Feature Materials handling & conveying RFID technology is the healthy option
Healthcare supplies specialist Bunzl has replaced its existing fleet of VNA order pickers with three Jungheinrich EKX 513 Kombis equipped with RFID technology which will enable Bunzl’s warehouse management system to automatically guide them to the right location in the aisles
unzl supplies a range of dispos- able healthcare consumables – products such as gloves, aprons, bandages, facemasks and gowns to the healthcare sector including hos- pitals, retirement and nursing homes, doctors’ surgeries and clinics. The Leicester facility supplies clients such as hospitals and other healthcare centres from Oxford to Sheffield and the previous fleet of order pickers in operation at the store had grown tired and were no longer able to keep pace with the high throughput levels at the facility. “We clearly needed to invest in new materials handling equipment and processes,” says Bunzl’s operations director, Mike Parsonage. “We put the contract out to tender and were very impressed with the kind of productivity gains that the Jungheinrich products offered.” The RFID warehouse navigation unit built in to Bunzl’s new truck is designed to enable the operator to receive picking instructions from the company’s warehouse management system. Once the instructions have been transmitted, the operator accepts the command via a terminal and the warehouse management system auto- matically guides the truck to the loca- tion in which the goods are stored. The truck travels via the shortest route and at the optimal speed to ensure energy consumption is minimised.
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Healthcare supplies specialist Bunzl has replaced its fleet of VNA order pickers with Jungheinrich’s RFID equipped EKX513 Kombis at its centres in the UK
The operator needs only to engage the safety controls on the truck and
can then relax while the truck is directed to the right spot within the aisle. The truck commences its semi- automatic approach to the storage location and as soon as the correct location has been reached, a light on the side of the truck signals to the driver whether he has to pick the order from the left or right. The result is a improved picking accuracy as the operator cannot go to the wrong loca- tion and picking mistakes are therefore significantly reduced. Very narrow aisle (VNA) order pick- ers have traditionally been guided by magnets buried in the warehouse floor to initiate control of the trucks. However, its is said such systems do
not offer the flexibility, safety and operational efficiency benefits that RFID transponders bring.
The RFID transponders used to guide the new order pickers are no bigger than the size of a thumbnail. They have been inserted into the floor within the aisles of the Leicester site. An important feature of the system for Bunzl was the fact that the RFID system offers a number of important safety benefits. For instance, the transponders can sense if the truck is approaching the end of an aisle or a transfer aisle within the racking and will slow the truck’s speed accord- ingly. The truck’s travel speed will also be optimised to suit the standard of the floor over which it is travelling – for example if a part of the warehouse floor is uneven, the truck’s speed will reduce automatically. In addition, if, when travelling with the operator plat- form raised, the truck is approaching a height obstacle likely to endanger the operator, the truck is brought to a con- trolled stop. If the operator attempts to raise the platform to a height likely to bring him into collision with, say, the roof of the facility or some other object, the lift function cuts out. To minimise disruption, the new trucks were delivered and installed over a weekend and the RFID system is expected to go live later this year once the company’s warehouse manage- ment system has been upgraded. “We are already benefiting from increased throughputs, lower running costs and higher productivity,” says Parsonage.
Bunzl has introduced the trucks at its other stores at Manchester, Enfield, Bristol and Ireland.
Jungheinrich UK T: 01908 363100
www.jungheinrich.co.uk
Stairclimber helps move gas cylinders up steps
n old catalogue, kept in the offices of manufacturing systems integrators Comau Estil, led the company to approach Stanley Handling for help manoeuvring heavy gas cylinders on the assembly line of a prestigious motor manufacturer. Bodies for a luxurious new model are assembled in the company’s ‘body in white’ (BIW) factory. The layout of this particular section of the production facility requires heavy gas cylinders, which are required in the manufacturing process, to be moved over a raised step and this presented a degree of manual handling that risked accident and injury.
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After an on-site demonstration and full training from Stanley Handling, a Sprinter 140 Fold powered stairclimber is now enabling technicians to move the required equipment quickly, easily and safely. The Sprinter has a rugged aluminium alloy frame yet weighs only 16kg. Fitted with pneumatic tyres, a folding toe plate and ‘snap-on’ battery, the Sprinter can handle loads of up to 140kg across uneven ground, up and down stairs and along narrow and winding corridors right to the point of delivery.
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Stanley Handling T: 01582 767711
stanleyhandling.co.uk Enter 356
JULY/AUGUST 2011 Materials Handling & Logistics Enter 355
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