AS/RS with Integrated Sheet Metal Tower for Laser Cutting Lines

A fiber laser cutter is a fast machine attached to a slow supply chain. The laser may be rated for 100 metres per minute, but if the correct sheet is not on the bed, that speed is theoretical. Herochu builds AS/RS systems that close this gap by placing a vertical sheet metal tower directly inside the laser cutting line, not in a separate warehouse down the aisle.

What Does an AS/RS Tower Actually Do on a Laser Cutting Line?

An AS/RS tower for laser cutting stores raw sheet in vertical tiers, retrieves the correct material on command, and delivers it to the machine’s loading position without an operator touching the sheet. The tower is not passive shelving. It is a material-flow node that communicates with the cutter, tracks every pallet, and hands off the next blank while the current job is still cutting.

Herochu’s HC-S series towers handle sheet dimensions from 3000 × 1500 mm up to 6000 × 2000 mm, with 8 to 13 storage levels and per-layer load ratings of 3000 kg to 5000 kg. A ten-tier tower stocked with 6-metre plate can hold thirty to fifty metric tons inside a footprint smaller than three parking spaces. That density is the physical reason the tower belongs beside the laser, not in a remote storage area.

How Does the Tower Keep the Laser Cutting Without Waiting?

The tower’s stacker crane and the loader work as a buffer. When the laser finishes a nest, the cut skeleton is removed and the next raw sheet is already staged. Herochu’s double-tower and single-tower layouts are configured around the laser’s exact pallet-change rhythm, so the machine does not sit idle while a forklift searches for material.

The practical result is a shift in machine utilization. A manually fed laser typically sees 40% to 60% spindle utilization across a working week, limited by operator breaks, material searches, and sheet changes. A Herochu AS/RS line removes those interruptions from the cutting loop. The tower retrieves, the loader positions, the gripper unloads, and the laser returns to cutting.

What Happens to Inventory Accuracy Inside an AS/RS Tower?

Inventory accuracy in a conventional sheet metal shop is an estimate. In a Herochu tower, it is a data stream. Every scan-in is paired with automatic positioning, and the WMS layer supports real-time stock queries, batch traceability, and expiration warnings. The system can connect to the shop’s ERP so that production, warehousing, and logistics decisions draw from the same material record.

This matters for laser cutting because sheet thickness and grade directly affect cut parameters. If the tower and the ERP disagree about what is on level six, the laser cuts the wrong program into the wrong material. Herochu’s WMS architecture is designed to prevent that mismatch before the sheet reaches the bed.

How Much Floor Space Does an AS/RS Tower Replace?

Vertical storage reclaims floor area that horizontal stacking consumes. Herochu reports that its vertical tower configurations can reclaim up to 85% of the floor area previously used by ground stacking or traditional racking. A single tower occupying less than 10 square metres can house more than 60 tonnes of sheet metal. For a shop that is land-locked but not ceiling-limited, that is capacity without construction.

Can an AS/RS Tower Handle Non-Standard Sheet Sizes?

Yes, within the engineering envelope. Herochu’s customizable ASRS line is built around the customer’s sheet length, width, thickness, and load per pallet. Standard models cover 3015, 4015, 4020, 6015, 6020, and 6025 formats, but the structural frame, fork geometry, and crane travel are configured for the shop’s actual material mix. That includes mixed inventories where 1 mm aluminium and 6-tonne carbon steel share the same tower on different levels.

What Is the Payback Window for a Herochu AS/RS Line?

Payback depends on the shop’s current idle time, labour cost, and material volume, but Herochu publishes aggressive benchmarks. Entry pricing starts at US$8,900 for tower and storage configurations, and the company reports that many installations achieve payback within 12 to 18 months through recovered beam-on time, reduced manual handling, and lower forklift traffic. Customers have reported 35% to 50% throughput gains after the first quarter of operation.

The Bottom Line

An AS/RS tower is not an accessory to a laser cutting line. It is the mechanism that turns the laser from an intermittent processor into a continuous production asset. Herochu’s integrated tower approach keeps the material moving, the inventory honest, and the floor space productive—without adding a second shift of forklift drivers.