Picking individual items using a robot cell

Smart picking robots are becoming a permanent fixture in intralogistics. In addition to performance aspects, the main reasons for this are rising wage costs and the shortage of skilled workers. At the same time, companies want to improve their working conditions and reduce the workload on staff. Humans and machines are working side by side, with repetitive and monotonous tasks increasingly being performed by robots. In this way, significantly increased picking performance can be achieved with maximum picking accuracy and availability. "Against this backdrop, it is our task to use our combined expertise to continuously optimize our automation solutions in line with market requirements," says Peter Lambrecht, SVP Global Head of Sales, BU Logistics Solutions at SSI Schaefer. "From our customers' point of view, simple processes and ergonomics combined with increased efficiency are of crucial importance."

Tailored to further process steps

SSI Schaefer already offers a tried-and-tested, fully automated, robotics-supported solution for picking individual parts, which also meets the requirements for zero-error tolerance and end-to-end traceability of goods. However, the enhanced SSI piece picking cell now does more. It was realized in cooperation with Ro-Ber, a company of the SSI Schaefer Group, and contains the bundled know-how from numerous customer projects. In addition to Pick and Drop, Pick and Place will be used in the future.

This process guarantees particularly gentle handling, as each item is placed as close as possible to the bottom of the container or carton. This prevents product damage and, at the same time, the filling level can be optimally utilized thanks to precise placement. A connection to overhead conveyor systems is also on the agenda for the near future. The plug-and-play solution, which consists of a pre-assembled unit, can be combined with manual workstations. The robot cell can also be ideally combined with energy-efficient conveyor technology and flexible shuttle technology from SSI Schaefer.

Can be used across all industries

Object recognition using artificial intelligence in conjunction with modern gripper technology ensures that the goods are gripped securely and placed gently in target containers or cartons. Instead of finger-shaped grippers, SSI Piece Picking uses smaller, compact suction cups that can reach every corner of a container or carton and therefore grip even the smallest parts securely without delay. This speeds up the picking process overall and at the same time the speed can be adapted to the respective product. Machine learning methods also enable the robots to gather experience with each pick and learn from it. This creates a knowledge database that is available to all other robots.

SSI Piece Picking is therefore suitable for a wide range of product assortments in industry, e-commerce and retail, in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries as well as for third-party logistics providers (3PL). One hundred percent product verification is achieved through integrated scanning and weighing functions. By weighing alone, the integrated AI recognizes during the picking process whether the correct items are being picked in the requested quantity. In the event of unexpected occurrences, for example if a barcode cannot be read by scanning, this is resolved by automatic error correction without human intervention.

Patented technology

In addition, process reliability is increased by the reading rate optimization implemented in SSI Piece Picking using barcode detection. The patented pick point optimization ensures an artificial shift of the pick point and ensures that barcodes are not covered during picking and can be scanned immediately. As a result, the system is able to read at least 99.5% of products on the first attempt, in line with GS1 specifications for code placement.

This increases the pick rate and also fulfills the read rate guidelines in the highly regulated pharmaceutical sector. In addition to the extended functions such as pick and place and pick point optimization, SSI Piece Picking scores with further features. The system solution already covers 80% of the product range in the pharmaceutical sector in particular, including goods in cubic, cylindrical, tube-shaped and blister packs. At the same time, the product range is continuously being expanded to include further formats.

AI robotics as a driver of digital transformation

"Depending on the size, weight and storage method, we can pick up to 1,200 individual items per hour with our solution," says Peter Lambrecht. "SSI Piece Picking combines state-of-the-art robotics technology with smart machine learning to create an intelligent overall system that is not only tailored to the challenges of today, but also those of tomorrow. The highly innovative robotic cell will become one of the most powerful and versatile applications for automated single-piece picking."

WAMAS Piece Picking from the WAMAS portfolio is responsible for the material flow-optimized control and vision integration and ensures the strong performance of the solution. A teach-in process is not required, as only typical host master data is accessed. Alternatively, the application can also be used by connecting to existing WMS systems.