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Tag: warehouse automation

Automated Solution for BLG Logistics Group

Posted on by David Priestman

The BLG Logistics Group is investing in an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system from Jungheinrich at its Bremen site. Two ERC 213a automated trucks will take over the supply and disposal of materials for a coating line in the Bremen logistics centre, from which BLG provides comprehensive services for the automotive sector. The order represents the first automation project of this kind for BLG.

Christian Reining, Senior Project Manager for Innovations & Digitisation Projects at the BLG Logistics Group explains: “We are delighted to have found a partner like Jungheinrich to help us implement our first AGV project. This project serves as a beacon and will hopefully demonstrate further opportunities for use within BLG.” The aim of using AGVs at BLG is to automate parts of the internal pallet transport system in the Bremen logistics centre. Thanks to its laser scanner, the ERC 213a can navigate independently through the warehouse. At the same time, the AGVs are able to recognise different load carriers, even if they are oversized, and stack empty pallets.

The AGVs are connected to the BLG Warehouse Management System via the Jungheinrich logistics interface. Thanks to this interface, the transport orders generated by the Warehouse Management System are transmitted directly to the ERC 213a and processed by the AGVs. Vehicles and warehouses thus form one comprehensive intelligent system.
“Automated Guided Vehicle systems are at the heart of automated intralogistics. Based on tried-and-tested Jungheinrich series trucks, which are supplemented by automation components and controlled by intelligent software, we have designed a system for BLG that handles recurring transport tasks with large handling volumes particularly safely and efficiently”, says Gregor Ringwelsky, Key Account Manager at Jungheinrich.

The ERC 213a is the latest model in Jungheinrich’s AGV portfolio. Thanks to its compact design, the automated stacker truck is specially designed for transport processes in confined spaces. Equipped with the latest lithium-ion technology, the AGVs can drive at full capacity for up to eight hours. The battery is charged at pre-defined periods or, if necessary, can be charged automatically at charging stations. This increases the availability of the system and allows the AGVs to be used around the clock. The ERC 213a can store loads of up to 1.3 t and can reach top speeds of up to 2.5 m/s. A 2.8 kW 3-phase AC motor provides constant power and an electrical lift motor ensures safe lifting at lift heights of up to 4400 mm.

Thanks to its steel frame and enclosed chassis, the ERC 213a has a particularly robust design. Safety systems such as the standard personal protection scanners check the route for obstacles during use. Furthermore, the layout of the personal protection scanners around the truck provides a contactless safety system in the drive direction, load direction and when cornering. Navigation takes place by means of a laser. Reflectors on the route or a combination of reflectors and distinguishing features can be used for navigation purposes.

Steve Richmond, Director of Logistics Systems at Jungheinrich adds: “Automation is becoming increasingly important in intralogistics. By supporting BLG in providing an automated solution at its Bremen logistics site, we are promoting operational efficiencies within the warehouse in a way that also prioritises safety for the company. Using our ERC 213a automated stacker trucks, equipped with lithium-ion technology, BLG can be confident it is optimising both time and energy. We look forward to an ongoing partnership with BLG and supporting its continued operations.”

New High Bay Cold Storage Facility

Posted on by David Priestman

Kloosterboer, one of the leading logistics service providers in Western Europe, commissioned SSI Schaefer with the supply and construction of steelwork for an impressive deep-freeze warehouse located in Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The logistics service provider offers innovative and sustainable supply chain solutions for temperature-controlled storage and distribution of food related products, such as fish, meat, fruit, fruit juice and juice concentrate, milk and potato products. SSI Schaefer has proven to be a reliable partner in past joint projects, which led to the awarded project.

A fully automatic, deep-freeze logistics center will call the City Terminal Rotterdam home – Cool Port 2. SSI Schaefer will supply about 4,100 tons of steel to erect a 6-aisle high bay warehouse with impressive dimensions too; 69 m length, 139 m width and 41 m height. The high bay warehouse consists of a silo design with the lateral walls and roof cover attached directly to the steelwork. Being a steelwork supplier, SSI Schaefer has erected numerous high bay warehouses with this type of silo design worldwide. Since Kloosterboer already did several successful projects with SSI Schaefer, it was an easy decision to award the contract to the reliable intralogistics experts.

