Herochu Double-Tower Automated Sheet-Metal Storage System
From $19,998 – CE/UE/ISO 9001 – Built for unmanned laser-cutting lines, 24 h a day.
Factory floor space is expensive, skilled labour is scarce, and every scratched or mis-picked plate eats into margin. The Herochu Double-Tower puts an end to random stacking, fork-traffic bottlenecks, and midnight search missions for the right gauge. Two independent towers, one common rail, zero manual handling: sheets enter the system by forklift and exit laser-ready without an operator touching the material. Starting at USD 19,998 for a 3015 mm two-level starter unit, each tower is engineered around your existing laser, punch, shear or panel bender so you can retrofit automation this quarter instead of rebuilding the plant next year.
1. What the Double-Tower Does
The system stores raw sheets, remnant sheets and finished kits in the same footprint. A 3 t or 5 t load per shelf, combined with chain-driven vertical lift and 12 m/min in-out shuttle, delivers a requested plate to your laser in under 90 seconds—four times faster than an average forklift cycle. PLC stores cutting programs by material type, thickness and work order; the HMI touch screen shows real-time inventory as a colour matrix so the foreman sees stock levels without opening Excel. Connect the Ethernet port to your MES and the towers report consumption, remnants and reorder points automatically.
2. Built for Sheet-Metal Reality
Columns are 8 mm folded plate with internal ribbing, welded then milled to ±0.1 mm so the lift carriage runs silent at 9 m/min. Linear guides are 45 mm hardened rail, sealed wipers standard, rated for 62 000 km of travel—enough for two shifts over 15 years. Chain is 16B-2 nickel-plated, pre-stretched to <0.02 % elongation; tensioning is spring-loaded so maintenance crews need only a quarterly visual check. Carriage forks are 5 mm Hardox 450 with replaceable polymer wear pads; no metal-to-metal contact means no galling on polished stainless or pre-painted stock.
Safety is not an afterthought. Vertical travel light curtains stop lift motion if a hand or fork intrudes. Floor-level photo-eyes prevent shuttle launch when an operator is inside the bay. Each tower has a trapped-key interlock—pull the key, lock the master isolator, and the system is mechanically safe for cleaning. Over-speed governor and hydraulic buffer absorb a full 5 t carriage drop test without deformation. The entire frame is powder-coated RAL 5017 traffic blue as standard; optional conductive paint is available for electronics clean-room environments.
3. Size It to the Millimetre
Herochu offers six standard widths—3015, 4015, 4020, 6015, 6020, 6025 mm—yet every dimension is negotiable. Need 2200 mm inside clearance for 2 m remnant sheets? Done. Need 450 mm shelf pitch instead of 300 mm to accept 25 mm plate packs? Simple. Towers can be single-sided or double-sided, freestanding or bolted back-to-back depending on aisle width. Add modules later: extra tower, extra shelf, or a second outbound shuttle feeding a second laser. No field welding, no concrete trench—just anchor bolts into 200 mm reinforced slab.
4. How It Interfaces with Your Machines
The double-beam loading robot sits on the same rail as the towers. When the laser calls for material, the robot travels to the assigned shelf, picks the top sheet with vacuum cups, and feeds the shuttle table. After cutting, the same robot sorts finished parts onto a finished-goods shelf inside the second tower and drops scrap into a separate bin. One rail, one controller, one program—no third-party middleware. The interface speaks Euromap 67, OPC-UA, and Modbus TCP so it integrates with Trumpf, Bystronic, Amada, Han’s Laser, or even a 20-year-old plasma table with I/O only. If you upgrade the laser next year, the Herochu rack stays; simply update the handshake map.
5. ROI in Numbers
A typical 4 kW laser consumes 1.2 sheets per hour in mixed-part production. At 2.5 h lost per shift on manual handling, that is 20 sheets not cut every day. Recover those hours and the Double-Tower pays for itself in 11 months on labour alone. Add 2 % material savings from better remnant management and the payback drops to eight months. Customers report 30 % floor-space reduction, 40 % inventory shrinkage drop, and 90 % fewer sheet-edge scratches—critical for painted or brushed stainless.
6. Installation Without Drama
Herochu ships the towers fully assembled horizontally on 40 ft flat-rack containers. Unload by 10 t forklift, rotate with supplied slings, bolt to floor, connect 400 V three-phase and 6 bar air. A two-person crew can commission a starter system in 36 hours; most of that time is teaching the PLC your shelf map and laser nesting files. Remote diagnostics are standard—our engineer in Suzhou can log in via secure VPN, upload new firmware, or troubleshoot sensors while you watch on your phone. Spare parts are stocked in Rotterdam, Dallas, and Dubai for 48 h delivery anywhere on the planet.
7. Compliance & Documentation
- CE conformity to EN ISO 12100, EN 60204-1, EN 349
- UE Declaration of Incorporation for partly completed machinery
- ISO 9001:2015 audited manufacturing facility
- FEM 9.831 static steel storage design code
- Seismic calculations for IBC, ASCE 7, Eurocode 8 on request
- Complete dossier: weld map, material 3.1 certificates, hardness test, load test video, fatigue analysis, and operator manual in your language
8. Optional Upgrades That Make Sense
- Weight-scale shelf: four shear-beam load cells per shelf, 0.1 % accuracy, transmits net sheet weight to MES for coil-to-remnant traceability.
- Copper-bus earthing: for titanium or Inconel sheets that cannot tolerate ferrous contamination.
- Remnant return conveyor: 2 m roller section flips small blanks back into the tower for night-shift kitting.
- LED aisle projector: shows next sheet size on the floor so the forklift driver drops the new pack on the correct shelf first time.
- Tower cladding: insulated panels keep 18 °C for laser-room climate control, reducing condensation on cold-rolled stock.
9. Ordering Path
- Send a simple sketch: laser brand, sheet sizes, max pack weight, ceiling height, aisle width.
- Receive a 3-D PDF, cycle-time analysis, and firm quote within 48 h.
- Approve drawing; 30 % deposit starts cutting and welding.
- System ships in 6–8 weeks; Herochu supervisor flies in for commissioning and operator training.
- Balance 70 % paid after signed acceptance protocol; 24-month warranty begins.
10. What Customers Say
“We installed the Double-Tower between two 4 kW lasers. Overnight we eliminated three forklifts and two operators per shift. The system has run 22 months with 99.4 % uptime.”
– Miguel A., Operations Director, Madrid precision parts plant
“Before Herochu we lost 4 % of stainless to scratching. Now sheets come out as shiny as they went in. Our biggest regret is not automating sooner.”
– Lisa T., Owner, Oregon architectural metal workshop
Stop planning automation for someday. The Herochu Double-Tower fits your floor, your budget, and your existing machines—today. Request a detailed layout and ROI worksheet now, and move one step closer to lights-out laser cutting.
