FEATURE Automated Warehousing y
Achieving true integrated warehouse automation
Systems Director, Volker Sadowsky of the BEUMER Group, explains how the warehousing sector is adapting to the growing accessibility to robotic automation
L
ong gone are the days when manual processing was king and effi ciencies heavily dependent upon managers being able to fi ll key-worker vacancies to undertake what were inevitably mundane and highly- repetitive tasks. Nowadays, the best of the workforce has been redeployed to carry out more demanding roles, leaving day-to-day activities in the hands of their less-demanding colleagues – the robots. Both inbound and outbound warehouse
processing has now become synonymous with automation, and as the technology evolves, so does productivity. Yet, system integrators such as BEUMER Group insist that emerging technologies have the potential to create material-handling systems in which every function will be fully automated from beginning to end. BEUMER Group has invested heavily
in robotics development, focusing on transforming warehouse processes such as order- and batch-picking. This involves using robots incorporating stepless tilt and rotational arm movements, both of which replicate the strength and agility of human employees when handling items. Thanks to camera technology and advanced algorithms, constantly improved by machine learning, robots will soon be able to form their own impression of shape and measurement, to identify and transfer an item from a belt, just like an operator does.
Equipment integration remains key While automated equipment development continues apace, warehouse managers have to remain vigilant. Solutions may need to be tailor-made, with complex pieces of equipment both integrated and controlled. Warehouse operators can therefore either source automated equipment and control equipment separately or seek end-to-end solutions by system integrators.
Integrating new automated technologies such as robots into a cohesive system is the answer. Adopting a modular warehouse control system such as BEUMER Group’s BG Flow, helps integrate in real time the complete material fl ow from inbound
12 November 2020 | Automation
The Inter Cars European logistics centre
through to outbound, coordinating picking, packing and shipment. With BG Flow, the BEUMER Group can integrate various warehouse processes with its in- house designed solutions. And, because it can provide automated equipment and control software, BEUMER Group is able to guarantee process quality. BEUMER Group has deployed its
warehouse control system (WCS) in several clients’ warehouse operations, including Indian third-party supply-chain and logistics company, Future Supply Chain, and Polish automotive parts and components supplier Inter Cars at its European Logistics Centre near Warsaw. These state-of-the-art installations showcase what can be done when an operator needs to optimise its end-to-end warehousing business. Not only did BEUMER Group engineers design and install the entire mechanical system, they also designed and integrated the PCL and material fl ow control system which is BEUMER Group’s proprietary WCS, the BG Flow. In the applications, BG Flow links the existing warehouse management system (WMS) with all the automated equipment undertaking the entire material fl ow. The WCS ensures smooth operation of both inbound and outbound processing – the latter also encompassing pick-by-light systems – as well as packing, labelling and shipping. Because routing is necessary for
all these processes, this is supported too. By better planning fl ow routes, the
entire system’s performance can be optimised, ensuring that the distribution of the most-extensive inventory runs as smoothly as possible – in the case of Inter Cars’s European Logistics Centre that’s about seven million items.
Adapting to customer needs To ensure that systems truly work to their maximum efficiency is not to simply adapt existing customer processes to the WCS, but rather adapt the WCS to reflect actual customer requirements. Each future installation of BEUMER’s BG Flow will therefore be fi nely tuned to what its warehouse customers really need. Crucially, BEUMER Group predicts that, going forward, current levels of warehouse automation will expand exponentially, off ering the potential to automate and optimise nearly all warehouse processes. Indeed, the scope of robotic technology deployment suggests that warehouse automation is only really at the beginning of what it will eventually morph into over the longer term. Innovation, it seems, is only limited by the dreams of its developers.
CONTACT:
Beumer Group
www.beumergroup.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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