The requirements of the British sustainability certificate BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) are adhered to during the construction. SSI Schaefer has designed the roof construction of the high bay warehouse for a future photovoltaic system for additional energy savings. The roof will be able to accommodate 2,700 solar modules.

With a storage capacity of 60,000 pallets in Cool Port 2, Kloosterboer will serve a variety of customers. The construction of the steelwork has started in fall 2020, the completion is scheduled for summer 2021. The deep-freeze warehouse will be commissioned in January 2022.

New ways to Conquer Supply Chain Complexity

Posted on by David Priestman

Körber, the global supply chain technology leader from supply chain software to materials handling automation, is taking big steps towards the future with WDT (Wirtschaftsgenossenschaft deutscher Tierärzte eG) and the first logistics center in Germany specifically designed for veterinary medicine. It stands for an expanded business model that adds sustained value for veterinary practices throughout the region. Thereby, WDT is relying on the SAP consulting and implementation expertise of Körber.

For over 100 years, WDT has been manufacturing and purchasing consumables and items for the veterinary industry. With its own high-quality products as well as medical supplies, human and wholesale products, the company is the basic supplier of veterinary practices and thus more than just a wholesaler and producer. In the future, the company will provide comprehensive logistics services via its specially founded logistics company VetLogOne GmbH and supply goods to veterinary practices, clinics and other businesses in the industry. The portfolio includes approximately 12,000 products from the areas of veterinary drugs, animal feed and articles for medical practice.

“Up to now, veterinarians regularly placed orders with 20 to 30 different suppliers. These processes are very time-consuming, prone to errors and pollute the environment. Faster ordering processes and less packaging waste are just some of the benefits we can provide through centralized logistics services as part of our expanded business model,” explains Dr. Thomas Nonnewitz, Board member responsible for supply chain at WDT.

The expanded logistics services, which include shipping, invoicing and returns management, will be available starting in 2021. To this end, WDT is investing in a new 20,000 m² logistics center in Wunstorf near Hanover, Germany. In the future, the new location will bundle all existing logistics processes and rely on SAP EWM (Extended Warehouse Management) and Körber’s SAP-based Courier, Express & Parcel (CEP) add-on.

As Thomas Gries, Chief Executive Officer of SAP Solutions at Körber Supply Chain, emphasizes: “Logistics processes are becoming increasingly complex. This makes powerful software solutions and proven partnerships all the more important. We have been working together with WDT for many years – an excellent foundation to move towards the future together and play a decisive role in establishing the expanded business model.”

The new logistics center is scheduled to go live in spring 2021. WDT plans to invest 12 million euros by 2025, including cold storage for more than 1,000 pallet locations.

Partnership for Robot Goods-To-Person Solution

Posted on by David Priestman

Scallog, one of the leading suppliers of logistics robots in France, has signed an integrator agreement with Bastian Solutions, a Toyota Advanced Logistics company, and a long-established intralogistics expert in the USA. The purpose of the agreement is to launch and market Scallog’s goods-to-person robotics solutions in the US. These solutions are designed to meet logistics challenges in a wide range of industries including food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, publishing and spare parts.

The acceleration of eCommerce and the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the supply chain mean that warehouses in the USA are speeding up the automation of their operations to gain agility, shorten delivery times and increase service quality. The North American market has great potential for Scallog as only 5% of warehouses are fully automated and 15%, semi-automated (according to DHL). The Scallog robotic solutions – which compete with Amazon’s Kiva robotic solutions – meet the challenges currently facing logistics operators of automating their order picking process rapidly and flexibly at the lowest possible cost and without affecting their current systems.

