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Day: 23 October 2020

Geek+ Launches new Online Customer Experience

Posted on by David Priestman

Geek+, an AMR leader has announced the launch of its new next-generation Virtual Booth. The virtual space allows visitors to experience robotics automation in a dynamic digital environment and provides them with the tools to make informed decisions on automation.

In light of Covid-19 and the prevalence of social distancing needs, large parts of the physical world have moved online. The Virtual Booth is the latest effort in a series of actions undertaken by Geek+, such as fully remote project implementations, online trainings and virtual seminars. This enables the company to continue driving the discussion on AI and robotics and enable customers to secure business continuity.

Hong Yu, Chief Marketing Officer at Geek+ comments: “As robotics and automation pioneers, we pride ourselves on being solutions-oriented. We can flexibly adjust to any challenge that lies ahead. We’ve created this digital space to provide a dynamic, fun, and interactive way of learning about our products. It gives our visitors access to the technologies that will bring much-needed stability and value to their logistics operations. In times of great change and uncertainty, innovation does not stop. It is our duty to help our audience access it.”

Upon entering the virtual booth, visitors can access an interactive online application called Your Project Designer. This provides a customized automation solution based on customers’ own business needs. The virtual booth is organized around the four main logistics challenges of today: efficiency, flexibility, profitability, and human resources. The stand allows visitors to safely and dynamically learn about the benefits of AI and robotics. It can also help users discover how it can impact their business operations.

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Intralogistics Performance is Paramount

 

 

Geek+ Launches new Online Customer Experience

Posted on by David Priestman

Geek+, an AMR leader has announced the launch of its new next-generation Virtual Booth. The virtual space allows visitors to experience robotics automation in a dynamic digital environment and provides them with the tools to make informed decisions on automation.

In light of Covid-19 and the prevalence of social distancing needs, large parts of the physical world have moved online. The Virtual Booth is the latest effort in a series of actions undertaken by Geek+, such as fully remote project implementations, online trainings and virtual seminars. This enables the company to continue driving the discussion on AI and robotics and enable customers to secure business continuity.

Hong Yu, Chief Marketing Officer at Geek+ comments: “As robotics and automation pioneers, we pride ourselves on being solutions-oriented. We can flexibly adjust to any challenge that lies ahead. We’ve created this digital space to provide a dynamic, fun, and interactive way of learning about our products. It gives our visitors access to the technologies that will bring much-needed stability and value to their logistics operations. In times of great change and uncertainty, innovation does not stop. It is our duty to help our audience access it.”

Upon entering the virtual booth, visitors can access an interactive online application called Your Project Designer. This provides a customized automation solution based on customers’ own business needs. The virtual booth is organized around the four main logistics challenges of today: efficiency, flexibility, profitability, and human resources. The stand allows visitors to safely and dynamically learn about the benefits of AI and robotics. It can also help users discover how it can impact their business operations.

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Intralogistics Performance is Paramount

 

 

Opening the Door to Enhanced Fire Safety

Posted on by David Priestman

Fire safety can be enhanced by New Fire Rated Sliding Doors have been launched for the industrial and commercial construction sectors. Compliant to BS EN 120 and BS EN 240, the single-leaf fire sliding doors, by door providor Hörmann UK are available in two variations. There is the FST 120-1 BS Fire Sliding Door offering 120-minute fire resistance. There is also the FST 2410-1 BS providing 240-minute fire resistance.

The two latest models are an extension of Hörmann UK’s product portfolio of sliding doors. These fire safety doors are availble with a range of optional additions to meet the requirements of each individual specification.

Paul Tulley, Key Account Manager for Hörmann UK, said: “Our new Fire Rated Sliding Doors, which are compliant to British Standards, are a key addition to our extensive range of fire rated sliding and functional doors. They are suitable for installation across a wide range of developments and industries. The steel or stainless-steel doors can withstand heavy usage cycles with ease. This is due to their quality of construction.”

The doors can be operated in conjunction with an FSA-Basis hold-open device control centre, which combines the power supply, warning signals, fire detector evaluation, manual release button and reset device in a compact housing.

This is supported by LED lamps or acoustic signals, which communicate the status and alarm states of the door. Additional safety elements, including fire detectors, magnets, recess flaps and fire alarm systems can also be quickly connected for easy integration.

The doors can also be operated utilising Hörmann UK’s FSA-Plus hold-open device control centre, which features a battery backup for reliable operation, even in the event of power failures.

