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Tag: automation

SVT and Kardex Partner for Pick and Pack

Posted on by David Priestman

SVT Robotics, an enterprise software provider for the rapid integration of industrial robotics, and Kardex Solutions, a Global Business Partner of AutoStore and intralogistics solution provider of automated storage, retrieval, and material handling systems, have announced a strategic partnership. It enables Kardex Solutions customers to easily deploy and integrate AutoStore systems with additional automation technology by leveraging the power of the SVT Robotics SOFTBOT Platform.

Building upon its Kardex Control Center WES technology, Kardex Solutions has connected its software to the SOFTBOT Platform to enable a complete end-to-end pick and pack solution. Through this partnership, Kardex Solutions customers can quickly integrate and deploy an AutoStore system and Kardex Control Center with other warehouse functions, such as a WMS.

“Agility is one of the greatest advantages that companies can leverage. When it comes to automation, it’s imperative that businesses can quickly deploy supply chain technologies as well as reconfigure them to meet their evolving needs,” said A.K. Schultz, CEO of SVT Robotics. “We’re excited to partner with Kardex Solutions to offer their customers a simple and effective method for rapid automation adoption.”

“By coupling Kardex Control Center with the SOFTBOT Platform, we’re able to provide our customers with a true ‘easy button’ approach to automation,” said Mitch Hayes, President of Kardex Solutions. “What we’ve done is eliminate the complexities around warehouse automation by creating a pathway for AutoStore systems to easily integrate with technologies commonly found in distribution centres. We’re proud to offer this complete solution to our customers.”

Path to Robotic Automation for High-bay Storage

Posted on by David Priestman

BALYO, the company that specializes in transforming standard forklifts into driverless robots, will be attending ProMat 2023. Robotic experts will be on-hand to discuss BALYO’s full line of driverless forklift vehicles that are helping companies scale up as opposed to out, and showcase tools that simplify the shift from manual to autonomous materials handling.

The BALYO line of high-bay storage robots will be front and centre at ProMat 2023. Robots like the BALYO REACHY, which can pick pallets of up to 1.5 tons to a height of 37 feet and achieve a 360° turn in only 9.9 feet – the narrowest in-aisle turning space for high-reach robotic forklifts.

“Smart companies are scaling up – not out!” says Mark Stevenson, BALYO’s Chief Sales Officer. “The only way to safely and efficiently be part of this vertical revolution in materials handling is to automate the storage and retrieval of goods.”

In addition to saving space, the shift to high bay storage has other efficiencies including increased speed of materials movement, flexibility in warehouse design, and the inherent safety that comes from using automated systems.

“The shift to robotic operations just makes sense, from overcoming labour challenges, to safety, to ROI, all the numbers add up,” continues Stevenson.” The biggest thing that holds organizations back is the fear of complicated change, time to deploy, and disruption. BALYO is ready to show that there’s nothing to fear, our standard solutions can be deployed in weeks not months, and our simple tools are designed to allow users to do much of it themselves. It’s easy to simply change.”

BALYO experts will be demonstrating tools like BALYO eBudget for simple scoping of robotic projects, and BALYO Road Editor software that makes mission management a drag-and-drop experience. The company developed its unique software nearly 20 years ago with the aim of turning standard electric trucks into standalone intelligent robots, a move which the company believes, helps to address the reluctance of some operators to switch to automation and realize all of these benefits.

Stevenson continues, “BALYO robots can be operated both fully manual and autonomously, bridging the perceived gap between whether to use people or technology. This frees up people to focus on improving operations and other truly value-added activities. In this way, our technology is being used to vastly improve people’s working lives.”

The Reach Robot is just one of the full complement of Balyo’s sustainable robotic solutions including stackers, counter-balanced robots, tuggers, pallet jacks, and a VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) robot that can reach heights of 55 feet. BALYO’s global head offices are in Paris with global operations in the USA, Singapore, China, and Australia.

Automation Key to Warehouse Demand

Posted on by David Priestman

For warehouse and logistics companies, the struggle to keep up with changing consumer demand and rapid delivery expectations can make every day seem like a peak shopping season. Keith Fisher, president of Honeywell Warehouse Automation, explores how warehouses can manage.