French innovation backed by a recognized intralogistics expert in the USA

Bastian Solutions has added Scallog’s robotized order picking solutions to its offering in order to meet the growing need for agility and resilience among its logistics operator customers. The benefits of the Scallog solution include an ROI of under two years and flexibility, scalability and upgradability. These were determining factors in Bastian Solutions’ choice of Scallog as its collaborator in the supply of robots to transport shelf units to operators. With Scallog, American logistics operators can now embark on, and grow, their warehouse automation to meet their evolving requirements, spreading their investment and continuing their operations and/or production uninterrupted.

The agreement with Bastian Solutions is part of Scallog’s strategy of phased international development. Joining forces with a well-respected local player such as Bastian Solutions gives Scallog more rapid access to the US market due to its partner’s understanding of local conditions and ability to provide local support and high-quality services. Bastian Solutions, an integrator ranked among the world’s top 20 suppliers of logistics automation solutions, employs 1,000 people in 20 national offices and its subsidiaries in Canada, Brazil, Mexico and India. Over 30 of Bastian Solutions’ employees have already been trained in Scallog solutions as part of a skills transfer, and co-marketing activities will begin in the first quarter of 2021.

“This collaboration illustrates a change in scale in our strategy of international expansion, in line with our ambitions for deployment and commercial presence in key markets. The United States represents a new Eldorado for logistics robotics, where our value proposition for the automation of order picking has everything required to meet the growing demand for efficiency, agility and resilience in American warehouses”, says Olivier Rochet, CEO of Scallog. “We are delighted to be associated with a recognized intralogistics expert such as Bastian Solutions, which represents the ideal American partner inasmuch as our offerings, expertise, services and values complement each other so well. Bastian Solutions’ position, experience and in-depth knowledge of automation will accelerate the bringing to market, adoption and development of our vertical robotics solutions for the warehouses of the future in the USA – connected, digitalized and robotized.”

“We must continuously add technologies that address the growing demand and changing landscape order fulfillment providers face. Scallog’s technology will help us continue providing our customers with the competitive advantage they need to stay ahead in today’s market. We’re looking forward to introducing Scallog to our global network of clients”, enthuses Marvin Logan, Vice President of Consulting and Integration at Bastian Solutions. The companies anticipate the first installations of Scallog solutions in the first half of 2021.

Trends 2021: Warehouse Automation

Posted on by David Priestman

By Mark Wheeler, Director, Supply Chain Solutions, Zebra Technologies.

Warehouse automation acceleration.
1. How has the pandemic impacted warehousing and logistics operations in 2020, 2021 and beyond?

With the pandemic, warehouse operators are dealing with challenges such as changing customer demand patterns which are strongly impacting the supply chain. Manufacturing interruptions, lack of components, and labor shortages create an ongoing supply chain disruption.

Warehouse operators need to develop and quickly scale their capabilities to adapt to these demand dynamics, considering resources and workforce management. In this new age, enterprises must comply with social distancing rules while dealing with a constrained labor market due to COVID-19. As a result, many favor physical automation to maintain efficient fulfillment operations and productivity. Robotics and intelligent automation are gaining traction and will be accelerating in the next few years.

Warehouse automation acceleration – spanning the entire supply chain from warehousing operations to distribution centers – has been driven by the need to deliver directly to consumers in increasingly shorter timeframes. Carriers such as FedEx, DHL and SF Express in China are shipping at peak volumes daily. This acceleration will continue in 2021 and beyond.

2. What is warehouse automation and its benefits for customers?

Warehouse automation is the combination of mobility, physical automation along with technologies such as RFID and temperature sensing. Combining these technologies with the growth of robotics, including cobots that interface and collaboratively work with humans can help fulfillment centers improve e-commerce operations. For example, integrating temperature-sensing solutions such as Zebra Temptime can indicate if vaccines, medications, biologics, blood, food and more have been exposed to potentially hazardous conditions that could impact their efficacy or safety.

Physical automation
This is the capacity to improve how products are physically moved in the warehouse with robots or cobots. These solutions help to remove repetitive manual processes and unnecessary walking time, improving worker productivity and efficiency.

