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9 tips for running a successful warehouse in 2021

Posted on by David Priestman

Setting up and running an efficient warehouse may not seem very complicated at first.  However, it is one of the biggest challenges warehouse managers face these days. The number of different areas to pay attention to when setting up a warehouse design often stands in the way of warehouse managers being able to run their operations successfully.

As an extension of Meili Robots’ warehouse robots guide and warehouse automation guide, the company will now share nine tips that managers must keep in mind in order to run a successful warehouse in 2021.

1 – Maximise Operating Space

The first step to optimal warehouse management is setting up your warehouse’s layout. This will help you to avoid bottlenecks, missing items, pickers walking in each other’s way, etc. The goal is to create a single flow of goods through the warehouse. This includes worker stations organised efficiently to minimise the distance your employees have to travel between different stations.

Even though the size of warehouses is increasing, so are the prices for warehouse space. It is therefore important to become more inventive with your space capacity. And in many cases, this means looking up.

As long as you have the correct manual handling equipment for product retrieval, there is a wide variety of products and stock that can be stored at great heights. Many bulk and slow-moving products can be held at high pallet racks. Making use of vertical space can reduce the square foot of your facility, thereby keeping your fixed costs down.

Even though it is often overlooked by warehouse managers as they focus on maximising the facility’s square footage, traffic flow regulation is a critical component of getting the goods out of the facility and transported to the correct location so they can be sold as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence, and you must ensure that the traffic can receive, offload, and dispatch the goods as quickly as possible. This can be done by making a proper assessment of the inbound traffic volume and fleet configuration. Based on this information, you can configure and incorporate a mix of different loading docks.

2 – Implement a Warehouse Management System

Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) are a great addition to any warehouse environment these days. Traditional paper picking lists and spreadsheets with stock locations will not meet the desired efficiency levels that are needed to live up to today’s customer demands on delivery speed and order accuracy.

Considering the wide variety of benefits that come with a WMS, it is no surprise that the market is increasing. In 2020, the WMS market was valued at €2.16B and is now expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.3% from 2021 to 2028.

When it comes to implementing a WMS, it is crucial to find the WMS that is the perfect fit for your specific operational needs. Therefore, before deciding on a particular solution, you should assess and specify the following:

  • Interface: make sure that the WMS of your choice can be integrated into your existing management systems without requiring manual data entry and the like.
  • Core capabilities: assess the WMS’s activity requirements such as packing, kitting, shipping, putaway, customisation, stock management, and returns.
  • Outputs: specify the requirements regarding labelling, the documentation of despatches, KPI capturing, and management reports.

What is most important is that you choose a WMS solution that comes with the core functionality that you need. It does not matter whether or not the solution is complicated, as long as it fulfils your requirements.

Recommended reading: “Robotics 102: A Complete Guide to Warehouse Automation”

3 – Optimise Accuracy

Playing a crucial role in the supply chain, warehouses are responsible for receiving, storing, and shipping the right goods to the right customers at the right time. As you can probably tell already, accuracy is playing a huge role in this. However, with the increasing pressure on fulfilment centres to move goods more quickly and less costly, accuracy is affected in a negative way — e.g. goods being shipped to the wrong customers or customers receiving the wrong goods.

Luckily, technological advances allow managers to optimise and maintain their accuracy levels in their warehouses. Some great examples of this are warehouse management systems and robotic solutions — such as inventory robots and drones — that can scan and track inventory by using barcode scanners and RFID technology.

Note that just optimising your accuracy levels with the use of technology will not be enough to ensure successful warehouse management. Along with these solutions comes a need for process and labour management, employee training, and a number of other factors that will be discussed in the rest of this article.

4 – Increase Efficiency Levels

If you have been following the tips mentioned above, you will probably have a pretty good system in place that can help you spot inefficiencies in your operations. It is crucial to keep track of these and address them to optimise your overall performance.

This is another way in which warehouse automation could benefit your business. Not only will it allow workers to focus on more important tasks, but it also has a huge impact on your productivity and efficiency levels. According to a survey from Vanson Bourne, many of the root causes of downtime — as illustrated below — can be avoided by implementing the appropriate solutions. Evidently, automation makes an invaluable contribution to running a successful warehouse.

