Tag: automation|sortation|warehouse automation

With its highly efficient pouch sorter system, Ferag AG is helping to automate logistics processes and handle e-commerce orders at shoe manufacturer Crocs in Dayton, Ohio (USA), which also successfully operates on the European market.

The extensive project involves expanding the existing distribution centre by over 70,000 sq m and is taking place under the direction of Bastian Solutions, a Toyota Advanced Logistics company, contracted by the Swiss company for many years. In the first phase, the Skyfall system will be equipped with 33,500 pouches that act as a dynamic, constantly rotating circulating buffer thanks to the new U-turn switch. Commissioning is planned in several stages up to August 2022.

From the point of view of system integrator Bastian Solutions, the Skyfall pouch sorter from Ferag proved the best technology for helping Crocs meet its strategic business and growth plans in the coming years in combination with the upstream AutoStore system. The goal was to find a high-performance, high-precision “order fulfilment machine” that is able to reliably process up to 40,000 units per hour at peak times when complete. Furthermore, the outstanding flexibility of the system from the Swiss experts was also a decisive argument.

The Skyfall system can not only be scaled with minimal effort when required, but can also be used for processing returns, which was planned from the outset in this project. The Ferag system can also be adapted to changing buying habits, new order profiles and seasonal fluctuations without any issues. Even changes within the Crocs product line do not pose any problems. These were the main reasons why the shoe manufacturer – famous worldwide for its plastic clogs – opted for the system from Switzerland’s Zürcher Oberland.

With 18 manual infeed stations and 153 delivery stations, 736 switches and about 8km of conveyors, the latest order from the USA is one of the largest Skyfall pouch sorter projects that Ferag has implemented to date. In addition to supplying its particularly robust and fail-safe technology, the family-owned company also provided Crocs with a convincing, sophisticated concept for handling the special Jibbitz shoe charms that Crocs wearers use to personalise their shoes according to their own individual taste.

Crocs was founded in 2002. Since then, the shoe manufacturer has seen constant growth, with its bright plastic clogs in colours such as light green, turquoise or yellow quickly gaining cult status. The company now employs over 4,000 staff, with numbers continually increasing.

The Sacchi Group (part of Sonepar Group), one of Italy’s leading electrical product wholesalers, has selected Vanderlande as a partner for a new ADAPTO goods-to-person (GtP) solution inside its existing warehousing facility in Desio, north of Milan.

With nearly 100 points of sale and about 1,400 employees, the Sacchi Group offers an assortment of approximately 1.5 million products. Previously, Vanderlande supplied the company with a miniload system, which is now being expanded with Vanderlande’s ADAPTO shuttle technology. Vanderlande’s ability to link the two systems together, combined with the excellent relationship between the two companies, were ultimately the decisive factors in securing this latest GtP project.

The solution will initially include manual receiving stations, picking stations served by dedicated picking lifts and clearing stations. In addition to erection and closing systems, the shipping sorter will be expanded. The ADAPTO system will have 58 ADAPTO shuttles spread over 29 levels.

With installation work commencing next April and operations due to begin in Q4 2023, the flexible and scalable ADAPTO system has the capacity for further expansion over the coming decade in order to accommodate Sacchi’s predicted year-on-year volume growth.

“Our business is growing quickly as a result of internal development and acquisitions, and our supply chain is our main strength in this market, as it allows us to balance high service levels with competitive costs,” says Marco Brunetti, President and CEO of Sacchi Group.

“With the full support of Sonepar HQ, and in particular of the GVP Supply Chain, Jo Verbeek, we decided to invest in our distribution centre in Desio, strategically located close to Milan,” adds Luca Maggioni, Sacchi Group’s VP Supply Chain. “To this end, we’ll be extending our building with a new 20,000 m2 construction – the main element of which will be the new ADAPTO system. Our goal is to improve our omnichannel business in order to reach our 40,000 customers faster and more efficiently.”

“We are very proud to further establish our relationship with Sacchi and the Sonepar Group,” says Terry Verkuijlen, Vice President Warehouse Solutions at Vanderlande. “We believe that extending their current operation with Vanderlande’s ADAPTO GtP solution will enable Sacchi to further grow and optimise their operations for many years to come.”

With a major contract for software and control computers as well as for the monitoring and display systems in baggage handling, the Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH has concluded a fundamental update of the primary components of its baggage handling system.

With the modernisation of the software for the baggage handling system, the airport operators are using the current airport systems of the PSI Logistics Suite. This required the replacement of the control computer with modern hardware and the migration to a new database. For the automatic control of the complete baggage handling system behind the 86 check-in counters in the two airport terminals, PSIairport/BHS, in the current release 2020, replaced the old system from 2006.