Warehouse operations are impacted by low-value worker travel in the picking processes. Zebra’s warehouse vision study states that typically 50% of ecommerce warehouse employees are picking orders and that 40-70% of their time is spent moving between picking locations. Technology such as wearable devices, collaboration solutions, Android™ mobile computers and robots/cobots (collaborative robots) all help manage and enhance labor utilization and reduce costs.

Today, a typical warehouse operator can walk many miles a day moving goods from different warehouse locations to the dock to have them shipped. Using an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) significantly reduces this as the goods are brought to the operator within a specific workflow, increasing worker picking time and overall efficiency.

Warehouse operators and fulfilment centers face today need to automate their operational workflows to respond to continued increasing demand.

RFID technology and machine vision
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and machine vision integrated with computer vision provides the visibility needed without relying on an under resourced workforce. Having solutions that enable a “visible warehouse” is a key part of warehouse automation.

We’ve seen a growing interest and demand in RFID, machine vision and computer vision systems. The ability to plan more effectively has become critical for warehouse operators, and this will continue in the future. The need for greater visibility and effective intelligent planning is also becoming increasingly critical. Data is an invaluable asset and its power is only unlocked if it is actioned at the right time to the right person to drive an improved outcome.

Using machine vision and computer vision system solutions can help optimize resources, maintaining operations, saving costs and increasing productivity. You can think of machine vision as being the “eye” while computer vision is the “brain” of a system. These are interdependent technologies. Machine vision technology transforms images into actionable information using image analysis for inspection, quality checking, or anomaly detection against a known specification or comparison. These technologies provide greater visibility in what we call the “visible warehouse.” Warehouse operators are looking to increase shipping and picking visibility accuracy which is why they need the right technology to be able to achieve this.

In the new normal global economy, it is critical for warehouse operators to adapt their processes, workflows and operational models to increase overall efficiencies and productivity by adopting new technologies.

3. What is the technologies’ impact on warehousing and supply chain, and what are the top technologies for successful warehouse automation?

Several dynamics and trends are impacting the warehousing and supply chain landscape. The sharp rise in e-commerce sales is putting pressure on retailers to implement omnichannel strategies for online order fulfilment. This has shifted goods from retail shelves to warehouse racks. Retailers, logistic service providers (LSP) or third-party logistics (3PL) providers are challenged by consumer demands for faster and cheaper delivery, while at the same time managing with less workers in their warehouses.

The ongoing peak activity due to the pandemic means that warehouse automation technology is key for enterprises to maintain operations and manage their critical workflows. To increase productivity, it is key to have visibility of people, assets, materials along with integrating warehouse processes with intelligent physical automation. Speed matters more than ever, and this needs to start at the edge.

RFID technology and prescriptive analytics solutions gives enhanced visibility into warehouse workflows through devices held or worn by workers. Warehouse operators need to get the right workflow execution software and prescriptive guidance tools to optimize worker efficiencies. They need to equip their workers with hands-free mobile devices so they can quickly access the right information at the right time. With the growing use of robots including cobots that interface and collaboratively work with people, this can help fulfillment centers improve e-commerce operations. Integrating intelligent temperature sensor solutions such as Zebra Temptime can indicate if food, vaccines, medications and more have been exposed to potentially hazardous conditions that could impact their efficacy or safety. Legacy providers will have to adapt to meet this growing online customer demand to stay competitive, or risk being left behind.

4. How can technology help warehouse operations be more efficient?

Agility matters more than ever and is one of the key challenges for warehouse operators today as they need to understand how every fulfillment center is operating in real time to be effective and efficient.

Today and tomorrow, warehouses must explore new ways to maintain operations, improve productivity and increase profitability. Understanding their end-user data to help them achieve this is critical. We see an increasing need for mobility and visibility across warehouse operations as well as data analytics planning, predictive modelling solutions and automation. Many customers today are starting to integrate intelligent automation solutions into their warehouse and supply chain environments. Systems with computer and machine vision and robots and cobots will continue to drive automation into 2021 and beyond.