Warehouse automation comes in all shapes and sizes, but let’s look at some of the most common ways to optimise efficiency:

  • Improving picking, receiving, and labelling
  • Implementing a warehouse management system
  • Integrating shipping and inventory management systems
  • Automating inventory management and shipping using barcode scanners
  • Adopting automated conveyor belts
  • Using automatic box builders and pallet wrappers
  • Deploying mobile robots
  • Implementing a universal fleet management system

These are just a few examples of how warehouses can automate their operations and there are many more.

Recommended reading: “Robotics 102: A Complete Guide to Warehouse Automation”

5 – Enhance Visibility

It is becoming increasingly important for warehouse managers to be able to accurately predict inventory, supply, and demand. Warehouse visibility relates to having access to data about inventory levels and inbound and outbound shipments as well as specific information regarding orders — such as at what time and day the order was received, picked, or shipped, whether or not the products were in stock, and so forth.

These days, visibility is driving innovation in the warehousing industry. The growing demand for warehouse robots and other types of warehouse automation indicates that companies are becoming more invested in what is happening inside their warehouses in real-time by adopting robotic solutions to their facility.

With the increasing demand for robots in warehouses, it is becoming increasingly difficult for manufacturers to keep up with the demand. As a result, manufacturers focus on one or more specific types of robot. This means that warehouses — especially the bigger ones — are likely to buy their robots from various manufacturers. There is, however, a big issue: each manufacturer supplies their robots with their own, individual operating system.

Imagine a warehouse with mobile robots doing picking and packing, drones taking care of inventory levels, other robots for cleaning, others for security purposes, and so forth. As these robots will most likely come from different manufacturers, they will not be able to communicate with each other’s operating system. This can cause collisions and other work floor accidents, which, in turn, can lead to unnecessary downtime and productivity losses.

One way to address this problem is to implement a universal fleet management system that lets you control your entire fleet on one platform. Not only will this provide you with an overview of all of your robots and their tasks, but you will also be able to control traffic flows, edit the map/layout of your warehouse, assign tasks to the individual robots, and analyse their data. This solution allows you to easily improve your warehouse’s overall productivity and efficiency levels while simultaneously creating a safer working environment.

6 – Manage Your Labour and Processes

In order to see the highest productivity levels, it is crucial to hire the right amount of workers and manage their schedule in a way that optimises the output. This includes optimising the warehouse’s layout, choosing the most efficient picking paths and methods, and anticipating peak seasons.

In addition, collecting data on your warehouse operations can give you insight into the efficiencies of workflows, time spent on specific tasks, unnecessary travelling back and forth between workstations, and so forth. Having access to such metrics allows you to make changes where needed, thereby optimising both your costs and productivity.

It is also of great importance to train your employees well and provide them with key skills that can help them work more efficiently. Even though you might need to free a part of your budget for this, the training will repay itself over time with more accurate, efficient, and faster workflows.

Areas you can focus on to improve the efficiency of your employees:

  • Decide on the most efficient picking method and make sure your employees are being taught how to carry out tasks based on this method.
  • If you use any types of robots in your workplace, train your employees to drive and/or control them so that they can carry out more flexible tasks.
  • Teach your employees about proper quality control in relation to receiving, picking, and packing tasks.
  • Make your employees aware of how to efficiently manage inventory, including scanning and labelling tools (e.g. with the use of barcode scanners)
  • Your inventory counts tend to be incorrect

Finally, always make sure that there is clear communication between you and your employees. Not only can this avoid accidents on the work floor — think of slippery floors or chemical exposure —  but it also helps to achieve organisational alignment as well as increased engagement, which in turn leads to higher productivity levels.

7 – Manage Your Costs

As mentioned before, the role of the warehouse is to receive and ship goods to customers. Besides sending it to the right customers at the right time, it is also important that the goods are stored and shipped at the right price. That’s why it is important to have an overview of your operating costs.

Your operating costs are mainly determined by your labour, storage, equipment, and utilities. This includes costs associated with the rental or purchase of a warehouse to store goods as well as labour-related costs — which depend on the job role, skill set, and location of the warehouse. Keep in mind that the cost of equipment can also run very high — depending on the type of equipment you choose. Not only do some of them ask for a very high initial investment, but installing and repairing the equipment can also be costly.

