In a globalized world in which industries are becoming more internationalized and the production of goods is more mobile than ever in search of maximum cost efficiency, logistics activities are becoming increasingly important. In this article we will discuss automated warehousing systems.
Products may be manufactured in remote locations to remain competitive, but they are still consumed locally. As a result, more and more materials and goods have to be transported, stored and treated appropriately from a logistics point of view. Logistics is becoming a key cost factor in the operations of companies and the optimization of this activity is essential in order not to lose the competitiveness gained in the production processes.
In this optimization of logistics processes, automation is undoubtedly one of the key points, and within the logistics process of bringing goods from factories and production sites to consumers and companies, warehousing plays a very important role. The automatic storage systems provide us with a number of advantages for process optimization.
Some of the advantages of automatic storage systems can be summarized as follows
- Maximum space utilization and consequent cost reduction. Compacting of the goods. Reduction of the necessary surface area. Maximum height utilization.
- Allows to reach high levels of rotation of stored products.
- Reduction of loading/unloading and order preparation times.
- Reduces labor costs and increases productivity. Likewise, maintenance costs are reduced.
- Possibility of 24/7/365 uninterrupted work.
- Reduced risks and increased safety, damage and misuse of industrial racks. Increased protection of goods.
- Increased quality and service to your customers.
The structure of the industrial racks, in addition to serving as housing for the goods stored at height, serves as support for the handling equipment that performs the loading and unloading movements of the load units. The racks have to absorb the stresses of the stacker cranes generated by the acceleration movements. All these variables must be taken into account for the strength calculations, applying the regulations in force.
Within the automatic storage systems we have different solutions depending on the goods to be stored and the user’s requirements.
Palletized load storage with stacker crane
The handling equipment or stacker crane deposits and picks from the rack the palletized load units on pallets. There are single pallet on bottom solutions, double bottom solutions where 2 pallets are handled simultaneously, and also open face system where the pallets rest on supports instead of on load beams.
Palletized load storage by accumulation
With this solution, it is possible to store unit loads on pallets at the bottom. They are available both as a stacker crane solution and as a combination of a stacker crane and a trolley. With these solutions, high storage densities are achieved although the load units are not accessible at all times. These solutions are applicable when the number of references is not very high and the batches are composed of many units.
Box storage or Miniload
These are solutions that combine the automatic storage of goods in boxes as well as the automation of picking operations. This system also has the advantage that the goods are brought to the operator who prepares the shipping orders, thus achieving high productivity gains.
The loads of these Miniload systems are not very high, which allows the storage of many boxes in height with the consequent optimization of space.
It is possible to design unit load solutions per level or uniload, where one box per level and module is generally stored on angular supports. There is also the possibility of storing several boxes on the same level. In the latter case, the storage is on a beam.
Taking into account that the load units are relatively small, multilevel solutions can be designed. In these solutions, 2 stacker cranes are arranged in height and operate simultaneously.
Storage of boxes by accumulation or shuttle systems
These solutions are not operated by stacker cranes but by a combination of elevators and conveyors. The shuttles circulate through each of the levels depositing and picking boxes, which they carry or pick from the rack headers.
Hanging garment storage
By means of hanging garment storage, for the textile sector and operated by means of stacker cranes, it is possible to store garments hanging on hangers that in turn are arranged on bars that are transported inside the warehouse by the stacker cranes and picked up and arranged on the rack.
With automatic storage systems we increase productivity and eliminate errors thanks to process automation.
