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Logistics Magazine, Cover Story: Warehouse Robotics Can Deliver
Bottom Line Performance
March/April Edition
BY DEREK RICKARD
Warehouse operators are finding it increasingly challenging to keep pace with their picking and distribution processes. In some industries, the number of SKUs and labour requirements are growing by leaps and bounds, which can also mean more margin for error, not to mention the dollars and time spent on expansion.
Many are realizing that manual processes are reaching their limitations. By way of example, let’s look at the picking process. A manual pick module requires each picker to work sequentially through their pick list, stacking product on dedicated pick belts. Traditionally, pick belts are configured twowide, or sometimes stacked up to three-high.
When pick rates need to increase, operations can’t add any belts to the existing configuration since that would be unsafe for workers. The only way to expand is to add an entire new pick module, adding to the square footage required.
Adding SKUs also presents a challenge as more lanes have to be added, which reduces a picker’s productivity by making the employee walk further and pick less of each SKU. Studies have shown that a picker working a standard pick module consisting of 250 SKUs already walks approximately 1.5 km per order picked! (Often on multiple levels.)
Many warehousing and distribution centres are hitting the point where they will be forced to expand the building and add more modules, or consider a solution like an automated picking and distribution system. Doing nothing is simply not going to be an option.
THE POWER OF ROBOTICS
An increasingly popular approach is space-saving robotic gantry solutions. These allow operators to boost warehouse productivity and efficiency without having to add modules or increase space usage. This is particularly useful for operations that must deal with high SKU counts and just-in-time delivery demands.
A robotic gantry is a high-speed robot mounted on rails above the warehouse floor. Its design offers four axes of motion to create a large rectangular work envelope and can be configured to fit into a variety of footprint shapes and sizes for limitless layout options. The benefit of this design is they work from above and consume very little space of their own.
This system has been used by a number of warehousing operations worldwide. Experience has shown that robotics can eliminate 100% of picking errors and dramatically reduce product damage. Given that industry order picking errors can be as high as 20% and product damage around 2%, the savings become clear. In addition, there are considerable labour savings, which can account for more than half of a warehouse facility’s operating costs.
A car parts manufacturer we have worked with, for example, uses gantry robotics extensively to address its warehousing distribution needs. The company has installed more than 30 robots at different facilities to streamline delivery of products to customers while improving accuracy.
The newest installation featured 12 gantry robots working simultaneously to handle every aspect of warehouse distribution from receipt of goods to sequential loading onto a trailer for customer delivery.
The system identifies each product, remembers where it is stacked, and then sorts and deploys it for direct shipping. To give an indication of the accuracy levels and performance, during initial testing the robotics application processed 1.3 million parts with no inventory discrepancies. The company also has accurate information on every part, no matter where it is in the delivery cycle, which results in improved efficiency, order accuracy and customer service.
PICKING FOR PROFIT
To illustrate how robotics can be used, the following describes a robotic gantry in a typical picking scenario:
1) Loading: The system is loaded by an operator who delivers source pallets to a loading station at a de-palletizer. Loads are conveyed into an articulated arm work envelope.
2) Singulating: Loads are stripped a layer at a time and placed on a descrambling conveyor system that singulates and orients cases for proper conveyance. Cases are guided to their destinations in the gantry.
3) Reception at Gantry and Storage: The gantry picks cases by layer and stores them in the unit load configuration determined most efficient for storage and picking. The gantry improves stacking speed and simplicity with column stacking 60” to 80” long by 30” wide.
4) Order Dispatch: The system communicates with the WMS (Warehouse Management System) and downloads order information. The main control system dispatches individual orders to each gantry.
5) Automatic Picking: Gantries will pick up single or multiple cases, as required, and place them on one of the multi-layered sections of the conveyor. Each level of conveyor represents a different destination at the dock, which eliminates the need for sorting and scanning after the pick.
6) Palletizing and/or Trailer Loading: Orders arrive at the trailer for manual direct loading, or palletizing.
While robotics may not be the answer to every warehousing operation, when applied to the right high volume environments, return on investment can be exceptional. The key to success is understanding how to get the best value for your technology investment