Winter 2022 stands testament to the unpredictability of retail demand. While the winter holidays have historically been a period of peak consumer shopping, a mix of economic factors made the 2022 holiday season one of shrinking sales volumes for UK retailers. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) , total sales rose by 6.9% in December 2022 compared to the previous year, but this figure is skewed by high inflation — in reality, the volume of retail sales declined sharply.

However, not all retailers were hit equally. E-commerce sales were harder hit during the holidays with the IMRG Online Retail Index showing sales fell by 12% in December, marking 2022 as the year that bucked a trend of growth for online retail. Meanwhile, data from the BRC indicates that physical stores received their highest footfall since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with retailers benefiting from offering in-store pickup of online orders. From a logistics perspective, this high street resurgence produced a greater-than-usual emphasis on efficiently fulfilling conventional retail stock orders. In addition, several retailers found that holiday sales were spread out across a longer timescale — for example, JD Sports reportedly commented that higher rates of inflation had prompted customers to buy sooner.

For warehouse operators, the holiday period has long come with a peak in demand that requires increasing levels of efficiency and throughput to manage. Yet in recent years, fuelled by the e-commerce boom seen over the course of the pandemic, the unpredictability of sales volumes — alongside greater expectations for rapid delivery and order fulfilment — has pushed logistics to its limits. Though the holiday season is now behind us for another year, it’s important that logistics companies take the time to address ways to alleviate strain on their operations when responding to rapid changes in demand — both during holiday peaks and year-round as the traditional sales cycle shifts.

According to recent Honeywell research , it is now common for warehouses to be faced with labour challenges year-round rather than just the holiday season – from dealing with an aging workforce to attracting, training and retaining the right talent. This is leading to a consistent shortfall of workers in warehouses. Furthermore, the general popularity of e-commerce and flash sales only add to the pressures on warehouse workers throughout the year, creating a situation where any day or week can see increases in demand. This is exacerbated by the shift to next-day and same-day delivery, which has largely become a customer expectation in recent years. The need to deliver on such a demanding expectation has led many warehouse operators to transition from larger distribution centres to operating a series of smaller, distributed warehouse facilities — something that brings its own challenges by making space a premium.

Due to these pressures, warehouse operators are looking for new ways of working efficiently. If they are yet to do so, warehouses will have to automate processes not only to thrive but endure the strains during periods of increased consumer demand and to alleviate the pressures of staffing shortages. We are increasingly seeing automation and digital technologies expand into new warehouse operations, from voice-integrated picking robots to autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) moving goods between warehouse zones.

The goal of warehouse automation systems shouldn’t necessarily be to just shift tasks from workers to automated systems as much as it is to scale capacity by augmenting human talent. This includes upskilling and refocusing employees towards higher-level, more challenging tasks, while leaving time consuming tasks to automated devices.

However, it’s essential to note that there is no one-size-fits-all automation solution to a warehouse’s demand pressures. For example, smaller distribution facilities will benefit more from an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) than from several AMRs due to the space constraints. Additionally, software is the key piece that ties all this technology together and helps orchestrate it. Integrating automation technology through warehouse management and execution systems further optimizes solutions to create efficiencies.

While the exact application requirements and the maturity of automation deployments vary, there are some consistent approaches that operators can take to ensure their journey into warehouse automation is effective and future-proof. Prioritising predictability and reliability over speed, measuring the right return on investment, and planning flexibility into implementation projects are all valuable steps.

Winter 2022 signified a shift in the seasonal sales cycle for UK retailers; one that highlighted the unpredictability of retail demand. Although a decline was anticipated, the consumer move to earlier purchasing and back to high street stores was an unexpected one that again required a shift in logistics operations. Warehouse and logistics businesses should always be prepared for the next rise or change in demand. Currently, the day-to-day pressures are posing enough of a challenge for many companies to make one thing clear: warehouse automation is essential now.

AGV System for Irish Chemical Industry

Posted on by David Priestman

ek robotics has announced an automation and logistics deal with Chemco Group. The company will realize the automation of the central warehouse in Dublin with three different types of transport robots.