While cost savings are a major factor for automation, some enterprises have seen their early embrace of this as a competitive differentiator, enabling them to increase throughput, fulfill orders quicker, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Warehouse Management System into Operation

Posted on by David Priestman

After the commissioning of PSI Polska Sp. z o.o. in January 2019 with the implementation of the Warehouse Management System PSIwms in the new logistics center, ASMET Sp. z o.o. Sp.k. has been successfully put the system into operation.

PSIwms controls the flow of goods in the logistics center in Moszna-Parcela near Warsaw on the basis of optimized storage algorithms. In combination with the automated warehouse, this makes the logistics processes more efficient. One of the greatest challenges of the project was the processing of orders on the basis of cross-product units of measurement, which result from the specificity of the metal industry and the customer-oriented strategy of ASMET.

The material flow control module from PSI is used to control the shuttle warehouse. This communicates with the forklifts and conveyor belts in order to control the automatic storage and transport processes. Since the start and migration of the entire logistics center, the system has been continuously updated according to customer requirements. The order processing of KANBAN, the integration into the Unifaun shipping system and the automatic control of Crown forklifts will be used shortly.

PSIwms will facilitate the implementation of new work routines in the future and also increase acceptance among employees. Due to the current corona lockdown, the implementation was carried out via remote control. ASMET offers a comprehensive supply of fasteners for machines and systems in the construction, energy, petrochemical, agricultural and automotive industries.

On the basis of its own software products, the PSI Group develops and integrates complete solutions for optimizing the flow of energy and material at suppliers (energy networks, energy trading, public passenger transport) and industry (raw material extraction, metal production, automotive, mechanical engineering, logistics). PSI was founded in 1969 and employs 2,000 persons worldwide.

200 Million Robot Landmark

Posted on by David Priestman

AMR maker Locus Robotics is celebrating a picking milestone that cements its place as a key player in fulfilment logistics, reports Paul Hamblin.

Locus Robotics, which manufactures autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfilment warehouses, has achieved a major milestone in its relatively short history with the announcement that its robots have completed their 200 million units picked landmark. The milestone, achieved by a company in the UK, came during the pre-peak season period leading into the critical Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales period. Read the whole article here.

“We are thrilled to have reached the 200 million units picked milestone,” said Rick Faulk, CEO, Locus Robotics. “As more and more shoppers move online, and as we quickly approach what is expected to be the biggest – and most challenging – holiday retail season yet, retailers are turning to AMRs to innovate to meet growing demand and avoid risking losing valuable customers.”

The 200,000,000th pick occurred at a Boots UK warehouse facility, and the item picked was a Cuticura Original Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel. Boots UK is a leading health and beauty retailer and
pharmacy chain. It is part of the Retail Pharmacy International Division of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. “The flexibility of the Locus system to scale as the demand grows has been key to our success,” said Ken Hall, Supply Chain Development Manager, Boots UK. “The autonomous nature of the LocusBots has also been instrumental in worker health and safety, enforcing social distancing through such a busy period while also delivering significant productivity improvement.”

The COVID pandemic has quickly transformed the global retail industry, making online and omnichannel purchasing the new standard worldwide. The explosion of online shopping has put increasing pressure on fulfilment companies to staff their fulfilment teams adequately to meet the growing number of orders and ensure that items are picked and packed as efficiently as possible. These trends will continue as the 2020 holiday shopping season approaches. According to recent reports from Adobe, Cyber Monday sales are expected to hit a record-breaking $9.4 billion (£7.35
billion), up almost 19% from last year, and Black Friday sales online are expected to be $7.5 billion (£5.86 billion), up 20.3%.

Locus Robotics’ industry-leading robotics fulfilment solution enables brands, retailers, and third-party logistics (3PL) operators to easily meet higher order volumes and the increasing
consumer demand for e-commerce, retail, omnichannel, and manufacturing order fulfilment. Customers worldwide, including CEVA, DHL, Boots UK, GEODIS, Port Logistics Group, Verst
Logistics, Radial, and others, see doubling or tripling of fulfilment productivity and lowered labour recruitment, training, and retention costs.

