Warehouse-/Picking technology
All digital, or what?
Take a look at the warehouse of the future today - the organizers of CeMAT promise nothing less. Visitors to the stands of over 1,000 exhibitors will be able to experience how things will be packed, distributed and loaded in the future - whether fully or semi-automated. If you want to be just as smart as the majority of the solutions, get an overview in advance.
Although Deutsche Messe AG is focusing on digitalization at CeMAT, it is looking forward to attracting real visitors to the Hannover trade fair from 31 May to 3 June. There were around 53,000 in 2014, so will the focus on the digitalized and networked value chain bring an increase? The organizers are focusing on the trending topic of "Industry 4.0", the perennial favorite. At the CeMAT preview in Hanover at the end of February, Andreas Gruchow, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Messe AG, explained the key theme of CeMAT - "Smart Supply Chain Solutions" - as follows: "Industry 4.0 in the logistics context is the trend theme of the upcoming CeMAT. In the future, all containers or load carriers and means of transportation, as well as the transported goods themselves, will be equipped with intelligence. This will enable processes to be designed and monitored in a highly flexible manner. Speed, precision, flexibility and availability are decisive competitive factors in the handling of logistics processes. The basis for this is digitalization, which will give the industry a further positive boost."
International trade fair
More than 1,000 exhibitors from all over the world are expected at the upcoming CeMAT. Every second exhibitor comes from abroad. In addition to Germany, the most important exhibitor nations are Belgium, China, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Turkey.
Enormous flexibility is demanded of companies
Dr. Christoph Beumer, Managing Partner and Chairman of the Management Board of Beumer Group GmbH & Co. KG, Chairman of the CeMAT Executive Committee and Member of the Board of the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association, prepared visitors for far-reaching changes in logistics. Enormous flexibility is required in view of consumer behavior, which he described at the CeMAT preview press conference as follows: "(The markets) are becoming increasingly international on the one hand, and increasingly regional on the other. On the one hand, customers from Europe have their laptops configured on the Internet assembled in Texas or their carnival costumes tailored in Vietnam (of course they want them on their doorstep in 48 hours at the latest), while on the other hand they value organic vegetables from the region. In the same way, companies use the global market, but don't want to do without their specialized suppliers from the neighborhood."
The future belongs to the smart supply chain
Customers are therefore becoming increasingly demanding - and in order to succeed in competition, companies must also adapt their supply chains. Without IT, almost nothing would work in logistics today. The warehouse worker with a printed pick list in his hand is a dying breed. And as those responsible for CeMAT repeatedly emphasize: "The future belongs to networking, communication and the 'smart supply chain'. All flows of goods must be intelligently controlled in the future. IT makes it possible to master the complexity of logistics. But only highly flexible IT systems can easily adapt to changing structures and market conditions and compensate for fluctuations in orders."
And according to Dr. Beumer, CeMAT offers the best opportunity to take a look into the future: "CeMAT is just as much a must for IT experts as it is for logistics specialists, production managers and managing directors."
How the warehouse of the future is equipped
The largest exhibition areas are the technology areas "Move & Lift" and "Store & Load". Move & Lift" is all about innovations in materials handling and lifting technology. This includes industrial trucks, cranes and lifting equipment as well as aerial work platforms, continuous conveyors and port handling technology. But even there it is no longer just about machines, but rather about how these devices will be integrated into the automated supply chain in the future. In the "Store & Load" area, the focus is on automated storage systems. Complete systems as well as racking systems, operating equipment, pallets, containers and loading technology will be on display here.
Show within a show: Empack@CeMAT
The Easyfairs trade fair duo "Empack" and "Label&Print" will take place for the first time as a "show-in-show" concept as part of CeMAT. In Hall 13, exhibitors will present their solutions for transport packaging, packaging materials and packaging materials as well as the latest special machines. Launched by Easyfairs in 2014, the "Label & Print" trade fair complements Empack@CeMAT in Hanover as a platform for everything to do with print, digital printing and the entire value chain of the graphic arts industry.
Experience the entire supply chain on foot At the special show "Innovative Logistics Solutions" in Hall 27, visitors can experience an educational highlight. They can follow the process chain station by station - from unloading at the container terminal to loading technology at the outgoing goods area and transportation. Software and technology solutions will be presented for each process step.
The vibrant logistics chain consists of five areas:
- Transport logistics: This involves transport planning, the transportation of goods by road, rail, water or air, as well as the handling and unloading of containers.
- Incoming goods and unloading technology: This includes the automatic identification and recording of incoming goods - in some cases with the help of RFID - and automatic depalletizing. The use of unloading robots is also shown here.
- Conveyor technology: In-house transportation to the warehouse and production has many facets. Innovative storage technology enables fast and efficient storage and retrieval as well as provision in production.
- Picking and packing small parts: Before shipping, small parts are picked, weighed, measured three-dimensionally, packed, provided with barcodes or RFID labels and placed on pallets. Intelligent automation variants have also become established in this area in recent years.
- Loading technology: recording load units in bulk, automatic packing of containers or other load carriers, loading and load securing - there are numerous innovations to discover here too.
According to Wolfgang Pech, Business Unit Director at Deutsche Messe AG, the aim of the special show is to provide visitors with inspiration for shaping their own supply chains. Which exhibitors are particularly worth a visit? Let the short reports on the following pages inspire you.
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