When asked about changing customer requirements for modern storage and retrieval machines and shuttle systems, manufacturers paint a differentiated picture. HaRo Anlagen- und Fördertechnik is observing ever-increasing developments towards the automation of material flow within the production process. The company has been known for its conveyor systems for unit loads for over 50 years. "In many cases, direct set-down or pick-up points for AGV units are planned and solved with stable and traditional conveyor technology," says Christoph Hackländer, Managing Director of the HaRo Group, describing current customer requirements. Dirk Haarscheidt (Sales Stöcklin Logistik), who sees the trend forming over a period of five years, names flexibility and scalability as the predominant market trends for intralogistics solutions. Two of the main reasons for this are strong growth and the uncertain business situation of customers. According to Haarscheidt, system operators also expect a high degree of availability. Stöcklin meets these requirements with its miniload shuttle system FSP (Flexible Storage and Performance) and the IT solution DMA (Data Monitoring Alerting).

Industry responds to digitalization -
Speed in demand in all areas
Availability is also one of the predominant topics for Christian Beer, Managing Director and owner of Servus Intralogistics. The increasing merging of production and logistics has also moved into focus. "We are noticing more and more that customers are not viewing the warehouse as an isolated solution, but are increasingly focusing on production supply directly from the warehouse," says Beer. Walter Kennerknecht, Sales Manager for storage and retrieval machines at the MIAS Group, sees the market as a reaction to the overall rapid development of digitalization: "Everything, from the procurement of raw parts to production, picking and shipping, must become faster in order to outpace the competition, at least in the short term, and gain market share," describes Kennerknecht.

Increasingly important: IT systems and automation
Due to changing customer requirements, manufacturers are continuing to develop their products and drive forward new innovations. So far, 2018 has been a year of new projects and innovations for the companies surveyed. The companies surveyed provided an overview of current product developments and the key trends they have set so far in 2018. Hackländer considers the automation of production conversions to be particularly important for HaRo conveyor technology this year. "In the past year, conveyor technology plant engineering found its strengths in the automation of production conversions, partly in new or different hall areas," explains the Managing Director of the HaRo Group. For Stöcklin, project-specific system solutions have been the focus so far in 2018. "In the age of Industry 4.0, the importance of IT systems in particular has increased significantly. In addition to the retrospective statistics functions with the forecast and proactive monitoring, the StöcklinDMA also offers a view into the near future of a system. Overall, the DMA ensures permanent optimization of plant utilization and availability," explains Haarscheidt.

Until now, MIAS was primarily known for its solid storage and retrieval machines for pallets. With the AKL 10, the company now also has a storage and retrieval machine from the miniload segment in its portfolio. "The AKL series not only scores with outstanding dynamic values, the approach dimensions at the top and bottom have also been reduced even further - allowing customers to make the best possible use of the available space. The miniload stacker cranes are equipped with the company's own established load handling devices," says Kennerknecht.
Servus Intralogisics can also look back on a positive 2018 as the year draws to a close: "We have acquired many great customers. Above all, however, we are proud that existing customers continue to expand and equip new plants with the Servus system."

Customized system development
Even for experts, there are always innovative application examples, often good opportunities to express the strengths of a company. The FSP miniload shuttle solution from Stöcklin, for example, benefits in particular from its modular design, which makes it possible to develop systems tailored to requirements. "The system components used can cope with many external requirements. This means that a wide range of applications can be covered. IT solutions also play an important role in system performance and availability with the FSP shuttle system," says Haarscheidt.
Christoph Hackländer sees vertical conveyor systems as an important strength of the HaRo Group: "In 2018, we were able to successfully design and implement vertical conveying directions to other floors, particularly with the help of the HaRo vertical conveyor (or goods elevator with integrated automatic conveyor technology) in numerous companies."
MIAS completed its fourth project in a row for a customer in the frozen food sector, implementing the triple-deep storage of pallets with a payload of 1.4 tons in a new 44-metre-high warehouse. Kennerknecht explains: "With the telescopic tables used, we were able to achieve a higher throughput than with comparable shuttle solutions and play to our strengths: Expertise for technical challenges, many years of project experience in the deep-freeze sector and leading know-how for sophisticated load handling equipment."

Servus achieved enormous space savings with its autonomous transport robots at Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik in Fridolfing. "Rosenberger has been in operation since 2015 and has increased its production volume by more than 20 percent every year since then - without expanding its production space," explains Christian Beer. The autonomous transport robots of the Servus system deliver the material just-in-time to the production area, eliminating the need for kanban racks and saving a considerable amount of space. The highlight: Rosenberger did not need any additional space for logistics, as the transport robots do not travel on the floor like AGVs but overhead, saving space on the hall ceiling.

LogiMAT 2019 trade fair
LogiMAT 2019 is approaching. At the international trade fair for intralogistics solutions and process management, intralogistics companies traditionally present their latest products. What can visitors expect from exhibitors next year? The manufacturers interviewed in the overview article have already given materialfluss an initial insight.
HaRo would like to take its 2019 success to the next level at the trade fair and present a dynamic, fully automated process. Servus plans to place the interface-free connection of production and logistics at the forefront of its trade fair appearance. "Visitors to the Servus stand will see how our autonomous transport robots connect incoming goods, order picking, mini-load warehouse, production and outgoing goods without interfaces. How logistics and production merge into a single unit, laying the foundation for the networked factory of tomorrow," says Christian Beer, describing the planned performance at next year's trade fair. Finally, the MIAS Group wants to focus on and present the newly developed AKL 10. "Demand is already overwhelming, and we hope that LogiMAT will give us a further boost," says Walter Kennerknecht.