On another note, today’s customers seem to increasingly want lower volume and quicker delivery. If your order profile goes through such a change while you have implemented a costly high-density bulk storage system, you may be facing a big challenge. Make sure you avoid such risks by properly analysing and predicting SKU proliferation as well as order profiles and forecast volumes.

8 – Optimise Safety

Even though worker health and safety is often neglected by small-sized warehouses, it is, in fact, one of the most important factors in running a successful warehouse. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), “the fatal injury rate for the warehousing industry is higher than the national average for all the industries”.

To avoid work-related injuries, mishaps, and damaged goods, make sure to assess your warehouse’s layout, accessibility, and inspection. Not only is optimising safety on the work floor the right thing to do for your employees, but it will also benefit your business in the long run. Especially considering the fact that reducing downtime due to injury or illness will help you optimise your productivity and efficiency levels. To give some perspective, workplace injuries cost the US roughly €44.3m to €51.1bn per year.

Recommended reading: “4 Reasons Why Mobile Robots Are the Solution to Operational Safety”

9 – Have Security Protocols in Place

Considering how many goods are stored in warehouses, it is no surprise that warehouses see one of the highest theft rates in the supply chain. To run a profitable business and maintain a good reputation in the industry, it is important to have a number of security protocols in place.

Basic security protocols:

  • Physical security
  • IT security
  • Standard operating procedures
  • Personnel security and training
  • Visitor identification and registration
  • Customer evaluation

Final Thoughts

As with most warehouse automation solutions, please be aware that they mostly depend on your specific project, type of operations and needs as well as the layout of your facility. The tips Meili Robots has shared above are therefore merely suggestions and should always be taken into careful consideration. The company always recommend speaking with an automation specialist or your robotic supplier before making any big decisions.

Geek+ implements Asia’s largest smart grocery warehouse

Posted on by David Priestman

Geek+, a global AMR leader, has successfully launched 100 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in the distribution centre of Circle K Hong Kong. The deployment represents the commitment of Geek+ and Circle K Hong Kong to build supply chain resilience using technology and support customers with a wide selection of products and excellent services.

Today, the distribution centre of 140,000 sq ft handles the deliveries of more than 300 Circle K convenience stores in Hong Kong, serving over 600,000 customers daily. With large volumes bound for different destinations and a wide selection of products ranging from small everyday items to food and cold goods, Circle K Hong Kong wanted to automate its warehouse and streamline large-scale logistics processes.

In January 2021, the company decided to transform its operations with 100 Geek+ AMRs, to ensure the effective daily handling of over 1,000,000 products.

Lit Fung, VP, and Managing Director of Geek+ APAC, UK and Americas, says: “We are excited to see our system support Circle K with the accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility needed to serve its wide network of convenience stores. Our AI-driven robotics system enables digitalisation for streamlining warehouse operations, which helps our customers improve competitiveness in an ever-changing environment.”

AMRs will automate many time-consuming and strenuous tasks traditionally performed by warehouse employees such as finding and moving goods around the warehouse. In turn, it creates a safer work environment for employees while improving overall employee productivity. Driven by intelligent software and QR-code technology, the network of robots will flexibly move racks of ordered goods from a designated area for inventory to employees positioned at workstations where they will finalise the picking process guided by the user-friendly interface.

It improves the overall picking accuracy and efficiency. The flexibility of movable robot-compatible racking, combined with the ability to choose the optimal route and organise inventory densely according to real-time demand, will improve space utilisation and bring more flexible supply chain operations. Additionally, AMRs can operate 24/7 to better support periods of high throughput demand.

Bruce Ma, Senior Supply Chain Manager of Circle K Hong Kong, says: “With substantial challenges facing our team, we aim to improve customers’ and employees’ experiences by reinventing our supply chain using automation technologies.”

With ever-changing markets and difficulties predicting future demand, flexibility through digitalisation and real-time visibility is key to building an agile supply chain.

Moving forward, Geek+ and Circle K Hong Kong will work closely to secure the smooth operations of the largest automated warehouse within Asia’s grocery industry and ensure the timely and accurate allocation of millions of quality products to Circle K’s wide network of convenience stores.

Dematic develops automated DC for Italian apparel customer

Posted on by David Priestman

Dematic is close to completing a fully-automated distribution centre located in Trecate, Italy for the global luxury group, Kering. The project has been developed by a constant exchange of information, commitment and collaboration to build a lasting partnership and achieve the best outcome.

