Herochu Vertical Sheet Metal Rack for Scrap & Leftovers – Turn Disorder Into Dollars
Loose off-cuts, partial blanks and odd-shaped remnants have a habit of spreading across the workshop faster than coolant mist. Every minute spent hunting for “that 430 stainless piece about 600 mm wide” is machine downtime, and every scuffed edge is money lost on rework. Herochu’s roll-out vertical rack arrests the chaos at the source: one compact tower that swallows up to fifteen drawers of mixed sheet, keeps every panel visible, and hands the operator the right part in under ten seconds. Prices open at 2,280 USD, CE/EU/ISO 9001 compliance is included, and the whole structure is engineered around the sizes you actually cut—not the sizes a catalogue guesses you cut.
1. Purpose-built for the forgotten 30 %
Industry studies show that almost one third of sheet metal inventory never makes it back into production; it is buried in stacks, written off as scrap, or re-ordered because nobody knew it existed. The Herochu HC-V series tilts that equation. By storing material vertically on full-extension, non-skid drawers, each remnant becomes a first-class citizen: labelled, reachable, and impossible to overlook. Users typically report a 22 % drop in new sheet purchases within the first quarter—savings that repay the rack before the warranty expires.
2. Drawer mechanics that respect thin gauge
Thin aluminium chequer plate or pre-painted white-goods stock will crease if it drags across steel mesh. Herochu drawers therefore use a replaceable 6 mm PVC comb that supports the sheet on its lower edge only, leaving the face untouched. A 25 mm front lip prevents forward creep during trolley transport, while the rear stop ensures the drawer cannot be over-extended when a crane magnet jerks a panel upwards. Load per drawer is 350 kg, enough for a 3 mm × 2 m × 1 m mild-steel plate or a mixed stack of thinner off-cuts up to 250 mm high.
3. Footprint that disappears beside the machine
Standard towers are 1.3 m deep and 1.4 m wide—smaller than most CNC press-brake back-gauge footprints. Place the rack at the operator’s elbow and you eliminate the 20 m walk to the bulk store. Height options run from 1.6 m (eye-level) to 3.2 m (reachable with a two-step stool). A bolt-on roof deck is available if you want to drop a stillage of full-size sheets on top, creating true three-dimensional storage without a second machine purchase.
4. Visibility that kills the “treasure hunt”
Each drawer face is laser-etched with a 100 mm grid so you can mark part numbers in permanent pen, then wipe them clean with acetone when the job changes. The rack uprights are punched on 50 mm centres, letting you relocate drawers higher or lower as your remnant height profile evolves. Because material is stored on edge, colour codes, grain direction and remnant tags remain visible from 5 m away—no need to open six drawers to locate the copper you saved from last month’s electrical contract.
5. Safety credentials insurers recognise
- Drawers lock automatically when closed; a spring-loaded plunger requires deliberate thumb pressure to release, preventing gravity coast in high-traffic aisles.
- Base frame is 80 × 80 × 4 mm box section, welded then stress-relieved to stop long-term twist.
- Powder coat is RAL 7035 textured finish, 80 µm thick, impact-rated to 50 cm kg and chemical-resistant to most water-based coolants.
- Earth point on every corner allows ATEX bonding for aluminium grinding zones.
- Optional mesh back-stop contains shards if a cracked sheet fails under its own weight.
6. Sizes that mirror your common cuts
Three pre-configured models cover 90 % of European and North American job-shops:
| Model | Plate size | Drawers | External footprint |
|---|---|---|---|
| HC-V2010-15 | 2 000 × 1 000 mm | 15 | 1.2 m W × 1.3 m D × 1.6 m H |
| HC-V2513-15 | 2 500 × 1 300 mm | 15 | 1.4 m W × 1.3 m D × 2.0 m H |
| HC-V3015-12 | 3 000 × 1 500 mm | 12 | 1.6 m W × 1.3 m D × 2.4 m H |
Need a 1 500 × 1 000 mm drawer for automotive door blanks? We will build it. Prefer twenty thinner drawers at 150 mm pitch? We punch the uprights accordingly. Every tower is a batch-of-one, manufactured in Hamburg or Shanghai depending on your delivery terms.
7. Integration with existing handling gear
Fork pockets are welded into the base so a pallet truck can position the empty rack beside a laser unload conveyor. Once loaded, a crane magnet or vacuum lifter can service any drawer because the front lip is only 40 mm high. If you run an automated tower store upstream, the Herochu rack becomes the “hospital” for irregular shapes that the automatic tower cannot grip—keeping your FMS running while the oddball parts still have an organised home.
8. Assembly that respects your schedule
The rack ships in four pre-welded modules: base frame, two upright wings and a roof collar. Two technicians, one 19 mm socket set and a spirit level will have it upright in 45 minutes. Drawers arrive in a separate stillage, already fitted with comb inserts; drop them onto the slides and the unit is operational. No special foundation, no chemical anchor, no permit delay. If you relocate the shop, simply reverse the process and the rack travels with you.
9. Financial justification in one e-mail
Send us the following and we will return a pay-back curve within 12 hours:
- Average number of new sheets ordered per month
- Average price per tonne delivered
- Estimated percentage of stock currently written off as “unfindable”
- Labour rate for machine operators
- Floor space cost per square metre (lease or depreciation)
Typical pay-back ranges from 6 to 9 months; the record is 11 weeks held by a Scottish HVAC contractor who rerouted laser nest off-cuts back into ductwork blanks.
