With its AutoStore concept, Hörmann Logistik was awarded the contract to realize the facility. The new AutoStore warehouse for Sport Okay was built on the second floor of a new building with workstations for incoming goods and order picking on the first floor. For the customized design of the system, Hörmann Logistik carried out several system simulations with original data in real time during the planning phase.

Solution in two stages
The customer requirements, together with the simulation results, led to a system configuration in two construction stages. In the first construction phase, 22 robots with 26,500 bins on 16 levels and six associated workstations with swing ports enabled around 168 putaways and returns as well as 4,000 picks per day and 400 picks per hour. In the second, final expansion stage, the AutoStore grid was approximately doubled in width, so that 44 robots with around 55,000 bins and twelve workstations with swing ports ensure around 336 putaways and returns as well as 8,000 picks per day and 800 picks per hour.

Autonomous and cooperative on rails
The AutoStore system consists of an aluminum grid system with overall dimensions of 18.4 m x 36.9 m (79.2 m) x 5.4 m. The grid system contains stacks of 16 containers on the hall floor. The rail system (grid), on which the 22 (44) battery-operated robots move, is mounted above the container stacks. The robots work together to pick up and sort bins and are responsible for supplying and disposing of the Swing-Port workstations on the first floor. The maximum total weight of the 649 mm x 449 mm x 330 mm bins is 35 kilograms with a net load of around 30 kilograms. An overweight test is carried out at the ports to ensure that the maximum weight is not exceeded. The containers can be flexibly subdivided using dividers for the use of several items.

Reaching the target with eight wheels in a grid
The robots move in two directions thanks to their four pairs of wheels arranged at an angle, enabling them to reach any position in the grid at a speed of 3.1 m/s². They communicate via WLAN with the AutoStore control system, which assigns the transport orders to the individual robots. If the order load is low or the battery capacity is too low, the robots drive themselves to one of the 22 (44) charging stations located at the edge of the grid. The AutoStore controller is located on the connected service platform.

The workstations for storing, retrieving and picking goods at SportOkay.com are located below the AutoStore system on the first floor. The articles are brought to the goods-in workstations, unpacked there and stored in the system. Goods destined for picking are delivered to one of the outgoing goods workstations by the AutoStore system, the employee removes the goods and places them in the shipping carton. The AutoStore small parts warehouse at SportOkay.com in Innsbruck went into operation in late summer 2018.

About Sport Okay
Sport Okay GmbH is part of the Wintersport Tirol AG group of companies, which includes the Stubai Glacier ski resort and ten stationary sporting goods stores. A special feature of the online store is the 3D view, which allows customers to view their items in the store. The company supplies tens of thousands of customers in Germany, Austria, Italy and 15 other countries.