Chemco Ireland Limited is a comprehensive chemical solutions provider. They work in partnership with some of the world’s largest companies, providing expertise, world-class efficiency, and transparent operations. With the goal of making the intralogistics processes in the central warehouse in Dublin more cost-efficient, the family-owned company chose an automated guided vehicle (AGV) system from ek robotics. In 2024, a transport robot fleet of nine AGVs will be used in the central warehouse. Four SMART MOVE narrow-aisle trucks, three VARIO MOVE and one HEAVY MOVE as well as another VARIO MOVE for the new building at the Dublin site will be responsible for the automated storage and retrieval of goods in the existing racking system in a three-shift system with transfer heights of 10 meters.

“We were looking at ways to make our warehouse logistics more cost-efficient, while maintaining our smooth and quality distribution and storage for our clients. We decided that automation was the way to go, and we had discussions with ek robotics. Since then, we haven’t looked back and we’re looking forward to the implementation of the Automated Guided Vehicles”, says Jamie McDonald, Operations Manager at Chemco. Graham German, Project Director at ek robotics UK, said: “This project has been a completely collaborative partnership and we have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Chemco to reach the perfect automated solution. We expect all our trucks to arrive on site at Chemco in around a year’s time at the end of 2023, with the fully automated operation commissioned and in action towards 2024.” Chris Price, Managing Director of ek robotics UK, added: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Chemco. We love challenges, which is why we wanted to get involved in the chemical industry – something we haven’t done before in the UK business – whilst also working with an excellent company such as Chemco. “We’re glad that Chemco have not only chosen automation, but they’ve also chosen to partner with ek robotics. This is another great step forward for our business.”

About ek robotics

ek robotics is the world’s leading manufacturer and system integrator of innovative high-tech transport robotics for production and warehouse logistics. At five locations in Europe (Rosengarten, Germany, headquarters), Reutlingen (Germany), Milan (Italy), Prague (Czech Republic) and Buckingham (UK), the transport robotics specialist with more than 300 employees creates intelligent, networked and flexible transport solutions for the fully automated, in-plant material flow of its global customers. With 60 years of experience in design, development, manufacturing, integration, turnkey delivery, and support throughout the entire lifecycle of automated guided vehicles (AGVs), ek robotics is among the technical elite in this fast-growing industry of the future.

 

Automated solution meets cold chain challenge

Posted on by David Priestman

Lödige Industries, a world-leading provider of air cargo terminal solutions, has completed an automated Cold Chain Pallet-Cargo System at Hong Kong International Airport. Via its Hong Kong office, the German company planned, manufactured and implemented the advanced system for AAT COOLPORT, which is the first on-airport cold chain facility in Hong Kong providing a complete temperature-controlled environment, operated by Asia Airfreight Terminal (AAT).

Supported by the tailor-made pallet moving solution, the operator can maintain strictly regulated cold chains seamlessly and respond to the increasing global demand for temperature-sensitive air transports.

The customised and automated material handling system is designed for fast and safe transport of temperature-sensitive goods inside the cold chain facility. Modern and climate-resistant sensors in combination with an enhanced maintenance and control system ensure an efficient and safe flow of fragile goods.

Lödige Industries was awarded the contract for the project because it met both the high-quality requirements for stringent cold chain regulations and was able to achieve short turnaround timelines. The market for temperature-sensitive goods, like pharmaceuticals, and perishables, is currently the strongest growing market in air freight worldwide. Given the rapid planning and implementation of the automated ULD handling system, AAT is able to meet the rapidly growing demand of its customers for temperature-sensitive air cargo as well as strict cold chain regulations.

Lödige is long-standing partner

“The sector for temperature-sensitive goods is becoming a very important market for our customers,” says Yammie Sin, Chief Marketing Officer at Asia Airfreight Terminal. “Seamless compliance with cold chain regulations is enormously important, so we are investing in the most reliable and efficient equipment for our new cold storage facility COOLPORT. This also allows AAT to offer services that were previously unavailable in Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), such as temperature-controlled truck docks, the ability to screen, build up and break down cargo entirely within a temperature-controlled environment.

“With Lödige Industries, we have a long-standing and reliable partner, who was able to plan and install a state-of-the-art material handling system in a fast and cost-efficient way while complying with all important cold chain regulations required for COOLPORT. This allows us to offer our customers efficient and safe storage and handling of their sensitive and valuable goods.”