The doors are also compatible with Hörmann UK’s SupraMatic operators, which provide fast opening and closing and are also available with soft start and soft stop available as standard, delivering gentle and quiet door travel. In case of fire, a patented compensator release system will unlock the operator, enabling the door to be closed via weights.

Opening the Door to Enhanced Fire Safety

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Fire safety can be enhanced by New Fire Rated Sliding Doors have been launched for the industrial and commercial construction sectors. Compliant to BS EN 120 and BS EN 240, the single-leaf fire sliding doors, by door providor Hörmann UK are available in two variations. There is the FST 120-1 BS Fire Sliding Door offering 120-minute fire resistance. There is also the FST 2410-1 BS providing 240-minute fire resistance.

The two latest models are an extension of Hörmann UK’s product portfolio of sliding doors. These fire safety doors are availble with a range of optional additions to meet the requirements of each individual specification.

Paul Tulley, Key Account Manager for Hörmann UK, said: “Our new Fire Rated Sliding Doors, which are compliant to British Standards, are a key addition to our extensive range of fire rated sliding and functional doors. They are suitable for installation across a wide range of developments and industries. The steel or stainless-steel doors can withstand heavy usage cycles with ease. This is due to their quality of construction.”

The doors can be operated in conjunction with an FSA-Basis hold-open device control centre, which combines the power supply, warning signals, fire detector evaluation, manual release button and reset device in a compact housing.

This is supported by LED lamps or acoustic signals, which communicate the status and alarm states of the door. Additional safety elements, including fire detectors, magnets, recess flaps and fire alarm systems can also be quickly connected for easy integration.

The doors can also be operated utilising Hörmann UK’s FSA-Plus hold-open device control centre, which features a battery backup for reliable operation, even in the event of power failures.

The doors are also compatible with Hörmann UK’s SupraMatic operators, which provide fast opening and closing and are also available with soft start and soft stop available as standard, delivering gentle and quiet door travel. In case of fire, a patented compensator release system will unlock the operator, enabling the door to be closed via weights.

Will Darkness Protect us from COVID-19?

Posted on by David Priestman

Sunlight was supposed to be the answer to COVID-19. However, fully automated warehouses that no longer need lighting or heating are helping to keep supply lines open during the pandemic. Here Neil Ballinger, head of EMEA sales at automation equipment supplier EU Automation, explains why retailers and distributors are investing heavily in fully automated distribution centres.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated a divide between those companies that have embraced technology and those that have not. Retailers who had invested in automation and e-commerce fared better than their competitors. In 2020, the share price of Ocado, a British online supermarket, doubled while the share price of Marks and Spencer, a traditional high-street retailer, has halved. Clearly, in the eyes of investors the future of retail is online.

Behind the scenes of the race to online shopping, retailers and distributors are working hard to automate their warehouses and gear them towards new shopping behaviour. Amazon has emerged as one of the pioneers in logistics automation. The first generation of logistics professionals at Amazon had cut their teeth at Walmart. When they started working for Amazon, they quickly learned that shipping individual parcels directly to end customers required a different set of processes compared to shipping pallets of goods to stores.

Dark Warehouse

According to Brad Stone, the author of The Everything Store, Amazon executives realised that if they improved how orders were fulfilled, they could turn this into a competitive advantage. They invented a software to calculate the best way of combining the products in each individual order, factor in the address of the customer and ship it all in the least expensive way. Fast and cost-effective, picking, packing and shipping became a strategic advantage for Amazon.

The next frontier in warehouse automation is to seamlessly integrate the processes of sorting, picking and packing. Boxing-up parcels has traditionally been a very labour-intensive process. Last year, Amazon started to invest in packing machines built by CMC, an Italian automation specialist, which pack up to 700 boxes per hour. Automated packaging is currently booming. In Germany, Dm-Drogerie Markt, the country’s largest drugstore, has invested 100 million Euros into a new distribution centre. It contains state-of-the-art automation systems built by Swisslog, a Swiss logistics automation supplier. In the UK, The White Company, a clothing retailer, is planning to install a Quadient CVP Everest, also an automated packing machine, in August 2020.

Does a fully automated warehouse still need lighting? In a recent newsletter, Swisslog’s Paul Stringeman described the distribution centre of the future as follows: “no staff driving back and forth on forklift trucks, no load handlers examining products and picking items onto pallets, not even an electric light – just sky high racking, shuttles, lifts, robots, conveyors and autonomous vehicles choosing their own paths through the darkness”.