The monitoring and coordination of the processes is performed with the assistance of cameras in the baggage handling system. Here, a new CCTV system from PSI Logistics is being used. The camera system allows for continuous documentation and tracking of baggage.

For the first time the PSIairport/BRS baggage reconciliation system is being installed at the Cologne/Bonn Airport. The BRS takes over the control and documentation of process sequences for baggage handling in ground traffic between the airport building and the total of 111 aircraft positions on the nine aprons as per international security guidelines. The scope of services of the software also includes the flight information display system (FIDS) from PSI Logistics. The new display systems at the baggage carousels were connected to the new airport systems as part of the project.

The PSI Group develops its own software products for optimising the flow of energy and materials for utilities (energy grids, energy trading, public transport) and industry (metals production, automotive, mechanical engineering, logistics). PSI was founded in 1969 and employs more than 2,100 people worldwide.

A vision-based inspection system designed by AMH Material Handling and developed and installed by Bytronic has brought significant benefits to a major international garment retailer garment conveyor.

AMH Material Handling specialises in the design, installation and integration of automated conveyor and sortation systems for some of the UK’s largest retailers. Since its formation in 2015, the company has quickly become the ‘go-to’ provider for profitable ecommerce and warehouse automation solutions.

It has particular expertise in garment on hanger (GOH) conveyor lines, and it was in connection with this that its engineering team approached Bytronic. AMH wanted to develop a partnership that would help create a new and specialist solution for a major off-price fashion retailer.

The challenge was to create an automated ‘vision-based’ inspection system for the fashion retailer’s GOH conveyors. These conveyors transport up to 140 hanging garments per minute and to work effectively, the solution would have to capture data and process it within milliseconds.

The GOH conveyors developed by AMH Material Handling process millions of garments every year. Overhead GOH conveyors can be designed to transport either single units for sortation or ratio packs and batches for transportation and storage.

Transporting hanging garment ratio packs or batches using GOH conveyors requires separation into single units for accurate sortation. The high-speed separation process can often result in the accidental doubling up of hangers which can often be missed by older item detection technologies.

Over time, the doubling up of hangers can result in stock management issues as the stock information for dispatched items will be incorrect when compared against the stock received at the final destination. For major retailers, this can be a huge problem. To address it, full-time operators were placed on the lines to spot double hanger issues – a costly and labour-intensive fix.

When AMH began developing its bespoke automated solution in 2015, it contacted the manufacturer Cognex and its partner network to supply the machine vision expertise. As one of Cognex’s only UK Platinum Partners, Bytronic was recommended to develop and install the vision solution.

The result is AMH’s vision detection system which identifies double hangers as they pass along the automated single unit sortation line. This solution prevents stock losses without the need for manual checks.

The system combines AMH’s mechanical and electrical installation supported by programmable logic controllers (PLC), Cognex’s cameras and Bytronic’s lighting and vision software programming. The line is able to count each carrier, identify its unique number, track its location, check it is secure and not broken, and identify any double hangers, accepting or rejecting the carrier accordingly.

Bytronic installed and programmed the camera software to capture an image of each carrier when triggered by the line. The camera is detecting several key features including the condition of the carrier and its individual parts to ensure they are maintained and serviced when required to prolong the lifespan of the system.

The image is captured, data processed and an ‘accept’ or ‘reject’ message is sent back to the control system, all within milliseconds. If a doubled hanger or damaged carrier is detected, the ‘reject’ message activates a reject divert, sending the items to a separate defect lane for further inspection.

Managed by AMH, the project was delivered in partnership, with the data captured by Bytronic’s camera and the lighting system being processed by the PLC controls and software solution provided by AMH. The inspection system was calibrated and tested offline before installation, as all factory acceptance testing (FAT) could be done off-site.

Once operational, the savings were immediate. The upgrade has delivered a return on investment in under a year, through significantly reducing operator costs. This meant the ‘inspection’ operators, who were previously on shift 24/6, could now be deployed elsewhere. In addition, the new overhead system has supported a reduction in stock losses by improving both the stock accuracy and inventory being distributed to stores nationwide.

Whilst the project’s primary focus was to detect double hangers, it has delivered a further benefit in identifying possible maintenance issues. The solution now identifies and stores statistics on carrier damage – ready for maintenance engineers to fix and update the system. By removing doubled or damaged hangers from service, it also reduces the risk of tangled hangers and unnecessary downtime due to reoccurring damage.