The contract was awarded in June 2021 and AAT COOLPORT has been serving the industry since July 2022. Lödige Industries has a proven track record given its numerous material handling system projects in Asia (e.g., at the airports of Singapore or Chengdu). The company, with regional offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, has a solid understanding of customer needs in the Asian region, and an established network of local partners.

In 2006, Lödige Industries handed over a sizeable multi-level material handling system for AAT, with four 43m-high elevating transfer vehicles. The new palletised cargo handling system marks another milestone in the long partnership with AAT and further consolidates Lödige Industries’ strong presence and experience in Asia.

Innovation is important

Nicholas Tripptree, Managing Director, APAC at Lödige Industries emphasises the importance of innovation in the air cargo industry: “We look back on a long partnership with Asia Airfreight Terminal at Hong Kong International Airport, where we continue to service the system which was handed over in 2006 and modernised in 2018. We are proud that one of the largest airfreight companies at the airport, chooses to support its customers with our best-in-class solutions for moving pallets and ULDs.”

Tripptree highlights the special nature of this project: “Especially in the cold chain sector, absolute reliability and consistency are key. With customised solutions like this new and CEIV-certified cold chain storage system, Lödige Industries proves that it can also offer world leading material handling solutions for the area of temperature sensitive cargo.”

Robotics: Winning Combination

Posted on by David Priestman

How a UK warehouse facility used robotics and automation to meet some very common challenges.

WINIT is a Shanghai-based provider of full warehousing and logistical solutions for cross-border ecommerce. It serves the United States, Australia, and several European countries. In the UK alone, WINIT runs three warehouses with a total combined footprint reaching 550,000 square metres.

The challenge

In the past two years, the demand for global warehousing services has surged dramatically due to the growth of cross-border ecommerce businesses. WINIT’s UK facility in Tamworth, Staffordshire, was confronted with expanding challenges as the demand for global warehousing services soared.

Rapid business growth and the need to handle a variety of goods and fulfil a high number of orders – combined with the shortage of warehouse workers – meant that WINIT was faced with two main challenges: improving operational efficiency and increasing storage density.

The robotics fix

WINIT automated its order-fulfilment centre operations with the help of the HAI Robotics ACR (Autonomous Case-Handling Robot) solution. The solution involved deploying 100 HAIPICK A42 robots and 16 on-conveyor workstations for order picking.

What the solution does

As the HAIPICK A42 robots can extend to more than 4m in height, they are able to store goods on both lower and higher shelves, leading to better utilisation of the space available. They are driven by AI algorithms and can move smoothly through the 10,000 square-metre facility, bringing cartons and totes to workstations, where operators can pick and sort goods efficiently.

The on-conveyor picking workstation automatically conveys the cases unloaded by the HAIPICK robot or the cases that need to be loaded, making use of automated storage and retrieval functions. It offers an ergonomic design; workers and HAIPICK robots are indirectly connected, and the goods can be sorted on the conveyor line without too much movement. It delivers convenient operation and efficient warehousing.

Another bonus is that the HAI Robotics solution can easily be implemented in one part of the warehouse and scaled up as business grows further.

Workflow has improved by 3-4 times, storage density by 60%, increased picking efficiency by 50%, and brought on-time order delivery to almost 100%.
With the help of HAI Robotics, the overall service and operation of WINIT has not been significantly affected despite the disruptions to the global supply chain since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These smart robots have more than met our expectations,” comments Bob, Warehouse General Manager at WINIT’s Tamworth facility. “We picked HAI Robotics as our autonomous robot supplier from a choice of several other companies because it is one of the first developers. Its system has better stability than that of others, and its staff is professional. So it was an easy choice.”

Satisfied workers

HAI Robotics’ automated robotic solution has also extended the capacity of each individual WINIT operator by increasing efficiency, a big plus in a slow jobs market. The WINIT warehouse workers are also enjoying the benefits of this solution. The on-conveyor workstations are ergonomically designed to help operators fulfil orders faster, more accurately and with lower effort.

Becky, a warehouse operator, said that with the help of the robots, she can now stay in the workstation and just wait for the robots to pick and carry goods back and forth to her workstation. She no longer walks thousands of steps indoors to pick orders. “Getting goods now is like getting something at my fingertips. [The robots] make my work much easier. Now I don’t need to move around and bend my waist. Everything is easy.”