The first part of the building has been operating since March 2020, and the second part (over 100,000 sq m) is scheduled to be operating by the end of the second quarter 2021.

Built in record time, the new global logistics hub covers more than 162,000 sq m (equivalent to 20 rugby fields) and features automation technology that provides scalability, innovative sustainability and features for the well-being of employees.

Powered by Dematic iQ software, the hub will meet the demand from regional warehouses, retail stores, wholesalers and e-commerce worldwide, and it will significantly increase Kering’s capabilities for shipping (up to 80 million pieces per year) and storage (up to 20 million pieces). It will also reduce lead times by 50% by increasing the speed of deliveries and enhance collaboration among the brands.

The project has been planned in two Go-Lives (in 2021) with final acceptance in July 2022, with a total number of staff expected to reach approximately 900 people.

“We are proud to be a valuable partner in this project,” said Marco Parini, Director of Solution Development South Europe. “We look forward to working with Kering to help them meet current demand and build toward future success.”

Developing the system in such a short timeframe (12 months) has been made possible by the global resources of Dematic, which was able to leverage its international teams and resources in partnership with Metis Consulting and XPO Logistics. The new global logistics hub will include:

  • a 600,000 storage location Dematic Multishuttle
  • a three-module Dematic Pouch System
  • a six-aisle Dematic Multishuttle Flex
  • a Dematic Crossbelt Sorter
  • 10km of conveyor
  • a 50,000 location pallet rack
  • more than 350 operator workstations

All powered by Dematic iQ software.

Peter Ward to step down as CEO of UKWA

Posted on by David Priestman

Peter Ward, CEO of UK Warehousing Association (UKWA), has announced his intention to step down after six years at the helm of the sector’s leading trade organisation. His successor will be named shortly.

Peter joined the Association in 2015, having held a series of major industry roles at director level with prominent companies within the sector. Since joining UKWA he has transformed the fortunes of the Association, substantially improving revenues, widening membership to encompass retail and manufacturing logistics users, and introducing significant new benefits to membership. During Peter’s tenure, UKWA membership has continued to grow strongly – even over the last twelve months, as the global pandemic and the impact of UK’s exit from the European Union created arguably the most challenging period since the Association’s inception during the Second World War.

Paying tribute to Peter’s contribution, Chair of the UKWA management board Nicola Ridges-Jones said: “As UKWA CEO, Peter has been a passionate advocate for our industry, raising the profile of the Association within the sector and well beyond. His strong industry track record and undoubted leadership skills, combined with extraordinary energy and drive, have ensured that he leaves UKWA a thriving and successful organisation, ready to lead members through the fresh challenges ahead. We wish him every success as he steps into semi-retirement to pursue personal interests.”

As UKWA CEO, Peter has provided a ‘voice’ for the industry both at government and local authority level, ensuring the concerns and issues facing members and the wider logistics community have been recognised, understood, and acted upon. On his watch, UKWA has helped shape Government policy around the departure of the UK from the European Union and has guided members through the complexities of planned changes.

He has also fostered strong links with Transaid since taking on the role of CEO, and over the last six years UKWA has raised over £100,000, for the charity, including £75,000 donated by members to mark the Association’s 75th milestone.

Commenting on his decision to step down, Peter said: “It has been my privilege to represent the warehousing and logistics sector as CEO of UKWA. I am proud to have been able to instigate change, drive improvement and help this great industry achieve the respect and recognition it deserves.”

He adds, “As we emerge from lockdown and adjust to the changes brought by Brexit, the world has changed. Having steered members through such turbulent times, I am ready to hand over the reins to my successor, who I am confident will continue to support members in negotiating the challenges of the ‘new world’ and seizing the exciting opportunities that now lie ahead.

In the meantime, I would like to express my thanks for the excellent support I’ve enjoyed from the UKWA management board, my hard-working executive team and, of course, the UKWA membership. I hope to ‘stay in touch’ with many friends and industry colleagues; and from the side-lines will continue to watch my beloved logistics industry, contributing wherever I can add value.”

Beumer Group introduces new pouch technology

Posted on by David Priestman

Beumer Group – a leading global supplier of automated material handling systems – has launched its own new BG Pouch System in response to rapid growth of interest from omnichannel and D2C operators.

