Health & safety


distanced work stations, and AMRs can be easily scaled up to meet more frequent peaks in demand.


3


EnhancEd pErformancE


If businesses are to meet a significant rise in demand for ecommerce orders, then picking and put-away performance will need to be radically improved. Bringing in large teams of people at peak is simply no longer a viable option. Automated goods-to-person order


picking processes can offer a significant boost to warehouse performance – reducing labour costs by 58 per cent and improving efficiency by 84 per cent. Perhaps the key advantage of bringing


the goods to the person is that it cuts out dead time in walking the warehouse floor during picking and put-away activities – up to 70 per cent of a picking operative’s time is estimated to be non-value adding. Using goods-to-person automation in combination with pick-to-light technology, miles of walking a day can be eliminated, allowing static pickers to perform their actions with great speed and accuracy. The big revolution that is taking place


within the warehouse is the use of autonomous mobile robots. AI and robotics is transforming order picking. High cap-ex automation, where conveyors and shuttles are bolted to the floor, is no longer seen as flexible enough for the fast- changing world of ecommerce. A fleet of AMRs can fetch mobile shelf


units of products and present them to a picking station in a pre-determined stream, according to order management. At the same time as picking an order, pickers can replenish shelves, and the robot simply carries away the shelf unit to a high-density storage area, ready for the next activity. AMR systems combined with pick-to-


light technology can boost order picking performance from under 100 units per hour using traditional methods, to up to 600 picks per hour.


4


flExibility & ScalEability


These are two critical factors to consider when applying automation to processes. The growth of online volumes, increased frequency of peaks and rapid changes to order profiles places a heavy onus on an automated system to be both highly flexible and readily scaleable – giving the system the ability to flex and grow with the business. Traditional fixed automation is not


UKManufacturing January 2021


that easy to scale up, or for that matter adapt, should the need be. However, autonomous mobile robot systems have a huge advantage over fixed systems in that you can simply scale up the operation by adding more robots – increasing the capacity of the system as required. Having 80 robots working independently in a warehouse is not a problem, as each performs its duties by plotting their own path, following QR codes placed on the warehouse floor. Installation is straightforward and fast, and provides a future-proofed solution suited to a fast expanding business.


5


appliEd intElligEncE


Software design, integration and support are central to the success of any automation project, so finding the right partner is critical. Trying to get large warehouse


management software (WMS) vendors engaged in writing the interfaces for materials handling systems can often present a hurdle for an automation project. This is why leading automation companies offer their own warehouse control software (WCS) with the hardware – in the UK, Invar Systems writes the WCS for Hikrobot AMR platforms. When integrated with a business’ upper system, intelligent AMRs deliver valuable digitised warehouse data. This information helps companies to optimise business processes, such as labour resource management, which can significantly boost operational performance. The provision of a WCS package is


particularly important for smaller automation projects, or the first steps of a modular development, where the costs of providing an interface with a WMS can be budget-breaking. An established warehouse software vendor, such as Invar Systems, will be able to offer the WCS, along a full warehouse management system – should it be required. And as Invar Systems installs and supports Hikrobot systems in the UK, managing the whole project happens locally. As businesses get to grips with a new


reality involving a far higher volume of online orders, increased uncertainty and the travails of human social distancing, flexible automation in the form of autonomous mobile robots will deliver the agility needed to boost performance and create competitive advantage.


Invar Systems www.invarsystems.com


FIRMS advISed TO COMBINe COMPLIaNCe INSPeCTIONS TO avOId CORONavIRUS deLaYS


combine compliance inspections where possible, so that one assessor can inspect multiple-sites in accordance with COVID-secure guidelines. It comes as recent research shows over half of UK


A


companies expect the coronavirus pandemic to lead to an increase in their risk profile, with health and safety posing the greatest threat. What’s more, reputational risk and ethical stance was cited by firms as a bigger driver than fear of regulatory fines. Vicky Shah, Bureau Veritas, comments: “In the


current climate health and safety has never been more important and although many inspections will have been delayed or cancelled altogether, the reality is firms are still liable for demonstrating that all premises have the correct documentation when it comes to compliance. “To achieve this, firms should consider using


combined inspection services where one assessor can cover multiple disciplines, minimising the number of people on-site and meeting COVID-secure guidelines.” In line with this demand, Bureau Veritas recently


upgraded its Comply in One solution, a combined inspection service that covers core health and safety areas as well as water quality, asbestos and fire safety. The hugely popular service, which has been proven to cut the cost of compliance by a remarkable 30 per cent, now includes an electrical safety offering that covers electric vehicle charger testing, hazardous areas (ATEX) and thermographic surveys. Comply in One is designed to streamline


compliance inspections and alongside Building in One, Bureau Veritas’s web-based system for simple, step- by-step property portfolio compliance, it has been shown to achieve significant savings for organisations with multi-site property portfolios. With both services essentially collecting accessible data on one easy-to-navigate dashboard, this gives businesses the unique advantage of being able to analyse and forecast compliance trends around non-conformities. As a service that is built around flexibility, clients


can take their pick of the Comply in One service that suits them - benefiting from reduced disruption, cost efficiencies and industry-leading inspections carried out by Bureau Veritas’ assessors. www.bureauveritas.co.uk


25


s the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt business operations worldwide, Bureau Veritas is advising businesses to


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