This robotic solution allowed the facility to increase the average worker efficiency rates to 450 cases per hour and increased the daily handling volume up to 50,000 pieces. The goods-handling efficiency rate for the warehouse was improved 3 to 4 times over the previously manual processes and the picking efficiency rate of operators fulfilling orders was increased by 50%.

Where should packaging businesses focus in 2023?

Posted on by David Priestman

With what looks to be another challenging year ahead, Antalis Packaging shares why it believes it’s time to invest in carton handling and pallet wrapping equipment.

If the past three years have taught us anything, it’s that nothing can be predicted. The big challenges of labour, energy, customer experience, sustainability and costs aren’t going anywhere soon and therefore solutions need to be found to ease the pressure of these five issues.

Head of Automation & Systems at Antalis, Stuart Bates, believes that the most effective solution that will help packaging operations and logistics companies to address these challenges is automation, in particular carton handling and stretch wrapping equipment: “Automation is available for every part of the packaging operation workflow – the entire operation can be automated if required – but of course that approach isn’t right for all businesses, so it’s about identifying where the bottlenecks are. Once you deal with those, it’s surprising how many other issues will be addressed at the same time.”

Bates has found that many of the current issues can be addressed by the introduction of carton handling and/or stretch wrapping equipment, depending upon the nature of the business. “We’ve helped customers to achieve transformations of their business fortunes simply by adding one piece of packaging automation. The results are best for operations that have traditionally being labour intensive, but in the current climate, packaging operations of all kinds are likely to find that the benefits reach beyond that.”

How investing in carton handling equipment and pallet wrapping automation could provide the step-change businesses are looking for in 2023:

Labour

Recruitment of labour has long been a challenge for the sector, and that’s not likely to change in 2023. When labour is hard to come by and costly, investing in carton handling equipment can increase efficiency in many ways, for example, a machine can erect up to 22 cartons per minute compared with three erected per minute manually.

Similarly, automating the stretch wrapping of pallets can add significant pace and take the pressure off workers trying to keep up with demand. With pallet-wrapping capability from 25 to 180 pallets per hour, there are models available to suit most operations

Increasing energy costs

Energy costs are a concern for everyone and finding ways to reduce it are crucial. While it is a process in decline, there are still businesses heat-shrinking protective plastic onto pallets. Heat shrinking is highly energy intensive, plus it requires a far heavier grade of plastic than that required for stretch wrapping, so there is an environmental impact there, too. machinery can operate in low light and low heat conditions, so as well as addressing the labour shortfall, machinery can help to alleviate energy costs too.

National Sales Manager, Stretch Film, at Antalis Packaging, Tom Reid, said: “Pallet stretch wrapping machinery is something that many businesses have, but it’s important that it is serviced and maintained regularly – and that film use is optimised. The majority of pallet wrapping equipment I come across isn’t calibrated properly, which means that more film is being used than necessary and that the machine is working harder, all of which contributes to higher bills.”

Customer experience

A recent survey by Wincanton found that 76% of the UK’s retail and eCommerce business leaders believe shortage of labour in the supply chain has negatively affected their ability to serve customers.

“If you haven’t got enough labour to erect the cartons needed to pack orders into,” says Bates, “the impact is going to have repercussions throughout the subsequent workflow, culminating in delays in getting orders packed and dispatched.”

Carton handling equipment can work with the peaks and troughs in demand, plus it ensures cartons are erected consistently, which is something that cannot always be assured when being assembled by hand, under pressure.

Sustainability of packaging

“There has been a necessary shift in the approach to sustainability,” says Bates. “While in the past sustainability was often one of the first casualties during challenging times, I’m pleased to say that’s no longer the case, and I expect efforts to continue to ramp up across the packaging and 3PL industry during 2023.”

These efforts can be supported with the introduction of carton handling and pallet stretch wrapping equipment.

An automated fit to size, box on demand system, for example, creates ‘right-sized’ packaging that minimises the use of corrugated board by building the box around the product or creasing and folding the box to the height of the items being packed. This also eliminates the need for void fill. Plus, the smaller – and, usually, lighter – pack size means more packs can be loaded onto a vehicle, helping to reduce distribution costs and associated emissions.