This innovative system expands Beumer Group’s offering for the warehouse and distribution industry with a pouch sortation solution that meets the escalating requirements felt by today’s modern fulfilment and distribution operations. The BG Pouch System was developed to relieve the unprecedented pressure to deliver financial and logistical efficiency in the demanding e-commerce environment and fits perfectly into Beumer Group’s existing end-to-end integration solutions to solve intralogistics challenges for fashion companies.

An Italian fashion brand with a tight product life cycle has become the first operation to invest in the BG Pouch System as a part of their fine-tuned worldwide distribution operation. This follows many of Beumer Group’s other solutions that have proved effective in warehouse and distribution operations for re- and e-tailors such as NIKE, Foot Locker and ASOS.

The BG Pouch System enables the growing demand for fast, e-commerce driven cycle times to be met by warehouses and third-party logistic (3PL) providers. The persisting problem of reverse logistics is solved by effective and efficient handling of returns using built-in interim storage capacity for returned products. This avoids unnecessary manual handling as returned goods can be sent for shipment directly from the dynamic buffer, without ever being sent back to the main storage area and without having to be re-picked. In an omni-channel environment, the sort and sequence functions are invaluable to facilitate goods sortation for shop delivery to ensure products arrive to stores in a shop-friendly manner and expedite shelf replenishment.

The BG Pouch System has a capacity of 7kg which is ideally suited to fashion items from shoes to garments on hangers (GoH), as well as a wider product profile, including print & media, pharmaceuticals & beauty products and electronics. This versatility provides a high flexibility for handling diverse items, no matter the requirement for returns handling, peak seasonal demands or omni-channel performance pressure. Different types of items, held for different clients, destined for different types of shipping can be collated in one intelligent storage system. This will be of particular interest for 3PL players.

The BG Pouch System will be of interest to operations considering upgrading conventional, manual operations with a realistic and achievable approach to automation. The BG Pouch System can be mounted in the ceiling, representing a massive saving on space and allowing deployment when floor area is a limiting factor. Additionally, as a modular system, the BG Pouch System can also be scaled up easily when required with minimal installation time.

Each BG Pouch System module can handle more than 10,000 pouches per hour. The dynamic buffer reduces manual handling to dramatically speed up and smooth intralogistics flows, allowing predictive picking to significantly reduce handling peaks. The system runs on a contactless magnetic drive that gives friction-free operation. This means minimal wear on mechanical parts, cutting the operating costs through low maintenance, a reduced number of spares and a minimum of cleaning requirements.

Staff retention is another concern for logistics operators, and the BG Pouch System is designed with comfort and ease of use in mind. The height of each workstation is adjustable to suit each individual worker, and access to pouches and controls is ergonomically designed.

Stephan Heessels, Director for Beumer Group Logistic Systems: “We see a huge potential for a modern version of pouch technology, especially for our customers looking to refine their fulfilment and distribution chain by optimising processes to have faster goods-to-consumer cycles and a much, much lower need for operators touching the items.”

Beumer Group can facilitate the entire process of installing the pouch sortation solution through every stage of operation from the selection of solution, through design, build, test, implementation, training, maintenance and growth. Beumer will not only operate independently with its own technology but will act as a full-service integrator throughout the process, working with third-party suppliers providing a complete solution to deliver a fully comprehensive system.

DHL extends Locus Robotics collaboration

Posted on by David Priestman

DHL Supply Chain has agreed to expand its collaboration with Locus Robotics. Initial investments in assisted picking robots have proven effective in commercially scaled operations, and this multi-million dollar agreement will enhance DHL’s wider Accelerated Digitalisation Strategy.

By 2022, the supply chain specialist plans to take on up to 2,000 robots, then being by far the largest customer of Locus Robotics worldwide. The assisted picking robots are mostly used in e-commerce or consumer warehouses to help with picking and inventory replenishment, thereby increasing efficiency and accelerating delivery processes.

“It is particularly important for us to be able to consistently optimise our supply chains – assisted picking robots are very effective in this respect,” says Markus Voss, Global CIO & COO DHL Supply Chain. “So far, more than 500 assisted picking robots are already in industrial use in our warehouses in the USA, Europe and the UK. By the end of 2021, another 500 robots are to be added in a total of more than 20 locations.

