Logistics service providers
AM automation robots big with small parts
At the logistics center in Langenau near Ulm, small robotic vehicles scurry over grid-shaped rails. Schäflein AG is the first logistics service provider in Germany to implement an AutoStore system. Small parts are stored in 42,000 containers on a floor area of just 20 by 49 meters in the immediate vicinity of a mechanical engineering company's production facility.
The AutoStore system, which has been in use since the beginning of the year, offers everything that makes logisticians' hearts beat faster: up to 70 percent more storage space utilization, no aisles, flexible warehouse design, a changing arrangement of workstations and the use of different ports. Overall, this new technology reduces handling costs by up to 30 percent and offers energy savings of over 90 percent compared to a classic automated small parts warehouse.
"After our analysis, the system was the best fit for the customer's requirements, products, product range and budget," says Heiko Amtmann, project manager and authorized signatory at Schäflein AG. "The tried-and-tested systems are not always the right ones, and we were quickly able to convince our customer of this." The advantage for the customer: They don't have to familiarize themselves with a new system, but benefit from the service provider's forward-looking analysis.
Space-saving storage
AutoStore means: storage without shelving with maximum space utilization and flexibility. It consists of a modular container system that enables space-saving storage of small parts in a grid-like aluminum construction. The containers are stacked on top of each other without gaps to form columns. A second component of AutoStore is the storage operation by robots, which access the individual stored goods at lightning speed and make them available at the desired picking workstation.
This automated small parts storage process makes AutoStore a high-performance miniload solution with maximum availability. Behind this type of dynamic warehousing - also known as chaotic warehousing - is complex software. It decides which small parts container is placed where and recognizes which small parts are needed more frequently and stores them higher up in the container columns for faster access.
Robots travel independently for maintenance
The small robotic vehicles travel along grid-shaped rails in the logistics center. They restack other containers, then pick up the required container and transport it quickly and quietly to a port or picking station. The robots race across the aluminum construction at speeds of up to three meters per second.
Facts and figures
Logistics area:14,000 square meters Investment for the interior:6.2 million euros Containers in the AutoStore:42,000 spaces in the warehouse lift: 16,800 pallet spaces16,500 employees: around 100
The robot vehicles have an energy recovery system that feeds energy back into the battery when braking. If a robot needs to be serviced, this is done in live operation. It is simply removed from the productive system and drives to the service station automatically.
Individual logistics concept: from theory to practice
The careful planning of the new logistics site in Langenau near Ulm involved not only the "hardware" of the building shell and the entire interior installations from the outset, but also the "software", i.e. the entire logistics concept, to the same extent. The two areas cannot be handled separately as they are closely intertwined. Logistics service provider Schäflein had to think its way into the customer's requirements well in advance in order to offer individual and tailor-made solutions.
The customer for whom the new logistics site was built and to whose needs it was tailored is a mechanical engineering company. Together with the logistics service provider, it set the course long before construction began. The logistics concept for the mechanical engineering company's production supply was then established in theory, but had to be implemented in reality. The concept is characterized by a "lean", cost-conscious, modern location with the latest warehouse technology as well as a sustainable and long-term functioning logistics system with a focus on "lean logistics".
According to Heiko Amtmann, authorized signatory of Schäflein AG and project manager, such a system can only ever be created on a completely individual basis. "We don't have any standard solutions that guarantee successful logistics performance, but we do have a lot of experience. The choice of components depends on many factors. You have to put yourself in the customer's shoes and analyze the flow of goods: What do the goods look like, how should the downstream processes be assessed?" Such parameters are important, says Heiko Amtmann. He emphasizes that developing a logistics concept is a complex matter: "Questions about output, components, order structure, access figures and throughput times must be answered clearly. And always with an eye on the investment costs and fixed cost structure."
Big Bang on January 1
What made the construction project at the Langenau site even more challenging was the schedule, which stipulated that the site had to be operational by January 1st. The entire construction period, from building the shell, setting up and implementing the processes and IT to moving the customer material itself, took less than eight months. In addition, there was only six days of production-free time available for the move from the machine manufacturer's old storage location.
Even for an experienced logistics service provider like Schäflein, this was a major challenge. The tricky and very compressed ramp-up phase was successful and the logistics center was actually fully operational with a "big bang" on January 1. The logistics site in Langenau is a prime example of how IT was integrated into the logistics concept at the same time as the construction phase.
Contact:Schäflein AG 97520 Röthlein Tel.: 0 97 23 / 90 69-0 E-Mail:[email protected] www.schaeflein-ag.de
AM-Automation GmbH 74254 Offenau Phone: 0 71 36 / 95 75-0 E-mail:[email protected] www.am-automation.de
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