Herochu Electric Drawer Roll-Out Sheet-Metal Rack
Precision storage that moves at the speed of your workshop
When every square metre costs money and every minute of handling time eats margin, the Herochu WHX-001 gives you back both. Built from high-tensile S355 steel and driven by a maintenance-free stepper-motor package, this electric drawer rack turns chaotic plate yards into a clean, one-operator workflow. Instead of wrestling with slings, forklifts and A-frames, you press a button, draw out the required layer to a comfortable loading height, lift the sheet with a vacuum lifter or magnets, and move on. Cycle time: under 30 seconds. Floor-space saving: up to 70 % compared with traditional cantilever or floor stacking.
Engineered for 25 years of daily shifts
Each drawer is a welded box-beam structure rated at 1–10 t per layer and proof-loaded to 1.5 × nominal capacity at the factory. The guide system uses sealed needle bearings on induction-hardened rails, so even a 5 t layer rolls out with less than 25 N of handle torque. For heavier loads or high-frequency use, the Siemens G120 inverter and 0.75 kW stepper motor move the drawer at 0.15 m/s with soft start/stop, eliminating sheet creep and operator strain. A 24 V control circuit and Category-3 safety relays keep the system inside EN 60204-1 machinery guidelines.
Built around your stock, not the other way around
Herochu does not believe in “standard” sheet-metal departments. Tell us the maximum length, width, thickness range and weight per pack you handle, and we build the rack accordingly. Popular formats such as 3 × 1.5 m, 4 × 2 m, 6 × 2 m or even 9 × 2.5 m plates are accepted without modification. Clear inside heights from 50 mm to 200 mm per level let you store thin aluminium laminates or 40 mm wear plate in the same cabinet. Layer count starts at three and climbs to twelve; total payloads of 120 t are already in service in wind-tower plants. Optional removable dividers keep mixed widths organised, while rubber-capped fingers prevent surface scratching on polished stainless or pre-painted stock.
Remote control that talks to your ERP
Every WHX-001 ships with a Bluetooth 5.0 handset that displays drawer position, load weight and maintenance counters in real time. Pair it with the free Herochu Workshop app and you can pre-select the next drawer while the crane is still travelling, cutting idle time. An Ethernet port on the master PLC lets you push pick lists from MES or ERP systems, so the rack becomes a physical extension of your inventory software. Bar-code or RFID sheet tags can be scanned at the drawer face; the system logs who removed what, and when, for full ISO 9001 traceability.
Corrosion protection that survives laser shops
Zinc-coated frames are standard, but for fibre-laser bays where chloride residues accelerate rust we offer optional Z600 galvanising plus powder-coated front shields. Drawer bases are lined with 6 mm replaceable HDPE wear strips so sheets slide, not scrape. The motor enclosure carries IP54 rating; add the optional extraction hood and you can run the rack inside plasma or oxy-fuel cutting lines without fear of fume damage.
Installation without civil works
The WHX-001 is a free-standing structure that bolts to existing levelled concrete; no pits, no trenches. A 400 V 16 A CEE socket and 6 bar compressed air (if you choose the pneumatic locking option) are the only utilities. Our technicians complete mechanical assembly, align the guides, load-test each layer and hand over a CE conformity file within two working days. If you relocate, unbolt, move and re-level—no scrap value lost.
Safety that satisfies insurers
Electro-mechanical brakes hold drawers in any position, even during power loss. Light curtains across the aisle stop motion if an operator steps inside. Corner bumpers and audible alarms protect pedestrian routes. A keyed maintenance override lets supervisors lock out individual drawers for stock takes or crane work. All safety functions are TÜV certified to Performance Level d, so your risk assessment writes itself.
Return on investment you can spreadsheet
A typical 6-layer, 30 t rack costs €3,500 ex-works. By recovering one forklift, one operator hour per shift and 60 m² of floor space, most customers reach pay-back in 8–11 months. Add the reduction in sheet damage, improved traceability and faster job change-overs, and the five-year TCO beats any block-stacking or cantilever solution by a factor of three.
Certifications that open every market
Herochu holds EU-type examination certificates for CE machinery, ISO 9001:2015 quality management and ISO 14001 environmental control. Motors meet IE3 efficiency rules; all electrical panels carry UKCA and cULus stamps for North American projects. Where local codes demand seismic qualification, we supply calculations and anchor templates signed off by a registered structural engineer.
From job-shop to Jaguar Land Rover
Whether you are a 3-man aluminium fabrication cell in Birmingham or a 200,000 t automotive stamping plant in Bratislava, the WHX-001 scales to your reality. Over 1,800 units are already in service across 28 countries, storing mild steel, Hardox, titanium, copper, marble, acrylic, even carbon-fibre pre-preg. Each rack leaves our Shanghai works with a laser-etched serial number and a cloud-based maintenance file that follows the machine for life.
Next step
Send us your worst plate-handling headache—dimensions, weights, throughput, aisle width—and we will return a layout drawing, cycle-time analysis and firm quote within 24 hours. Herochu electric drawer roll-out sheet-metal rack: take control of your stock, your space and your schedule—one smooth roll at a time.