“The collaborative picking technology has clearly proven its effectiveness and reliability in modern warehousing. More locations have already been identified with concrete implementation roadmaps for the remaining robots, which we will deploy in 2022. However, the overall potential for assisted picking robots in our DHL warehouses is much bigger, so we are confident that we will meet the targets we have set ourselves together with Locus Robotics.”

Further implementing these robots is one step in DHL Supply Chain’s Accelerated Digitalisation Strategy. Assisted picking robots help reduce time spent on manoeuvring pushcarts through warehouses, lower physical strain on employees, and increase picking efficiency. Assisted picking robots display images of goods to be picked, calculate optimal navigation routes and reduce required training time.

“Also, they can be swiftly integrated into the warehouse system landscape via DHL Supply Chain’s Robotics Hub and are well received by staff. In addition, during peak operational periods the robots provide an optimal solution for capacity expansion as we can swiftly bring in more robots with minimal onboarding effort to the existing fleet.

“Our expanded partnership with DHL reflects the increasing demand for warehouse digitalisation worldwide to meet today’s exploding fulfilment challenges,” said Rick Faulk, CEO, Locus Robotics. “Locus is proud to be a valued technology resource that is helping DHL realise their strategic vision of digital transformation.”

The pandemic has accelerated the booming trend of e-commerce, which makes the labour-intensive picking process in e-fulfilment play an even bigger and more critical role in meeting high end-customers’ demands. These trends speeded up the introduction of new technologies and automation in various industries, but especially in warehousing. It has also shown what the “supply chains of the future” may look like and that the world must quickly adapt to new challenges.

DHL Supply Chain is constantly assessing which of the implemented technologies will make their way into the warehouses permanently in order to further optimise processes. In addition to these tangible robotic solutions, DHL Supply Chain relies on software and cockpit solutions that can provide real-time information on the status of the global service logistics network of their customers. Accessing the pool of big data and implementing algorithms and artificial intelligence has proven to be a “game changer” in global supply chain planning and will be rolled out further.

PSI provides WMS to Russian logistics firm

Posted on by David Priestman

Itella Russia, one of the leading contract and transportation service providers in the Russian market, and PSI Logistics have successfully completed the development and implementation of the new multi-client capable software solution based on the Warehouse Management System PSIwms for the legal product labelling obligation in Russia.

Itella has been using PSIwms to implement all changes in technological and intralogistic processes for more than 20 years. The system controls the multi-client warehouses in the Moscow metropolitan area across all locations and allocates the goods receipts according to demand and also supports the automated warehouse management.

Operational management is supported by cockpits and dashboards that can be configured flexibly and intuitively with the PSI click design. The processes are largely controlled via barcodes, which form the basis for all further operations such as determining and allocating the storage location, selecting the load carriers, conveyor technology and transport devices as well as WLAN-based allocation of radio-controlled and route-optimised transport orders via the forklift guidance system in PSIwms.

The adaptive order start in PSIwms also supports Itella in the processing of e-commerce orders, taking into account all defined restrictions. Powerful fuzzy logic in the software balances numerous warehouse metrics according to configurable parameters to improve warehouse performance.

Itella Russia, a subsidiary of the Finnish Posti Group, employs round 2,000 people and has a warehouse area of about 200,000 sq m in the Moscow region, as well as branches in St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok and Novorossiysk. The customers are international and Russian companies from various industries.

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 2,000 people worldwide.

Thomann expands music logistics centre

Posted on by David Priestman

Thomann, the music supplies retailer with the highest revenues worldwide, has expanded its logistics centre over the years with the help of intralogistics expert TGW.

The mecca of German musicians is in Treppendorf. Thousands of people visit the small Upper Franconian village counting 201 inhabitants every year. Their destination is Musikhaus Thomann, the music supplies retailer with the highest revenues worldwide. The artists do not have to worry that the keyboard or set of drums they want is not in stock: approximately 90,000 items are always available in the logistics centre. If you decide on a certain instrument in the shop, you can take it home after about half an hour later. Most of the €1.3 billion in revenue, however, is generated by the online shop.

Owner Hans Thomann is particularly proud that online customers do not only receive their ordered goods fast but usually in one delivery regardless of whether they ordered one item or ten. This shipping method is sustainable and cost-saving but it is a challenge when it comes down to logistics: merging small and big items as well as fast and slow movers.

