Warehouse-related method and facility

A facility comprising:

• a berth to accommodate a conveyance, the conveyance being selected from one of a truck, train and boat, wherein the conveyance carries a plurality of coils and each coil carries a coil identifier;
• a transition zone comprising a plurality of transition areas;
• a first overhead crane extending over the berth and the transition zone, the first overhead crane comprising means for moving the coils between the conveyance and the transition zone;
• a warehouse;
• a second overhead crane extending over the warehouse and the transition zone, the second overhead crane comprising means for moving the coils between the transition zone and the warehouse and a system for coil identification;
• a database configured to receive information about the coils contained in the conveyance, the information comprising the dimensions of the coils or information from which the coil dimensions can be calculated;
• and
• a computing facility configured to, after a coil has been placed into a transition area:
• receive a coil identifier of the coil in the transition area and cross-reference the coil identifier against the database, wherein, if the coil identifier matches one of the coils in the database and, the computing facility instructs the second overhead crane to automatically pickup the coil placed in to the transition area and subsequently convey the coil to an appropriate location if the coil matches the identification of the coil the crane has been instructed to convey and if the appropriate location is determined to exist in the warehouse for the storage of the coil.