automation|conveyors|warehouse automation Archives

New Smart Pallet Mover promises performance boost

Posted on 3 March, 2022 by David Priestman

It is not the performance of modern production machines but their material supply that promises the greatest potential for further productivity increases in industrial companies today. With the new Smart Pallet Mover (SPM), Interroll has launched an awarded solution that can be adapted as a flexible and modular pallet management system to meet a wide range of application requirements in industrial manufacturing.

The customer and user benefits of the Smart Pallet Mover are impressive: Those who use it can now finally automate work processes in front of the machine production to avoid manual activities in safety-critical areas and manage the pallet work flow by buffering, sorting, sequencing and carrying at the right time to deliver significant improvement of the machine down time optimising the return on investment (ROI) of the machine production cells.

This not only eliminates costly production interruptions for material supply to machines, but also the risk of accidents during operation. In this way, productivity increases of up to 30% are possible compared to manual operation.

The Smart Pallet Mover is a pallet management solution for automating pallet transport in the vicinity of manufacturing machines and for production-related picking and sequencing processes, which can also be used in Industry 4.0 environments. The SPM is designed to transport, sort and buffer boxes or pallets weighing up to 1,000kg.

It represents a mobile and autonomously acting material flow system that can be used, for example, as a cost-efficient supplement or substitute for forklifts or automated guided vehicles (AGVs).

The Smart Pallet Mover solution consists of various modules. The centre of the solution is a mobile unit (SM1000 Mover) that runs underneath non-driven conveyor sections and moves pallets lying on them. A transfer car (SM2000 Transfer Car) which moves on a rail can transport pallets between parallel conveyor sections.

“With this platform solution, which is unparalleled on the world market, we are tapping into the great productivity potential offered by production-related pallet management automation for our customers and users,” explains Jens Strüwing, Executive Vice President Products & Technology at Interroll. “A user-friendly 3D online tool, the SPM Layout Configurator & Pallet Flow Simulator, makes it possible to configure a system quickly and easily as well as simulate planned operation on the computer.”

The flexibility of this innovative solution, the use of proven technologies and a very short payback period ensure that users can significantly strengthen their competitiveness. As with all Interroll products, the Smart Pallet Mover is extremely easy to install, operate and maintain. The modular plug-and-play solution can therefore be put into operation without lengthy interruptions to production, even during modernisation projects.

Networking capabilities based on global data standards such as REST API and JSON ensure maximum compatibility and ease of use. The conveyor modules can be reconfigured very easily if required, and height-adjustable supports allow the system to be installed even on uneven floors.

Before the official market launch, the new solution had already won two internationally renowned awards. For example, the Smart Pallet Mover won the Red Dot Award, Product Design 2021, for its exceptional design quality and degree of innovation. At the same time, the solution was chosen by the independent experts of the International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year Award (IFOY AWARD) in March 2021 as a finalist of this globally renowned intralogistics award.

With this new offering, Interroll is taking into account the fact that production managers are increasingly focusing on material handling, as shown, for example, by the survey “Production Logistics in Medium-Sized Businesses,” which Interroll published last year: The average degree of automation of internal material transport at the companies surveyed was only 53%. Almost every tenth company (9%) had a degree of automation of less than 25%.

CLICK HERE to view a video of the new solution.

Intelligent conveying and sorting system empowers automation evolution

Posted on 2 November, 202129 July, 2025 by David Priestman

With the continuous development of the express delivery industry, the demands and requirements of various platforms for automated logistics and transportation is also increasing. An intelligent sorting and conveying system has become rigid requirements for companies in various industries to enhance their competitiveness.

Normally, the efficiency of the current semi-automated sorters (taking the cross-belt sorter as an example) is more than three times that of manual, and the efficiency of an automated sorter is more than six times that of manual sorting. An intelligent sorting and conveying system can fully reduce manual identification and manual operation. The accuracy is much higher than manual sorting, and it also greatly reduces the loss of goods. Especially when the processing capacity reaches tens of thousands of pieces per day, manual sorting takes up a large area, high errors, and efficiency drops.

According to Logistics IQ, by 2030, the global next-generation supply chain market will reach more than US$100bn. Under such circumstances, China’s automated sorting industry is actively promoting innovation, accelerating product optimisation and equipment iteration, and enhancing user experience.

According to statistics, from 2012 to 2019, China’s automated logistics equipment market has an average annual compound growth rate of 26.8%, and the market size in 2020 had reached RMB175bn, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 25%, of which the market size of automated sorting equipment is about RMB21.35bn, the annual growth rate is about 29%.

China is transforming to a strong country on manufacturing. The automation of the manufacturing industry is increasing, coupled with the rising cost of labour and the declining demographic dividend. It is expected that the scale of domestic automated logistics equipment demand will continue to grow rapidly in the next few years, and the domestic market for automated logistics equipment will reach RMB368bn until 2025.

Kengic, a professional smart logistics and intelligent manufacturing solutions provider, focuses on providing domestic and overseas customers with smart logistics and intelligent manufacturing system and products with R&D, design, manufacturing, sales and services. It has many mature and successful conveying and sorting cases around the world, saving labour costs, saving operation space and improving the operational efficiency for many customers.

