FEATURE Supply chain, packaging & logistics


In search of even smarter logistics solutions


By Tom Pegg, Sales Trainer and Product Manager, STILL UK I


ntralogistics providers are seeing growing demand for automation solutions that are scaleable and quickly implemented. It is in direct


response to the continuing shortage of skilled workers, partly due to demographic trends which leave every industry in urgent need of staff . Smart automation solutions are designed to help fi ll these gaps.


Overall, we see that the desire for automation is no longer limited to the early adopters, who are always on the lookout for the latest technical trends and products. Many companies now consider that the only way to meet demand and be more effi cient is through automation. The need is for intelligent solutions that can be used anywhere and without any major modifi cations to the facilities.


Many suppliers can equip a completely new warehouse on a greenfi eld site with a high degree of automation. The trick is to bring intelligent automation into an existing, usually very tight, warehouse structure. And it is precisely for these brownfi eld applications that we off er the most suitable automation technology. Equipping a new factory or warehouse


on a greenfi eld site with everything robotics technology can off er is not such a common requirement. It is more likely that


Tom Pegg, Sales Trainer and Product Manager, STILL UK


automation solutions must be integrated into existing warehouse structures, often with narrow aisles and obstacles to contend with. A particular challenge arises in mixed


operations, where automated vehicles must operate alongside manual vehicles and passenger transport as ‘fenced automation’, rather than being totally segregated. However, self-learning industrial trucks can move safely and eff ectively, even in unfavourable conditions, with smart separation of horizontal and vertical transport in mixed operations. This arrangement requires a wide variety of vehicle types, with each truck taking on the tasks it is most suited for, allowing price and performance to match customer requirements and expectations.


Why use a comparatively bulky high- lift pallet truck or reach truck for long- distance transport? An autonomous mobile robot, with its compact design, barely needs half the space of a forklift truck to pick up and deliver a load. There’s a choice between entry-level versions, which navigate by QR code on the ground, and others suited to more complex applications and mixed operation, including automated guided vehicles, such as vertical order pickers or reach trucks. The main diff erence is the degree of autonomy. An intelligent autonomous robot does not need an ideal environment but can adapt to its surroundings, bypassing obstacles and able to fi nd alternative routes to its destination. It is these capabilities that allow the use of smart robots in brownfi eld applications and in mixed operation with manually- operated vehicles. Our fi rst autonomous transport vehicle is an intelligent order picker that operates alongside employees as an assisting robot, or cobot. Research projects have shown that it is also capable of fully autonomous operation. STILL ensures that the automation of industrial processes is even smarter by making automation scaleable through the plug-in principle. To meet customer requirements and their desire for speedy implementation of automated vehicles, standardised modules can be used to create individual solutions – both for vehicles and the software. Standardised modules are essential to the design of scaleable automated solutions. We need this modularity in the form of a building kit, covering maintenance, repair and retrofi t. The modular design also makes it possible to integrate additional features much faster, reacting more fl exibly to trends, customer needs and new requirements.


CONTACT:


STILL UK www.still.co.uk


24 October 2023 | Automation


automationmagazine.co.uk


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