The new automation solution supports Fronius in production supply and internal transport. A further nine units of the innovative solution from Knapp have already been ordered. It is based on intelligent software.

At its Sattledt site, Fronius manufactures welding equipment for industry, inverters for photovoltaic systems and battery chargers for forklift trucks. The existing 41,000 square meter production hall was expanded last year to include a 28,000 square meter hall. Ten Open Shuttles from Knapp, autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for container transportation, have already been in successful operation for some time. Fronius opted for the Open Shuttle Fork from Knapp in order to optimize pallet transport for production supply and use the hall more efficiently. "The system from Knapp offers us a high degree of autonomy. With the new automation solution, we are able to flexibly and independently change and expand the location of production islands. This makes our overall operation faster and more cost-efficient than with other systems," says Peter Hubl, Team Leader Logistics, Automation and Maintenance at Fronius International, explaining the reasons for working with Knapp.

The new automation solution currently comprises 16 Open Shuttle Forks, which connect incoming and outgoing goods with the production islands fully automatically and handle internal transport. Around 400 spaces are available for pallets with a maximum load weight of 1,000 kilograms. 16 loading stations ensure that the mobile robots are supplied with power.

Innovative software package for automated pallet transport

The KiSoft FCS (Fleet Control System) software from Knapp is the central control element for the robots. It is connected to the customer system via an interface, controls the fleet and manages the storage and retrieval of pallets as well as the supply of the production islands. The transport orders are sent via a web-based station GUI (Graphical User Interface), which is located at all storage locations. A dashboard with an overview of all key figures for the Open Shuttle Fork provides a visual display and gives Fronius an overview of the robots in use at all times.

The use of the Open Shuttle Fork supports Fronius in supplying production and internal transportation. Employees in the incoming goods department repack the goods in the manual high-bay warehouse onto a pallet as required. They then send a transport order to an Open Shuttle Fork via the web-based station GUI. The AMR picks up the pallet and brings it to the production line. The Open Shuttle Fork enters the production line and transfers the pallet either to a floor location or to a flow rack. Once the production step is complete, the employees pack the semi-finished products onto a pallet. The Open Shuttle Fork picks up this pallet and takes over the internal transport to the next production line. Empty pallets are also picked up by the autonomous mobile robots and taken to the storage locations. Once all the production steps have been completed, the Open Shuttle Fork transports the end product to the high-bay pallet warehouse in the outgoing goods area and places it on the floor. Storage is currently still carried out manually. In future, the Open Shuttle Fork will be transferred directly to the conveyor system.

The autonomous mobile robots are used in the 41,000 square meter existing hall and in the 28,000 square meter extension to the north. They move easily between halls by sending a signal to the door control system via WLAN and opening the doors.

Development partnership at the highest level

Knapp already has a long-standing partnership with Fronius. Fronius chargers have already been used successfully in the Open Shuttles for several years. Now the two Austrian companies have once again combined their shared technological expertise to create a win-win situation.

The commissioning of the first Open Shuttle Fork is a breakthrough in automated pallet transport not only for Fronius, but also for Knapp. "We are particularly pleased that we were able to implement the first open shuttle fork project for a company that focuses on sustainability as a supplier for photovoltaic systems. Fronius is also the first customer to have its employees trained by Knapp so that they can install the Open Shuttle Fork themselves," says Christian Brauneis, Vice President Knapp Industry Solutions.

Open Shuttle Fork was also named material flow PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2023 this year. You can read more about this in the next issue 6/2023.

http://www.knapp.com http://www.fronius.com