Costs

“We’ve already touched on some of the cost savings to be made by introducing carton handling or pallet stretch wrapping equipment, but when you start to drill down into the savings that can be made by switching to automated stretch wrapping, for example, the figures can become significant – we’ve helped businesses reduce their stretch wrapping costs by 60%,” added Bates.

Bates concludes: “2023 will likely be another challenging year, but by making it the year when they take the decision to invest in packaging machinery, businesses will not only be able to address the immediate challenges, but they will also be in a better position to weather future storms.”

 

CMC Machinery rebrands to CMC Packaging Automation

Posted on by Keith McKinley

CMC Packaging Automation, a global leader in right-sized packaging technology, has a new brand, logo, and website. Formerly known as CMC Machinery, the new brand reflects CMC’s focus on innovation and will support the company’s global expansion.

To meet the demands of the global logistics and e-commerce market, CMC pioneers solutions for right- sized packaging. Grounded in its approach to innovation and partnership, the company says it is shaping the future of packaging automation. Every solution has a positive environmental impact, with cost-saving, climate-conscious packaging that is helping e-commerce and logistics industry giants reach their sustainability goals without compromising on quality.

With a proven track record of efficiency and global recognition as a leader in its sector, in November 2020 CMC became a portfolio company of KKR’s Global Impact strategy – powering greater innovation with sustainable technology. CMC Packaging Automation is also part of the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, a US$2bn venture investment programme supporting the development of sustainable technologies and services.

The e-commerce industry, CMC’s core client base, is currently facing new challenges to packaging. EU policy makers are increasingly scrutinising the industry, with plans to unveil new legislation that will limit packaging sizes and the amount of “empty space” allowed in boxes being shipped. CMC technology helps to reduce the cubic volume of each box by 40% on average and eliminate the use of plastic air pillows.

CMC connects past, present and future

Commenting on this important milestone, Francesco Ponti, Chief Executive Officer of CMC, said: “I am proud to reveal our new brand name – CMC Packaging Automation – as well as our new logo and website. We refreshed the brand to support our next phase of growth while keeping a connection to the passion and quality which for over 40 years has made CMC an industry leader. Connecting the past, present and future is our commitment to innovation to solve critical challenges for our clients. Now more than ever sustainability is paramount, especially reducing waste and their climate impact.

Pedro Ramos, Principal in KKR’s Global Impact team in EMEA, said: “We share the vision of the Ponti family and its team to create the future of packaging and e-commerce at a time when global retailers are increasingly focused on reducing their environmental footprint. CMC’s solutions ensure sustainability is embedded from pick to pack, with a commitment to enabling a zero-waste future through innovation. With its refreshed brand, CMC is now better positioned to grow and deepen its partnerships with leading retailers, logistics and e-commerce companies.”

From family-run business to global enterprise, the business is now present in 25 countries across five subsidiaries. Headquartered in the heart of the Umbria region, CMC provides world-class automation solutions and service to a global network of over 600 clients. With over 40 years of homegrown experience and 3000 systems globally, CMC produces over 10 million boxes a year.

 

AGVs the easy way for Ostendorf to automate

Posted on by David Priestman

In just six months, SSI Schaefer was able to automate the existing mobile racking system at Ostendorf in Emstek using automated guided vehicles (AGV) and its WAMAS intralogistics software. Right after the go-live in the middle of 2021, the positive impact of this partially automated logistics solution was clear and quantifiable: it ensures transparent, error-free processes and makes the material flow resource-independent – and thus more efficient – in three-shift operations.

Achieving these objectives was an important step for this plastics specialist in order to meet its customers’ increasingly specific demands and strengthen its position on a highly competitive market.

Gebr. Ostendorf Kunststoffe GmbH is one of the leading manufacturers of wastewater pipe systems in Germany and has sold these plastic pipes and polypropylene fittings since 1973. Its customers come from the construction industry, which generally orders large quantities of a wide range of variants and operates in a cost-intensive environment.

Given its ongoing growth and the demand for shorter and shorter delivery times, Ostendorf had already commissioned a new distribution centre at its headquarters in Vechta in 2017 for packaging-optimised overnight goods staging. SSI Schaefer equipped the centre with an automatic channel storage system including SSI Orbiter load handling devices, WAMAS intralogistics software and a conveyor system.

