Stand-alone, decentralized, efficient: material flow with automated guided vehicles
How to guarantee an intelligent material flow from finished goods warehouse to picking without a static conveying system? A question that is especially important when talking about small areas or ensuring highest flexibility. SSI SCHAEFER developed a special answer for leather goods manufacturer Longchamp. Their centerpiece is an armada of self-organizing automated guided vehicles (AGVs).
Besides others, the project included the installation of new rack systems, the integration of new technology into the bin conveying system, as well as delivery and start-up of the new vertical conveyor and pallet conveying system. Four goods to person picking areas are replenished with automated guided vehicles. The AGVs transport pallets over more than 300 m from the pallet warehouse to the picking area. Once the AGVs have arrived at their destination, they automatically place the pallets in a two-level rack storage system.
While the fast movers are replenished directly by the AGVs, SSI SCHAEFER installed a pallet conveying system equipped with a vertical conveyor for the slow movers which is also replenished by AGVs and allows the access to the higher levels of the picking platforms. Replenishment by AGVs also allows the number of short picks to be reduced and ensures that the pallets containing the required items are quickly transported to the correct position shortly after receiving the order.
Control is realized with an intelligent decentralized control system developed by SSI SCHAEFER. The complexity of 5,000 retrieval and storage positions and more than 15,000 items were depicted. The material flow control is managed by the logistics software WAMAS®.