COVID-19 accelerated the use of technology in logistics. When a warehouse is fully automated, it no longer needs flickering neon tubes to keep running. Lights-out logistics is fast becoming a reality. http://www.euautomation.com/us/

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Industry View: Automation and the Future of Warehouse Racking

 

Will Darkness Protect us from COVID-19?

Posted on by David Priestman

Sunlight was supposed to be the answer to COVID-19. However, fully automated warehouses that no longer need lighting or heating are helping to keep supply lines open during the pandemic. Here Neil Ballinger, head of EMEA sales at automation equipment supplier EU Automation, explains why retailers and distributors are investing heavily in fully automated distribution centres.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated a divide between those companies that have embraced technology and those that have not. Retailers who had invested in automation and e-commerce fared better than their competitors. In 2020, the share price of Ocado, a British online supermarket, doubled while the share price of Marks and Spencer, a traditional high-street retailer, has halved. Clearly, in the eyes of investors the future of retail is online.

Behind the scenes of the race to online shopping, retailers and distributors are working hard to automate their warehouses and gear them towards new shopping behaviour. Amazon has emerged as one of the pioneers in logistics automation. The first generation of logistics professionals at Amazon had cut their teeth at Walmart. When they started working for Amazon, they quickly learned that shipping individual parcels directly to end customers required a different set of processes compared to shipping pallets of goods to stores.

Dark Warehouse

According to Brad Stone, the author of The Everything Store, Amazon executives realised that if they improved how orders were fulfilled, they could turn this into a competitive advantage. They invented a software to calculate the best way of combining the products in each individual order, factor in the address of the customer and ship it all in the least expensive way. Fast and cost-effective, picking, packing and shipping became a strategic advantage for Amazon.

The next frontier in warehouse automation is to seamlessly integrate the processes of sorting, picking and packing. Boxing-up parcels has traditionally been a very labour-intensive process. Last year, Amazon started to invest in packing machines built by CMC, an Italian automation specialist, which pack up to 700 boxes per hour. Automated packaging is currently booming. In Germany, Dm-Drogerie Markt, the country’s largest drugstore, has invested 100 million Euros into a new distribution centre. It contains state-of-the-art automation systems built by Swisslog, a Swiss logistics automation supplier. In the UK, The White Company, a clothing retailer, is planning to install a Quadient CVP Everest, also an automated packing machine, in August 2020.

Does a fully automated warehouse still need lighting? In a recent newsletter, Swisslog’s Paul Stringeman described the distribution centre of the future as follows: “no staff driving back and forth on forklift trucks, no load handlers examining products and picking items onto pallets, not even an electric light – just sky high racking, shuttles, lifts, robots, conveyors and autonomous vehicles choosing their own paths through the darkness”.

COVID-19 accelerated the use of technology in logistics. When a warehouse is fully automated, it no longer needs flickering neon tubes to keep running. Lights-out logistics is fast becoming a reality. http://www.euautomation.com/us/

similar news

Industry View: Automation and the Future of Warehouse Racking

 

Volvo Selects Michelin for Record-breaking Road Tests

Posted on by David Priestman

Michelin says tyres from its X Line Energy range – designed for fleets seeking the lowest possible carbon footprint – were fitted to two Volvo trucks which have set new fuel efficiency records on demanding press road tests in the UK.

Earlier this month the next generation 4×2 Volvo FM 420, operating with a tri-axle trailer at 40-tonnes, averaged 10.31mpg around Commercial Motor’s 760km road test route. This followed less than 12 months after a 6×2 Volvo FH 460 with I-Save set a new record of 9.49mpg at 44-tonnes. Both tractor units were specified with Globetrotter sleeper cabs and tyres from Michelin’s most fuel-efficient range. The FM rode on 355/50 R22.5 X Line Energy Z (steer) and 295/60 R22.5 X Line Energy D (drive) tyres, whilst the FH with I-Save was equipped with 385/55 R22.5 X Line Energy F (steer & mid axle) and 315/70 R22.5 X Line Energy D (drive) tyres.

