With the TKVG, we found not only an answer, but also a solution that can easily be integrated into existing systems."
