ADS Logistics' Roll & Hold division has opened a metals warehouse in Wentzville, Mo., specializing in the transload of metal blanks from light-weight skids to pin-pallets for a major automotive manufacturer.

"The 30,000 square foot facility represents an evolution of the Roll & Hold warehousing model, responding to customer demand for new services, such as handling blanks and new, smaller-scale, lower-cost operations and facilities," states Stephen Fraser, president and chief executive officer of ADS Logistics. "ADS is known for innovative problem solving, and, in this instance, approached the customer with a lower cost way to prepare and deliver blanks destined for stamping."
Prior to stamping, automotive blanks are often placed on pin pallets. Placement of these blanks is exacting work, as blanks must match precisely with the prescribed placement of the pins, taking care to protect the quality for these surface-critical parts. Pin pallets themselves are also heavy, making long distance shipping of pre-loaded pin pallets comparatively uneconomical.
Roll & Hold located this most recent facility in Wentzville to serve a major stamping plant consumer of blanks. By shipping the blanks on lighter-weight skids to the Wentzville facility, the number of blanks per truckload can be significantly increased. Roll & Hold transfers the blanks, placing them precisely on the pin-pallets in the prescribed manner, and delivers JIT to the stamping plant.