Powerful and intelligent autonomous mobile robots operate collaboratively with human workers to dramatically improve piece-handling productivity 2X- 3X, claims the company, and with less
labour than traditional picking systems. This award-winning solution aims to help retailers, 3PLs, and speciality warehouses efficiently meet and exceed the increasingly complex and
demanding requirements of fulfilment environments, easily integrating into existing warehouse infrastructures without disrupting workflows, instantly transforming productivity without transforming the warehouse.

New European Office for Mobile Robots Supplier

Posted on by David Priestman

AutoGuide Mobile Robots, a leading manufacturer of high-payload autonomous mobile robot (AMR) systems, today announced the opening of a new European office. The office in Munich supports sales, service and support, as well as deployment and training, throughout greater Europe. Local staff will work closely with its European system integrators to meet increasing demand for AutoGuide’s innovative autonomous mobile robots.

“With strong demand for our high-payload AMRs across the region, we felt expanding our European operation would deliver the highest level of support for our distributors and customers,” said Jan Nicolay, director for European Operations, AutoGuide. “Munich’s highly talented and efficient workforce, business-friendly climate and central location made it the ideal choice.”

AutoGuide’s patent-pending modular AMR system begins with a MAX-N Base AMR, which is guided by the company’s SurePath fleet control software, designed to maximize fleet flexibility and uptime. With a change of high-payload adapters, the base robot can easily be converted from a pallet stacker to a tugger or high bay forklift—and back again. Earlier this year, AutoGuide’s MAX-N Pallet Stacker and MAX-N Tugger received CE mark approval, indicating that the systems meet the European Union’s directives and standards for health, safety and environmental protection.

“The CE mark indicates our AMRs have met the strictest levels of safety and compliance required by the European Union,” Nicolay said. “Facility operators can easily deploy our AMRs to autonomously manage their dirty, dull and dangerous material handling jobs, freeing up workers to focus on higher-value tasks.”

Rethinking ASRS and Robots

Posted on by David Priestman

Rethinking automated storage and retrieval systems is the challenge that Rob Sullivan, President and CEO of AutoGuide, has laid down for the industry. David Priestman joined him online to
learn more.

AutoGuide Mobile Robots designs, develops and manufactures high-payload industrial autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for assembly, warehousing and distribution operations. The company has a mobile robot R&D centre located in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and a manufacturing facility in Georgetown, Kentucky and was acquired by Teradyne last November. European
production is coming shortly.

Covid is driving ecommerce and next day delivery, leading to increased expectations. AutoGuide has launched what it claims is the first fully autonomous mobile robot designed to automate racking and picking operations at high bay warehouses, competing with traditional stacker cranes in pallet storage aisles. The new ‘MAX-N High Bay’ is an autonomous counterbalanced forklift that can travel up to 4 mph and lift 1000kg payloads up to 11m high.

The MAX-N High Bay works seamlessly with existing warehouse infrastructure so there’s no need to invest in new racking systems or pallets, and installation can be complete in weeks. Like all AutoGuide AMRs, the MAX-N High Bay exceeds safety standards and travels along a network of approved, predictable paths to decrease workplace risk for employees in shared workspaces. Using ‘SurePath Enterprise’ software, it receives data from existing order management and warehouse management systems and can be quickly deployed to complete a wide array of high bay operations. SurePath Enterprise defines the most efficient route for each job.

Rob Sullivan points out that traditional high bay operations can be complex and potentially dangerous. “Autonomous solutions increase efficiencies and keep both employees and products safe, providing an excellent return on investment in high-bay environments. Labour costs are more than half of distribution centre budgets. Adding space is difficult.”

