Moving Metal

A gambler at heart despite his conservative demeanor, Gimbel knew that investing in automated technology was worth a shot and lobbied Directors Jack Roe, Bettie Littell, Bill Rumer, and Bernard Hiemenz to fund the rack system. They initially refused, citing the heavy financial burden that the company had just assumed to pay for the new warehouse and office buildings. Determined to make his case, Gimbel began punching numbers into his adding machine, accounting for such factors as reduced labor costs, lower damage claims and injury costs, improved inventory control, and regained floor space. He projected that the semi-automatic storage system would save Reliance at least a half million dollars in the coming years, easily paying for itself and then boosting profitability. The Directors still hesitated, yet Gimbel persisted. The tipping point came with a change in federal tax and amortization provi- sions in 1962 that provided Reliance with a generous investment tax credit that made it much easier for Reliance to invest in the Triax system. The Directors approved and Gimbel placed the order. The Triax system was installed in the fall of 1962. The result was nothing short of revolutionary. The largest of its kind in the country at the time, the Triax mechanized system was comprised of two semi-automated storage racks for sheet metal and five-high racks for coil. The semi-au- tomated racks were fifteen levels high with a total of 1,850 pigeonhole load openings for pre-cut flat sheet metal. The pigeonholes were accessed by a retriever machine on tracks operated by a single employee and an assistant. The five-high racks contained twenty-five bays for coil—the heaviest coils were stored in the lower bays and the lighter coils higher up. A forklift was still necessary to retrieve individual coils, but the dangerous pyramid stacks that had previously dotted the warehouse floor were gone.

Installing a rail at the base of a five-high rack of coil, with each bay carefully numbered for efficient location and retrieval.

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