The path to semi-automation for Ostendorf

At its Emstek site, Ostendorf also faced the challenge of adapting processes to increasingly demanding market conditions. It needed to optimise intralogistics, increase productivity and cut costs. At the same time, Ostendorf entered into an agreement with a major construction industry customer for pre-picking goods onto mixed pallets. That meant that suddenly, there were more packaging materials and pallets that had to be kept on-hand and moved around the warehouse.

However, it is not easy to recruit qualified staff for the additional work involved, as well as for three-shift operations – especially in the Oldenburg Münsterland region, which enjoys nearly full employment. Therefore, Ostendorf chose a partially automated plug-and-play solution from SSI Schaefer that could be installed quickly and is ideal specifically for smaller warehouses with moderate throughput rates. The new solution, combining automated guided vehicles (AGV) with the existing mobile racking system (MRS), handles the storage and retrieval processes and internal transport reliably, offering Ostendorf the advantage of high process reliability around the clock.

Single partner

Ostendorf chose SSI Schaefer because it wanted a single partner that could serve as the general contractor for the whole solution, including all the interfaces. This made communication much easier and ensured a time-optimised project schedule. Furthermore, the two companies already had good experience collaborating on other projects, such as the high bay warehouse in Vechta and the mobile pallet racking system in Rain am Lech, in which SSI Schaefer proved a reliable expert partner. Last but not least, Ostendorf was already familiar with the WAMAS intralogistics software from the Vechta site and had had good experiences with it.

“For Emstek, relying on full automation, as was done at Vechta, would have been wishful thinking and excessive,” reports Ludger Stroot, operations manager for Emstek at Ostendorf. “But we still wanted to introduce a certain degree of automation to get the benefits that come with it. In this context, the automated guided vehicles were the appropriate technology and were just right for our comparatively low throughput.”

“In addition, time was tight,” adds Lukas Varelmann, head of in-house logistics at Ostendorf. “While the planning and implementation of a fully automated high bay warehouse, including the building permit, takes at least three years, we were able to achieve our objectives in less than six months thanks to partial automation.”

A practical combination of an MRS, AGVs and software

This extremely manageable timeframe highlights the particular advantages of the scalable logistics solution that was introduced here: “The combination of a mobile racking system with automated guided vehicles is a mature standard and can be directly integrated into the customer’s warehouse structures,” explains Stefan Reichwald, sales manager at SSI Schaefer. “The automated pallet handling solution immediately has positive effects on delivery reliability and quality, as well as ongoing operating costs.”

SSI Schaefer successfully completed this partial automation project together with AGV specialist DS Automotion, an SSI Schaefer Group company, in the middle of 2021. In the process, the partners set up an interface to the existing mobile racking system. At the same time, they were responsible for the integration of the AGVs and conveyor system and for the overall integration into Ostendorf’s WAMAS software environment. “This was a comprehensive solution package, including software, so the decision to implement it in this form was an easy one,” emphasises Varelmann.

Improved workflow and continuous material flow

“The AGVs ensure a constant material flow in three-shift operation at Ostendorf; the processes are clearly structured, and this approach virtually eliminates defects,” explains Roland Hieslmair, sales engineer at DS Automotion. This reduces the workload of employees, whose current responsibilities include cross-process activities in the control centre. All the processes are also clearly traceable via WAMAS. Furthermore, the secure, reliable communication between the MRS and AGVs eliminates waiting times; as a vehicle approaches its destination aisle, the system opens the aisle already. The software communicates with the mobile racking system via ProfiNet with barcode support.

“WAMAS sends the orders to DS Automotion’s fleet controller, which you can think of as a kind of ‘dispatcher’,” explains Hieslmair. The system simultaneously checks which vehicle is free and issues the transport command. For a retrieval order, WAMAS makes sure the aisle opens promptly so the AGV can drive right in, pick up the requested pallet and move it to the transfer point on the conveyor system. The fleet controller notifies WAMAS that the order is complete, and the AGV is now ready for its next task.

Linking DS Automotion’s solutions with SSI Schaefer’s portfolio offers customers the opportunity to reap the benefits of integrated solutions without interface problems; a central contact person is always available, and laborious coordination among different systems is eliminated.