The MAX-N High Bay is part of AutoGuide’s patent-pending modular AMR system designed to maximize fleet flexibility and uptime. The Max-N High Bay is one of multiple high-payload adapters designed to fit the MAX-N Base AMR. With a change of adapters, the base AMR is converted from a high-bay forklift to a pallet stacker or tow tractor. In addition, AutoGuide claims to be the only manufacturer that engineers and builds AMRs from the ground up to be fully autonomous, high performance material transport robots. The majority of robotic solutions are retrofitted manual vehicles, built from parts supplied by various vendors.

With inventory management software, the MAX-N High Bay becomes part of the new AutoGuide Mobile ASRS. The inventory management software connects with facility WMS and inventory
management applications to keep track of facility inventory, manage finished goods or WIP inventories; speed reconciliation; and provide daily cycle counting digitally.

“As part of the new AutoGuide Mobile ASRS, our autonomous MAX-N High Bay can safely and efficiently transport materials from the receiving dock directly to the storage racks without the need for conveyor systems or other inflexible material handling infrastructure,” Sullivan says. “When connected to detailed, facility-wide inventory awareness, the MAX-N High Bay can get material exactly where it belongs. It’s time for ASRS to be untethered, autonomous and accessible for all warehouse facilities. With our Mobile ASRS, what used to be automated and heavy is now
autonomous and light. Mobile ASRS can be rolled out in a matter of weeks and bring autonomous efficiency to smaller footprints across the facility floor.”

Large, high-revenue facilities that move thousands of pallets a day have increasingly installed ASRS solutions with proprietary racks, custom pallets and massive cranes. Smaller facilities that move less inventory recognize the efficiencies offered by ASRS but have been unable to justify the high-cost and time-consuming deployment. Customers can start flexibly with just 5% automation
with mobile ASRS, combined with existing racking and work up from there. AutoGuide AMRs bring facility-wide freedom to automation strategies, so facility managers do not have to restrict
storage and retrieval operations to specific, crane-only zones.

“Human error in inventory management is both common and costly and automating manual vehicles is suboptimal,” Sullivan concluded. “Mobile ASRS is best-in-class. Digital inventory
control helps eliminate storage and retrieval errors.” Read the whole article here.

Wholesaler Doubles Output with Robotic Logistics

Posted on by David Priestman

The leading wholesaler in the Swiss organic market, Bio Partner, has doubled its output following the implementation of innovative robotic logistics from Swisslog at its facility in Aargau, Switzerland.

Bio Partner supplies business customers in the organic specialist trade as well as the rest of the retail and food industry from its location in Seon. As a result of the merger with Somona GmbH, the warehouse reached its performance and capacity limits, and the wholesaler turned to a local partner with a global footprint to deliver an automated storage system.

The 12,200m2 warehouse handles 10,000+ products, a process now optimized thanks to the high-performance AutoStore storage solution, delivered by global warehouse automation specialist, Swisslog, a member of the KUKA group.

“Companies with large warehouses have to constantly work on increasing efficiency and our robot systems work flawlessly around the clock,” says Swisslog CEO, Dr. Christian Baur. The aim of this new system from Swisslog is to automate the storage and picking of the dry assortment and to compress it in terms of volume.

Consistently high performance

The new AutoStore system at Bio Partner has 44 robots with the ability to handle 25,000 containers and at least 6,000 products completely autonomously. “The high-tech robots create a volume of 900 containers per hour and, depending on the development, this system can still be expanded considerably,” says CEO, Dr. Baur.
The orders are automatically transmitted to the AutoStore system and processed in accordance with parallel processes, which is a huge advantage in large warehouses. This means that higher volumes can be made available in a shorter time. Picking errors cost time and money, and robots don’t make mistakes since the hardware and software work together perfectly. Bio Partner relies on the modular warehouse management software SynQ from Swisslog to orchestrate the warehouse and picking processes based on data-based insights.

“Our company relies on long-term, sustainable partnerships. With Swisslog, we found a strong local partner and the system installation was quick and easy,” commented Lukas Mettler, head of warehouse logistics at Bio Partner.

As a leading global integrator with over 200 realized projects, this is just one example of many projects which showcase the wide implementation spectrum of AutoStore empowered by Swisslog.

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