Barry Pemberton, Solutions Director, AMH Material Handling, said: “We approached Bytronic to help deliver this AMH Material Handling-led solution with us for one of our largest customers. We worked closely together to identify what data the system needed to generate, and how we needed it presenting. From our conversations with Cognex we realised the success of this project would be in the installation of the lighting and vision software, and that’s why we chose Bytronic.”

Technology supplied by Witron has enabled High Street retail pharmacist chain Boots achieve high flexibility in response to changing purchasing behaviour, creating an omni-channel model at its Nottingham Store Service Centre (SSC).

Alan Penhale, Supply Chain Director at Boots, is responsible for the supply chain of more than 2,300 stores in the United Kingdom and The Republic of Ireland. Alan’s team also picks and packs orders for the health and beauty retailer’s online business.

After the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic in just three weeks, the Boots and Witron teams converted the processes in their main automated warehouse from store logistics to e-commerce logistics.

Thus, the SSC in Nottingham, UK not only has delivered proven high performance, but also its ability to be able to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. The SSC supplies millions of units a day for store delivery from a range of 37,000 different items, and now the SSC is also supporting the Boots online business.

Boots recorded 150+ percent more orders in its online business in the months of the pandemic with customers choosing to order online during lockdown.  Boots operates its own e-commerce logistics centre and the challenge was being able to adapt to these rapidly increasing order numbers. A solution was needed – not in a few years, but immediately.

Part of the solution was the Store Service Centre (SSC) in Nottingham, designed and realised by Witron. “Here we still had logistics capacities available. At the beginning of the pandemic, customers were still shopping in the stores, but during lockdown, e-commerce figures increased as store footfall declined.” Penhale and his team ship beauty products, cosmetics, perfumes, healthcare items, and even Coca Cola; more than 37,000 products.

“Boots needed a creative solution in spring of 2020,” reports Jack Kuypers, Vice President North-West Europe at Witron. Boots and Witron have been working together successfully for more than 10 years. The leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer is one of the largest retailers in the UK and together the teams have optimised processes for stores in the past. “We have never experienced anything like that – transforming a logistics centre originally designed exclusively for store delivery into an omni-channel logistics centre at record speed,” Kuypers admits.

Store or online customer?

The response: The SSC should become a store. In the past, many customers ordered their goods online but picked them up in the local store, and often picking still took place in the store. Click + collect was the solution in the pandemic. Boots has been using an order management system for several months that is set up above the warehouse management system. IT experts “simply” redefined the SSC to a store – admittedly a huge store with a lot of storage capacity.

“Whether employees pick goods manually in the store in London or with the Dynamic Picking System (DPS), the software doesn’t care,” Penhale laughs.

The heart of the system is and remains the DPS with its 252 workstations. The highly dynamic and automated picking of small parts in DPS is supported by a pick-by-light system. The DPS works according to both the goods-to-person and the person-to-goods principle. Depending on the order structure, the items are arranged in the pick front either permanently or on demand, such that the picking process is optimised at all time. The DPS supports different types of order picking: From tote into tote, from pallet into tote, from tote into the shipping carton, etc.

Regardless of the picking type, the picker is always guided by a pick-by-light system. Large-volume items from the Boots assortment in the SSC are picked by radio data supported and route-optimised by the semi-automated Car Picking System (CPS) onto roll containers. In total, Boots colleagues in Nottingham pick almost 3 million units on a peak day. “Our colleagues don’t even know whether they are picking for the e-commerce customer or for the store”, Penhale reports.

But the teams of Witron and Boots still had to make some physical changes in the SSC. The logistics specialists built a new shipping area for the e-commerce orders. “At the moment, this area is still supplied manually. But we want to establish automation here in the near future as well,” explains the supply chain director. And another idea is the concept of picking orders to be sent to the stores for them to pack for customer. “We currently don’t have a system solution for this, but we will work on it together. It is an option for the future.”

Within three weeks the store logistics centre transformed into an omni-channel warehouse. Did that surprise him? “No, we have been working very well with Witron for more than ten years, always coming up with new, creative processes. I am surprised that we managed to ship over 6,000 online orders per day. It is top-class what we have achieved together during the crisis.”

The pandemic isn’t over yet, but Penhale ventures a look into the future. “Yes, people are shopping in stores again, but e-commerce will continue to grow. Cost-efficient and flexible omni-channel processes as well as the supply of different distribution channels from one logistics centre will become a “must have”. It is essential to align all logistics processes in the supply chain “end-to-end” to a holistic omni-channel structure. We are working on this together with Witron.”

Podcast

For more information, listen to logistics podcast ‘Store fulfilment transformed into Omni-Channel fulfillment’.

https://ideenraum.witron.de/blog/store-fulfillment-transformed-into-omni-channel-fulfillment