Martin Tomlinson, Head of Media, Truck Demonstration & Driver Development at Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland, says: “In the minds of most customers, fuel is everything. We’ve pioneered world-leading technologies and fuel saving strategies that can make a huge difference to a fleet’s bottom line, but you also need the right tyres to help squeeze the most out of every drop. Michelin X Line Energy tyres have become my default choice for our long-haul demo fleet as they help us to drive further on less fuel. Plus they match this with impressive safety, handling and durability.”

Chris Smith, Managing Director of Michelin UK, says: “Manufacturers such as Volvo Trucks hold a wealth of data on vehicle performance in different configurations, so it’s a huge compliment to see our tyres being repeatedly chosen for their demonstration fleet.”

Michelin X Line Energy tyres are designed specifically for trucks and coaches used on long-distance routes, and where the majority of time is spent travelling at sustained high average speeds. They are the product of Michelin’s continued investment of more than €600m in research and development every year, which has helped to push the limits of rolling resistance even further and unlock greater sustainability benefits for customers. The test took place using a standard tri-axle curtainside trailer, supplied by Dawsongroup. It ran over a set route which runs from Nuneaton up the M6, crossing the country close to the border with Scotland on local roads, before returning south on the M1. The route covers 494km of motorway, 121km of severe gradients and 145km of trunk roads.

The Volvo FM broke Commercial Motor’s previous 40-tonne record of 8.6mpg, set in 2008, despite today’s speed limits allowing the overall average speed to rise from 69.6kph to 74.9kph, while emissions have also improved from Euro-5 to the latest Euro-6 Step D standard. The Volvo FH with I-Save beat the previous 44-tonne record of 8.65mpg, which had been set in 2017.
https://business.michelin.co.uk/

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Michelin launches UK fleet management brand

 

Volvo Selects Michelin for Record-breaking Road Tests

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Michelin says tyres from its X Line Energy range – designed for fleets seeking the lowest possible carbon footprint – were fitted to two Volvo trucks which have set new fuel efficiency records on demanding press road tests in the UK.

Earlier this month the next generation 4×2 Volvo FM 420, operating with a tri-axle trailer at 40-tonnes, averaged 10.31mpg around Commercial Motor’s 760km road test route. This followed less than 12 months after a 6×2 Volvo FH 460 with I-Save set a new record of 9.49mpg at 44-tonnes. Both tractor units were specified with Globetrotter sleeper cabs and tyres from Michelin’s most fuel-efficient range. The FM rode on 355/50 R22.5 X Line Energy Z (steer) and 295/60 R22.5 X Line Energy D (drive) tyres, whilst the FH with I-Save was equipped with 385/55 R22.5 X Line Energy F (steer & mid axle) and 315/70 R22.5 X Line Energy D (drive) tyres.

Martin Tomlinson, Head of Media, Truck Demonstration & Driver Development at Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland, says: “In the minds of most customers, fuel is everything. We’ve pioneered world-leading technologies and fuel saving strategies that can make a huge difference to a fleet’s bottom line, but you also need the right tyres to help squeeze the most out of every drop. Michelin X Line Energy tyres have become my default choice for our long-haul demo fleet as they help us to drive further on less fuel. Plus they match this with impressive safety, handling and durability.”

Chris Smith, Managing Director of Michelin UK, says: “Manufacturers such as Volvo Trucks hold a wealth of data on vehicle performance in different configurations, so it’s a huge compliment to see our tyres being repeatedly chosen for their demonstration fleet.”

Michelin X Line Energy tyres are designed specifically for trucks and coaches used on long-distance routes, and where the majority of time is spent travelling at sustained high average speeds. They are the product of Michelin’s continued investment of more than €600m in research and development every year, which has helped to push the limits of rolling resistance even further and unlock greater sustainability benefits for customers. The test took place using a standard tri-axle curtainside trailer, supplied by Dawsongroup. It ran over a set route which runs from Nuneaton up the M6, crossing the country close to the border with Scotland on local roads, before returning south on the M1. The route covers 494km of motorway, 121km of severe gradients and 145km of trunk roads.

The Volvo FM broke Commercial Motor’s previous 40-tonne record of 8.6mpg, set in 2008, despite today’s speed limits allowing the overall average speed to rise from 69.6kph to 74.9kph, while emissions have also improved from Euro-5 to the latest Euro-6 Step D standard. The Volvo FH with I-Save beat the previous 44-tonne record of 8.65mpg, which had been set in 2017.
https://business.michelin.co.uk/

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Michelin launches UK fleet management brand

 

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