Additional benefits for Ostendorf

When companies grow and seek to increase the efficiency and quality of their order processing, they – like Ostendorf at its Emstek site – often consider introducing software in conjunction with automated processes. The combined system solution, consisting initially of an MRS and two AGVs, increases efficiency for this plastics specialist by having the AGVs operate continuously, with no breaks. With the vehicles used, SSI Schaefer not only met Ostendorf’s time target for double cycle use, but actually exceeded expectations; the AGVs complete the double cycles about 30% faster than even required.

If even higher performance is required in the future, additional vehicles can be added without difficulty. Modern sensor technology makes the vehicles safer for employees than conventional forklifts. In addition, the AGVs pay for themselves quickly. The same is true of the extremely space-efficient mobile racking systems, which SSI Schaefer offers in combination with AGVs as a solution package from a single source exclusively.

Continuing a successful project partnership

Together with SSI Schaefer, its partner of many years, Ostendorf hopes to repeat the success achieved in Emstek at another location. There as well, the aim is to establish a solid operational foundation to perfectly meet the growing demands of the construction industry – for example, through order-specific pre-picking. It is also considering initial scenarios for construction of an automated small parts warehouse in Vechta.

Ludger Stroot and Lukas Varelmann agree: “The professional project management and fast implementation impressed us once again.” “The two sides worked in harmony, the approach was always solution-oriented, and the cooperation was always positive. The results we achieved were thoroughly positive and speak for themselves.”

In partnership with SSI Schaefer, Ostendorf has implemented an impressive partially automated warehouse solution. They automated the existing mobile pallet racking by combining it with the new AGVs and connected both components to the new WAMAS software. This solution gives Ostendorf an efficient, optimised storage, transport and picking process and strengthens its competitive edge.

 

 

Fives automates Italian logistics centre

Posted on by David Priestman

Fives, a preferred partner for transforming supply chain facilities, continues to grow in the micro-fulfilment sector and is set to implement an AutoStore solution.

The new automation project for a logistics centre in Italy demonstrates once again Fives’ leadership in intralogistics and the success of its micro-fulfilment-based strategy, which supports the growth of the retail, e-commerce and 3PL sectors.

Fives has been chosen by KEY-4 to integrate the AutoStore technology into a 3,000 sq m extension to the existing 8,000 sq m warehouse in Fasano (province of Brindisi, Italy) for a leading distributor of electrical and lighting equipment.

The distributor wants to optimise the automation of the processing of its multiple items in stock and to develop its e-commerce activity; the “AutoStore empowered by Fives” solution therefore fully meets this need.

Unparalleled performance

The AutoStore technology is complementary to Fives’ technology portfolio and allows it to expand its offering to piece picking to support its customers in the challenges of omnichannel automation, while giving AutoStore an extra boost to tackle the French, Spanish and Italian markets where Fives demonstrates leading positions.

Thanks to Fives’ expertise as a supplier and integrator of advanced automation technologies and its intimate understanding of its customers’ processes and objectives, the new “AutoStore empowered by Fives” warehouse, consisting of 9,000 bins for two picking stations, has been specially designed in an ergonomic way to increase the current storage capacity in a reduced space and to offer optimal work safety and conditions for the operators.

AutoStore empowered by Fives

Each station will allow the preparation of two orders simultaneously and to process a flow of approximately 1,500 orders/day.

The facility equipped with the “AutoStore empowered by Fives” solution will be operational in July 2023.

“These solutions for optimising order preparation are one of the differentiation and competitiveness criteria for our customers. As we continue to grow in Southern Europe, we are proud to contribute to the business development of our customers, supporting their industrial performance. We’ve enjoyed a great partnership with AutoStore over the past year and look forward to future projects,” says Zakariae Haoudi, Sales Director of Fives Intralogistics SAS, specialised in automated picking solutions and advanced technologies for micro-fulfilment.

“We are thrilled with this project and particularly welcome Fives‘ strong presence in Southern Europe and its position as a leader in intralogistics, which helps us to grow,” declares Antonio Ammirabile, CEO of KEY-4, a general contractor with significant experience in managing integrated and complex projects and technological innovations in the fields of Industry 4.0 and Industrial-IoT.

 

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