AutoStore – robots in logistics
Since April 2022 robots have been supporting the parts supply for the production department in the HORSCH Forest Factory. Alois Schneider and Johannes Mader describe how the system works.
terraHORSCH: What is AutoStore? What is it used for?
Johannes Mader: It is a cube-based storage and picking system that can perfectly be integrated in smaller halls. It is no traditional rack system with tracks in the middle. Thus, we do not need complex high-rack storage solutions or additional halls, but we can provide more storage capacity in a small, already existing space. The storage containers, so-called bins, are stacked beside and on top of each other. Robots move on rails above the cubical-shaped storage system, remove the bins and take them to the picking point. The system is used to supply the production department with small parts. Previously, they were mainly stored in pallets in high racks. It was laborious to remove the parts as you always needed a driver with a forklift truck. Now a robot can move the small bins automatically and autonomously.
terraHORSCH: How does the removal work? What are the advantages?
Alois Schneider: If we need small parts, we do not have to take the whole pallet off the rack, but the plastic bin is taken to the picking point by a robot so that you can quickly take out the small parts. The robot removes the required bins by means of lifting straps and a gripper plate. In total, there are 22,000 bins in our system. In every bin we can store small parts up to a weight of 30 kg.
To remove one of the lower bins, it is systematically “dug out” – the process is really called this – by the robots. This means: one of the robots moves on the rails until it gets to the respective location, takes the top bin out and puts it elsewhere. The robot continues to do this until the desired bin has been dug out. The result is a natural sorting order according to the removal frequency of the individual material numbers. Parts that are rarely used move downwards, parts that are required often are stored at the top. The process is simple: newly stored bins or bins that return from picking are always stored right on the top of the stacks.
We have six so-called ports installed in our AutoStore storage. These are the spots where goods can be removed or stored. The advantage is that we can quite quickly access the parts as the robots can deliver a new bin every ten seconds.
terraHORSCH: What are the special advantages?
Johannes Mader: The biggest benefit is that we can speed up the small parts supply for the assembly lines and do no longer have to move the whole bunch of parts. Moreover, the picking distances an employee had to cover to get to the right storage location has been eliminated. This storage location, i.e. the bin, now is taken directly to the respective workstation.
Alois Schneider: After a running-in period of eight weeks, we now handle approx. 100 positions per hour and port. I.e. on average it takes us approx. half a minute to take out one position. Due to another optimisation, we can increase the output even further.
One of the advantages of the AutoStore system is that you can quite easily increase the number of robots. The storage area, too, can be extended quickly and cost-efficiently without interrupting the running system. Thus, in the future, we can react to the requirements of our production department flexibly and at short notice.
See how AutoStore works.