Take the E-commerce Distribution Project in South Korea as an example. The project covers an area of about 8,500 sq m where 763.2m loop sorting lines, 636 carriers, 10 automatic inductions and 138 spiral chutes are provided. By applying cross-belt sorter system, belt conveyor system, and telescopic belt conveyor system, the project is fully automated from unloading to infeeding and sorting.

In India, Kengic is also involved in the e-commerce and logistics industries. The project combines customer requirements and actual conditions to provide a complete solution. The conveying speed is 2.1m/s, the sorting efficiency is as high as 25000pph, and the accuracy rate is as high as 99.9%.

In addition, it also has very mature experience in the design and implementation of unmanned warehouses, such as the RRS Logistics Unmanned Distribution Center project. Covering an area of 18,000 sq m, the total number of goods is 14,000 and the picking and shipping area is 10,000 sq m.

Relying on a series of interconnected and autonomously controlled intelligent facilities and equipment such as intelligent AS/RS, robots, and AGV, under the scheduling of business operation systems such as WMS, WCS, TMS, etc., the intelligent and efficient operation of various operations in warehousing, transportation and distribution is realised to assist intelligent unmanned transformation and upgrading of bulk logistics.

At present, Kengic’s customers now cover many industries such as express & logistics, e-commerce & new retail, home appliances, furniture, automobiles, communication electronics, equipment manufacturing, national defence and military, medicine and health, materials, energy and chemical industries, etc. It says it has provided stable, flexible and cost-effective solutions for its customers worldwide and that it is committed to building strong partnerships with them in long-term cooperation.

The Intelligent Conveying and Sorting system, comprising a conveying system and sorting system, is an important part of material handling systems. The main equipment selected varies among the goods conveyed. Kengic’s conveying and sorting system is able to accommodate the conveying and sorting needs for a broad range of applications. By designing reasonable routes, Kengic can help customers improve sorting efficiency and accuracy and reduce labour costs.

Kengic says in the future it will continue to adhere to the development concept of “Gathering industry elites, Creating a world brand”, committed to the innovation and development of smart logistics and intelligent manufacturing, insisting on intelligent technology as the driver, independent R&D and innovation as the orientation, and realising smart logistics and intelligent manufacturing for customers to upgrade the system and make every effort to promote the transformation and long-term development of industrial digital intelligence era.

Nord heralds a new era of drive technology

Posted on 28 May, 2021 by David Priestman

With its latest product developments from the high-efficiency portfolio, Nord Drivesystems has once again demonstrated its competence and innovative strength in mechanical and electronic drive technology. This is what the managing partners Jutta Humbert and Ullrich Küchenmeister say:

“We focus on becoming better and better, and developing innovative drive solutions for more than 100 branches of industry. It takes courage to break new ground and to challenge the status quo. We have the courage because we are listening to our customers’ needs and wants, and transform them into sustainable products and concepts.

“With 48 companies in 36 countries worldwide, we are close to our customers. We on the management board and each of our more than 4,000 employees worldwide are very proud of our truly revolutionary DuoDrive geared motor. This heralds a new era of drive technology!

“The patented new DuoDrive geared motor has an efficiency of up to 92% and is thus one of the most efficient geared motors in its power class. This was achieved by integrating our IE5+ synchronous motor into a single-stage helical gear unit – a completely new approach in geared motor design.

“With our IE5+ synchronous motor, we have already been able to significantly reduce losses compared to the current IE4 series. DuoDrive goes one step further and sets new standards with regard to power density, installation space and version reduction. Our new high-efficiency portfolio is supplemented by the decentralised Nordac ON frequency inverter.

“With its integrated Ethernet interface and its very compact design, it provides a highly economic plug-and-play solution for IoT environments. For more than 55 years, we have been meeting highest quality standards with our expertise, experience and high depth of production.

“All quality-determining components are produced in our own factories and we are currently operating eight production locations with cutting-edge technology. In our technology centre near Hamburg, we are developing the future of drive technology – worldwide.”

Energy-efficient motors set new standards

Posted on 21 April, 2021 by David Priestman

Considerably lower losses than the IE4 series: The energy-efficient IE5+ permanent magnet synchronous motors from Nord Drivesystems are particularly characterised by high efficiency and a wide torque range.

This makes them optimally suitable for economic operation in the partial load range. The new IE5+ motors are equally interesting for both intralogistics and hygiene-sensitive areas in food and pharmaceutical industries. Last year, the compact IE5+ motor of size 71 was presented, and now size 90 is also available for power ranges from 1.1 to 4.0 kW with a continuous torque of 6.8 to 18.2 Nm.

The motor ensures the usual Nord flexibility: Direct motor attachment as well as NEMA and IEC motor attachment are available. Rotary encoder and mechanical brake integration is available on request.

The IE5+ synchronous motors in two sizes with a smooth motor design are ideally suited for wash-down applications in food and pharmaceutical industries.

Due to the constant torque providing a targeted reduction of variants over a wide speed range, administrative expenses can be minimised, and manufacturing, logistics, storage and service processes can be streamlined.

The investment pays for itself within a short time. The IE5+ synchronous motors can be combined with all gear units and drive electronics from Nord Drivesystems in a modular system. This results in a system solution from a single source in which all components are seamlessly matched.

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