Shikoku Kenpan Co., Ltd., headquartered in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, is the authorized distributor for Caterpillar Inc. — the world's leading construction machinery manufacturer — across the three prefectures of Shikoku (Ehime, Kochi, and Tokushima). The company delivers an integrated range of services spanning sales, maintenance, preventive maintenance, and repair.
When machinery fails on a customer's site, Shikoku Kenpan must find and dispatch the right repair parts as fast as possible to get equipment running again. Taking the opportunity of a headquarters relocation, the company rebuilt its parts warehouse around AutoStore, replacing shelf-and-drawer storage of roughly 10,000 items with a compact, goods-to-person operation. Shikoku Kenpan also became the first site in Japan to run AutoStore with integrated pick-to-light technology, empowered by AutoStore partner Toyo Kanetsu.
"As for implementing AutoStore, we are 100% satisfied."
— Mr. Nagano, President and Representative Director, Shikoku Kenpan
Shikoku Kenpan's promise to its customers depends on speed and accuracy: when construction machinery fails, the right part must be found and delivered fast to get the machine working again. But the Headquarters Plant parts warehouse was straining under its own inventory. With roughly 10,000 items stored across shelves and drawers, simply locating the right part was slow—and the warehouse was already close to full, with no room left to add more shelves. Operators covered long distances on foot, opening drawer after drawer to find each item.
"We walked about 10,000 steps a day, opening each drawer to find a part, which really became a heavy burden."
— Mr. Kubota, Parts Center, Manager, Shikoku Kenpan
The problems compounded from there. Because so many parts shared a similar size and shape, mispicks were a constant risk. Relocating stock to match changing inventory levels meant manually removing, renumbering, and re-registering each part—slow, painstaking work. And with items sitting in open drawers that anyone could reach, physical stock and recorded inventory frequently drifted apart—a serious concern given how costly some components are.
AutoStore stacks dedicated containers called Bins and makes use of the vertical space up to 7 m (23 ft) high. The result is dramatically higher storage density in a far smaller footprint. Dividers let a single Bin hold several items—each Bin can be split into up to 16 compartments—so everything from small O-rings, seals, and gaskets to larger components is stored efficiently. Around 2,000 Bins now hold about 60% of the roughly 10,000 items, and the system is still only about half full, leaving ample room to grow.
"The storage is still only about half full, and even more parts can be stored."
— Mr. Kubota, Parts Center, Manager, Shikoku Kenpan
Day-to-day work is lighter and far more efficient. AutoStore assigns and manages storage locations automatically, and locations can be changed by computer—there is no need to remove and renumber parts by hand. Because Shikoku Kenpan's in-house system passes shipment orders straight to AutoStore, Robots retrieve the right Bins in sequence and deliver them to the operator. Standing at the Port, operators simply pick what is placed in front of them instead of walking the warehouse—and the daily journey of around 10,000 steps is gone, easing physical strain on the team.
"We just wait, and parts come out automatically. We barely have to move, so the work has become much easier."
— Mr. Kubota, Parts Center, Manager, Shikoku Kenpan
Accuracy and reliability improved as well. Instead of hunting through drawers packed with look-alike parts, operators are now presented with the exact Bin they need, with pick-to-light guidance—integrated by Toyo Kanetsu—showing which part to take and how many. Mispicks have fallen, and new team members can pick accurately after only brief training, regardless of experience.
Control over valuable inventory improved, too. Storing parts in a managed system rather than open drawers means every removal can be tracked, reducing the discrepancies between physical stock and records that were once common.
"AutoStore now lets us manage and control removals—a real benefit."
— Mr. Kubota, Parts Center, Manager, Shikoku Kenpan
The AutoStore Grid is a compact structure that stores containers stacked directly on top of one another, with no aisles taking up floor space. Those containers—the Bins—hold the parts, and each can be divided into as many as 16 compartments to suit items of different sizes. Robots travel across the top of the Grid, lift the Bin holding the required part, and deliver it to an operator's Port—goods-to-person picking that removes the need to walk and search.
For outbound work, Shikoku Kenpan's in-house system passes shipment order information directly to AutoStore. Following the order sequence, Robots bring the relevant Bins to the Port, where integrated pick-to-light guidance shows the operator which part to pick and how many. Received parts are stored the same way—the operator places them into the Bin presented at the Port, with the same light guidance confirming the correct location—keeping putaway quick and accurate.
The outcome is a warehouse that is faster, more compact, and more accurate—one that almost anyone can operate with confidence after only brief training. The system runs on Toyo Kanetsu's Warehouse Control System (WCS), refined through real-world operation.
Project Specifications:
For Shikoku Kenpan, adopting AutoStore is not the finish line but the first step toward its next stage of growth. A full, hard-to-manage parts warehouse has become a compact, fast, and accurate operation—better able to keep customers' machines running and ready to handle more volume as the business expands. Working alongside Toyo Kanetsu—the only AutoStore partner in Japan that runs the system in its own factory—Shikoku Kenpan continues to refine the solution to fit its operation ever more closely.