With the patented, jointly developed ID.ADD system, the replenishment of production shelves can be automated up to 100%. The cost-efficient manufacture of products with a high degree of individualization and ever shorter life cycles places high demands on operational intralogistics. A key factor in the efficiency of production processes, particularly in assembly, is the needs-based supply of the required primary material to the workstations. At the turn of the year 2019/20, Identytec and DS Automotion entered into a close cooperation. The two companies are jointly developing and marketing a standardized solution for the fully automated replenishment of production shelves.

Under the name ID.ADD (for Automatic Driverless Delivery), Identytec has designed an extension to its software-based eKanban system ID.EPC. The patented concept involves the fully automatic replenishment control and delivery of small and large load carriers. It combines and integrates eKanban, Auto-ID products and driverless transport systems (AGVs) from DS Automotion.

"DS Automotion has decades of experience with all relevant technologies and processes and an excellent reputation with joint customers," says Cerstin Finke, Managing Director at Identytec. "We have found a congenial partner with profound AGV expertise in the Austrian company."

"The joint system takes care of replenishment fully automatically, with AGVs placing the individual containers of the replenishment units directly into the production racks using a lifting device," explains Wolfgang Hillinger, Managing Director at DS Automotion. "By linking the Identytec ordering system with our DS Navios fleet manager, travel orders for the individual vehicles are created from demand reports. This eliminates all manual ordering and delivery processes."

"The cooperation began at the turn of the year, and a first joint project for a well-known German car manufacturer is already being implemented," reports Manfred Hummenberger, also Managing Director at DS Automotion. "At the same time, we are developing special superstructures for our Oscar Spin underride AGV to create a compact, standardized overall system."

"DS Automotion is our exclusive AGV partner for ID.ADD and will also distribute and implement the entire system on an equal footing with us," adds Thorsten Finke, Managing Director at Identytec. "Our customers benefit from the fact that, in addition to an agile replenishment solution, they can also handle all other intralogistics transport tasks with just one fleet manager."