“We are able to process up to 40,000 orders per day,” says Norbert Groth, technical logistics manager at Thomann. In the run up to Christmas, all logistics employees work six days a week in three shifts. During off-peak times the operation is carried out in two shifts. The orders can only be processed because the logistics system has been automated and expanded over the years.

Long-time intralogistics partner of Thomann is TGW Logistics Group. The Austrian company started to automate the Versand-Center-Süd (VCS – Shipping Centre South) in Treppendorf as general contractor in 2008. For TGW, the company in Upper Franconia is a model customer in terms of expansions and modernisation.

“If the number of orders and the number of items are rising at the same time or if the requirements change, companies will have to think about expansion at some point to ensure all items are available at the right time,” explains Markus Kammerhofer, Head of Retrofit Sales at TGW. “Thomann’s revenues have increased by a double-digit percentage in the past years so that the system commissioned in 2008 was no longer able to process the order volume,” says Norbert Groth. For this reason, the new Versand-Center-Nord (VCN – Shipping Centre North) has been live since 2017 in addition to the Versand-Center-Süd.

Looking back: In 2009, Thomann had a system that could process 20,000 parcels per day. A four-aisle automated mini-load warehouse with 70,000 storage locations and picking process for fast movers was built and TGW equipped it with eight Mustang storage and retrieval machines (SRM). In addition, Thomann was provided with an automatic pallet warehouse comprising five aisles and 18,000 storage locations which went live in 2010 after two expansion stages. Large items are stored in a manual picking warehouse. The core of the installation was a Natrix sorter where employees packed up the items at 32 packing stations.

Hans Thomann was very proud of the system performance resulting from the twelve million Euro investment: the output had increased by 40-50% compared to the former system. The throughput time was reduced to 28 minutes. The expansion concept of TGW was successful. The picking process for the different commodity groups comprising various sizes (from instrument cables to electronic pianos) was optimised. The system is controlled by TGW software. Around four million customers could choose from 65,000 items. The number of customers as well as the number of items has increased further, however. Hans Thomann decided to build the Versand-Center-Nord (VCN) and chose TGW as a partner again.

It went live in 2017/18. The high-bay warehouse (HRL 2) ordered from TGW comprised 21,000 storage locations for pallets. Additionally, a shuttle system with six aisles and 111,600 storage locations for small parts was built. Thomann also invested in automatic carton erectors and sealing machines, labelling machines as well as in an efficient goods-to-person picking area.

During the expansion, TGW modernised the WMS in order to meet the complex requirements of the music supplies retailer. After a software modernisation of CI_LOG 4, Thomann now uses the TGW Warehouse Software covering the Warehouse Management System (WMS), Warehouse Control System (WCS) as well as the Material Flow Controller (MFC).

Thomann hasn’t stopped growing, however. Thanks to the successful expansions implemented by TGW before, Thomann approved further projects in 2020. The high-bay warehouse HRL 1 will be expanded in order to improve the replenishment in the future. Additionally, the VCS will be equipped with a new goods-out loop with automatic labelling machines for up to 2000 parcels per hour. This will be installed during live operation and implemented by the end of 2021.

Another project in the works is a warehouse for storing bulky goods, for example electronic pianos. The increase in e-commerce due to the corona pandemic has led Thomann to think about other expansion projects, for example in the shipping area or for the shuttle warehouse. Another high-bay warehouse is also an option.

Thanks to the expansion projects, Thomann has reduced the throughput time from 28 minutes to 20 minutes despite the increase of different items from 65,000 to 90,000. Instead of four million customers, the company now provides more than twelve million customers with goods all over Europe.

All this sounds easy in theory but in reality it is a complex process. “The most important rule is: Do not interrupt live operation while expanding and modernising the system,” emphasises Norbert Groth. Detailed planning, intensive testing, well-defined functional specifications, clearly defined processes and a perfectly planned schedule are some of the keys to success according to the experts of the Retrofit department at TGW.

A so-called Big Bang was not possible in Treppendorf. The strong e-commerce business makes it unfeasible to shut down the system for several weeks; on top of that, the warehouse normally operates six days a week. For these reasons, all the work had to be performed between Friday evenings and six o’clock on Mondays.

“During a software modernisation process, it is possible to use the old version in case of problems. But as soon as the new system parts are commissioned, everything has to work out at once,” explains Norbert Groth. Similar to an orchestra where everyone has to start playing at the same time.

