In combination with the technologies of Industry 4.0, digitalization, networking and artificial intelligence, completely new levels of productivity and competitive advantages are emerging in all aspects of material flow in production and warehousing. This year's Logimat trade fair is therefore rightly focusing on intelligent and autonomous systems that create new perspectives for the future.

Automotive logistics: delivery of over 57,000 spare parts

Logistikpark Staiger in Wernau, Baden-Württemberg, has also been benefiting from these technologies for almost a year now. As a member of Avag Holding, one of Europe's leading automotive trading groups, Logistikpark Staiger and its 70 employees are dedicated to advising, processing orders and supplying over 57,000 spare parts for various automotive brands. A scale from which the company's customers throughout Europe have benefited, especially since the move to the new logistics center last year.

At the same time, the company headed by Managing Director Daniel Schier took the expansion planned with the move as an opportunity to implement new storage platforms and an efficient order picking system. In spring 2022, the wholesale company turned to HaRo Anlagen- und Fördertechnik in Rüthen, North Rhine-Westphalia, for the latter.

Conveyor system over three levels

The requirements: By installing the storage platforms in the Wernau building, the storage space was to be increased fivefold. A system was therefore needed that would largely eliminate walking distances for employees within the warehouse and reduce throughput times many times over thanks to complete automation. "As a manufacturer of conveyor systems with over 60 years of experience, we specialize in such individual customer requests," emphasizes Christoph Hackländer, Managing Director of the HaRo Group. Together with his project team, he developed two conveyor systems for incoming and outgoing goods for the Staiger logistics park, each extending over three levels.

Roller conveyors with accumulation function

HaRo design manager Markus Löseke explains the special features of the project: "As we only use standardized picking bins in the form of returnable containers with a maximum weight of 35 kilograms at the Staiger logistics park, and these travel a distance of around 52 meters, we integrated powered roller conveyors with an accumulation function." "Our roller conveyors are not only characterized by a long service life, but thanks to their manageable investment costs, the Staiger logistics park also benefits from a high degree of cost-effectiveness," adds the HaRo management.

Vertical conveyors for better use of space

To ensure that the height differences between the racking levels can also be overcome fully automatically, the HaRo Group in Wernau has also installed a vertical conveyor in the incoming and outgoing goods areas of the new warehouse: "The fact that our customer's storage system extends over several levels means that the space is optimally utilized. Our vertical conveyor builds on this potential by reliably and efficiently distributing the conveyed goods to the respective levels without the need for manual intervention," says Markus Löseke.

So how does the new material flow actually work? In the incoming goods area, the picking bins that have already been prepared for storage are first loaded manually by employees at the roller conveyor infeed station. At the touch of a button, the destination on one of the three storage levels is selected for the goods before they are transported fully automatically via the powered roller conveyor to the vertical conveyor. The vertical conveyor, which is around seven meters high, then transfers the order picking box to the designated storage level.

"In view of the enormous throughput volumes in the Staiger logistics park, our vertical conveyor is designed for a capacity of 100 conveyed goods per hour," explains Markus Löseke. Once they have arrived at the respective target level, the picking boxes are transferred from the vertical conveyor to the adjacent roller conveyors.

"We have another special feature here," says Managing Director Christoph Hackländer: "If the pick-up points are free, the returnable containers are pushed directly onto the short, non-driven gravity roller conveyor with the help of an electric pusher." If the pick-up points are full, the containers are transported onwards via the parallel roller conveyor section to one of the three remaining pick-up points, each of which is also equipped with a pusher and works in the same way as the first pick-up point.

In total, the order picking system in the incoming goods area therefore involves twelve pick-up points, spread over three levels. "In addition to the automated transport of the containers, the roller conveyors also serve to buffer them - an indispensable function for our customers, especially in times of peak capacity utilization, which enables a high degree of flexibility," says Löseke.

Efficient outgoing goods

Around 2,500 to 3,500 spare parts leave the warehouse every day. This is an order of magnitude that requires an efficient and reliable material flow in outgoing goods. For this reason, the conveyor system installed in the outgoing goods area has a similar mode of operation to that in the incoming goods area: first, the picked crates are placed manually by the employees at the feeding stations of the roller conveyors.

The powered conveyors also enable fully automated transportation up to the vertical conveyor. Before the conveyed goods overcome the height difference between the levels, they are first separated. Once they arrive at the outgoing goods area, employees are then ready to accept the picked goods.

"Thanks to the installation of the conveyor systems described, which basically only consist of the three main components roller conveyors, pushers and vertical conveyors, the order picking process at the Staiger logistics park can be almost completely automated.

This significantly shortens the immense walking distances that would otherwise be required for employees between the warehouse levels," says HaRo management, explaining the advantages of their conveyor systems. "Thanks to this system, we can guarantee our customers fast delivery times," says Daniel Schier, Managing Director of Logistikpark-Staiger, who is delighted with the new goods system.

While the conveyor technology described has now been in use for almost a year, the logistics park is already planning further optimizations: For example, the company's ERP system is to be linked to the conveyor technology in the foreseeable future - in line with "Big Data" as a key concept of Industry 4.0 - so that the destinations for the picking containers no longer have to be selected manually by employees, but can be identified by the technology using QR codes, automatically transported to their storage location and tracked at any time.

Fully automated material flow at LogiMAT 2024

To get a first-hand impression of the HaRo Group's range of products and services and to experience the conveyor technology components up close in action, visitors to the Logimat trade fair can marvel at a fully automated material flow consisting of two vertical conveyors with a height of around 8 meters and in combination with driven roller conveyors for the automated transport of pallets.

Logimat, Hall 3, Stand D03