Norbert Groth is confident that the planned projects will be successful. “The involved TGW employees have the experience and competence for such projects,” he sums up.

Nord heralds a new era of drive technology

Posted on by Keith McKinley

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.”

 

Robot vision and AI combine for advanced automation

Posted on by David Priestman

Robots are gradually becoming an integral part of modern processes in logistics and many other industries. Replacing humans with robots for specific tasks brings many benefits – from higher productivity and efficiency to decreased costs and minimised risk of injuries. Freeing employees from repetitive jobs for more valuable, high-impact tasks that require creativity and critical thinking increases their motivation and eagerness, which, in turn, eliminates the risk of human errors.

Automation is certainly the way to go for any forward-looking business – but how to choose from the immense amount of solutions that are available on the market? What makes a solution better or more advanced than others?

For a robot to be able to perform tasks that were done manually before – and to do it as reliably as humans and even better – robots need to “see” and “understand”. That’s the essence of the most advanced high-tech smart solutions that enable businesses to push their processes to the next level of innovation and modernity.

Automation solutions that boost logistical processes

One of the leading companies in the sector of vision-guided, intelligent robotics for industrial applications is Photoneo. The company combines its in-house developed 3D machine vision systems with advanced AI algorithms to provide smart automation solutions for logistics, e-commerce, and other sectors. Photoneo’s automation systems help logistical companies process large volumes of parcels, boxes, and other items by deploying robots equipped with high-end 3D vision and intelligence.

These systems include the Universal Depalletizer for automated unloading of pallets laden with mixed types of boxes and the Singulation and Sorting System for robotic processing of large, unstructured loads of parcels and envelopes.

The basic principle of both systems is that they first scan an entire pile of items, recognize the individual objects in the pile, localise them and decide which one to pick, and then send a command to the robot to perform the picking action. The robot is equipped with a vacuum gripper with a suction cup and can achieve a picking accuracy of ±3mm.

The cycle time is only limited by the speed of the robot. The Universal Depalletizer can generally unload 1,600 boxes in one hour and the Singulation and Sorting System can process 2,500 parcels per hour.

Robotic vision – seeing in 3D

Photoneo equips robots with its industrial-grade PhoXi 3D Scanners, which provide a point cloud resolution of up to 3 million 3D points and an accuracy of 25-500μm across its five models. Each model is suitable for a different scanning range – from 15cm up to 4m.

The scanners provide superior performance even in demanding light conditions, such as brightly lit halls, thanks to the ambient light suppression technology. Their powering versatility allows users to use a single cable to get both electric power and data connection – the Power over Ethernet. Alternatively, the devices can be powered by 24V. Thanks to the IP65 protection rating, PhoXi 3D Scanners are dust-tight and protected against low-pressure jets of water coming from any direction and at any angle.

Besides PhoXi 3D Scanners, which enable robots to “see” 3D scenes that are static, Photoneo also developed a revolutionary technology that enables a high-quality 3D reconstruction of moving objects. The industrial 3D camera named MotionCam-3D enables a snapshot area capture of scenes moving up to 140km/h with a resolution of up to 0,9Mpx (and 2Mpx in the static mode). It’s five models, ranging from S, S+, M, M+ to L, enable the recognition of small packages as well as large boxes coming on a conveyor belt, for instance.

Robotic intelligence and the most advanced approach to object localisation

After a scan is made, it is transferred to a 3D texture dataset to be processed by Photoneo’s AI algorithms. For object segmentation and localisation on the basis of texture and 3D data, the systems use the most advanced approach to object classification and pattern recognition – a convolutional neural network (CNN). Because the network was trained on a large dataset of objects and thanks to its ability to generalise, it can quickly recognise even objects that it has never “seen” before.

Therefore, the parcels and boxes may come in any shape, size, material, colour, texture, position, or orientation. The objects may be irregularly shaped, deformed, placed randomly, and even tilted at an angle. The systems also master challenging surfaces such as black, glossy, or covered with various pictures, patterns, shipping labels, or protruding tapes. The depalletisation solution is even able to easily differentiate gaps between the individual boxes and those between their flaps.

Photoneo systems for automated depalletisation and singulation and sorting of parcels are universal, which enables them to work with any type of boxes or parcels out of the box, without requiring any further training. Another big plus is that the systems are compatible with a wide range of robot models.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RbGpQWp-O4

 

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