Warehouse Automation

Warehouse Automation

Let’s learn more about Warehouse Automation. Envision a self-guided forklift streaming down a narrow aisle, feeding inventory into a rack system towering 40 feet above the warehouse floor, while an auto-guided mini-robot transports outbound inventory to fulfillment stations lit up like holiday lights, enabling order processing of up to 2,400 picks per hour. As the perfect order is complete, a high-speed conveyor shuttles packages toward a stationary robot, which loads the contents into a driverless tractor-trailer. Could this be a look into the warehouse of the 22nd century? Nope, it’s the modern distribution center of today.

Automation is changing paradigms in traditional warehouse operations, starting in Distribution Centers (DCs) across the global supply chain. With the emerging rise of e-fulfillment centers and centralized DCs across North America, companies are seeking ways to maximize throughput, while enhancing order accuracy through the use of automated materials handling (MH) equipment, high-speed conveyor systems, and robotic applications.

As we go deeper into the new year, distribution centers—specifically e-commerce facilities—are recovering from the onslaught of orders that took place leading into the holidays. “During the six weeks prior to the holidays, retail orders can increase 10 to 20 percent,” notes Eric Lamphier, director of product management for Atlanta-based supply chain management software company Manhattan Associates.

Automation Evolution

Automation in DCs across North America is not limited just to upgrades in high-speed conveyor applications. Innovative supply chain solutions in today’s next-generation warehouse include pick/put-to-light, auto-guided vehicles (AGVs) for storage and retrieval, voice-directed technology, wearables, radio frequency identification (RFID) scanning, and robotic applications. It is an important segment of Warehouse Automation

RFID equipment emerged during the World War II era as a combination of telecommunication and laser technologies. But it wasn’t until the dawn of the 21st century that the equipment became more affordable and user-friendly in the form of handheld applications. Advancements since the early 2000s include hands-free RFID technology, voice-activated systems, and wearables.

Robotics hit the manufacturing scene more than 50 years ago when Unimation, a small supplier, introduced an assembly robot to General Motors in 1961.

Since their early applications, robotic implementations stayed focused on the manufacturing sectors—until now. Today, vision-guided robots have emerged in DCs for loading/unloading, retrieval/putaway functions, pallet stack solutions, and goods-to-person applications. In fact, robotic installations in the United States were up by 11 percent in 2014 over the previous year, and the International Federation of Robots predicts a 15-percent annual growth rate for robotics implementation globally.

In the fulfillment realm, Amazon has been the leader in robotic applications over the past five years, and plans to add 16,000 new robots to its distribution eco-system in 2016. Not to be outdone, Walmart announced earlier in 2015 that it plans to invest $2 billion in its e-commerce platform over the next two years. The integration will include high-end MH solutions.

Next-generation automation in warehousing is not exclusive to the mega-retail and e-commerce platform providers, however. Many mid-sized distribution organizations have made a commitment to robotic palletizing, case packing, AGVs, and high-speed conveyor systems.

Sorting at Warp Speed

When Cabella’s, the world’s largest mail order, retail, and Internet outdoor outfitter, decided to open an eastern seaboard DC in West Virginia, it engaged Indianapolis-based materials handling systems provider Bastian Solutions to assist in integrating a fully automated facility, complete with the latest materials handling equipment. It is an important segment of Warehouse Automation

Cabella’s new Wheeling, W.V., facility included 25,000 feet of automated conveyors, two sorters to handle retail and catalog fulfillment, and 240 positions for put-to-light systems. The outfitter’s goal was to process 90 cartons per minute; after implementation, the sorters were able to exceed that goal by achieving a high-speed sorting output of 94 cartons per minute.

Next-generation DCs provide order accuracy and speed, particularly in high- throughput facilities, such as e-commerce, apparel, pharma, and food processing warehouses where automation has become the norm. “It’s no longer about getting ahead of the automation curve,” says Mike Clemons, senior consultant for Bastian. “Operating an intelligent warehouse means implementing the modern technology available in today’s arsenal of tools without falling behind the competition.”

New warehouse operation advancements are linked to an integration of software solutions that drive the use of MH equipment, inventory optimization tools, and robotics. Best-in-class next-generation software suites integrate highly automated MH equipment with enterprise software solutions. An example in today’s modern warehouse is a warehouse management system (WMS) that exchanges real-time data with a voice-directed or put/pick-to-light application. Another link between software and advanced automation is an application that directs AGVs to retrieve orders while tracking inventory levels in real time.

A new trend in software applications is the concept of warehouse control systems (WCS). The WCS enables a DC’s software to interface with its materials handling equipment, order retrieval systems, and distribution technology.

“When it comes to highly automated facilities, warehouse control systems can provide real-time data access where the download is measured in milliseconds,” according to Roger Counihan, an account executive for Fortna, a professional services and engineering firm.

In a smart warehouse, all hardware and software technologies interface with each other. A WCS optimizes inventory levels, while maximizing throughput via advanced goods-to-person applications through the use of pick/put-to-light technology, robotics, and high-output conveyor systems.

Customization is the key to making software and advanced automation sync. “End users must take a holistic approach when integrating existing software applications with today’s materials handling advancements in warehouse operations,” Clemons says. “You can’t operate one without the other.”

Equipping the Away Team

Fulfillment centers and DCs of the past resembled a scavenger hunt, as associates dispersed across the warehouse landscape in search of the next item to complete an order. The average warehouse worker walks approximately six miles in a typical day to fulfill orders, and 75 percent of an employee’s day is linked to order picking, according to research outlined in Robert Palevich’s book, The Lean Sustainable Supply Chain.

To combat the inefficiencies, today’s more advanced distribution facilities have adopted the “goods-to-person” concept as the industry standard.

Goods-to-person fulfillment strategies eliminate or minimize the “labrador retriever syndrome,” which requires an order picker to walk lengthy distances to retrieve orders in a distribution facility. Instead of a continuous stream of dispatched employees scattering to storage racks and bins throughout the DC to locate and pick orders, inventory in a goods-to-person platform is delivered to the picker/packer workstation via conveyor systems or robotic delivery modules.

“Today, SKUs are delivered to an ergonomically oriented workstation in a relatively confined area,” says Ken Ruehrdanz, warehouse and distribution market manager for Dematic. “Though the work area may be considered somewhat restrained, the station is set up with an ergonomic anti-fatigue mat because today’s order processor is more confined to one area vs. the old model of constant walking to pick an order.”

Additionally, conveyor heights and pick-to-light displays are built to levels best suited to enhance the employee’s productivity. “Bins and conveyors are set up in the operator’s ergonomic ‘golden zone’ to prevent excessive reaching, bending, or lifting,” he adds.

As supply chain professionals seek to fill the perfect order, progressive DCs are focused on order accuracy and speed to customer. Advanced materials management systems—such as conveyors, robotic pickers and packers, and auto-guided vehicles—all collectively yield more efficient fulfillment processes and order accuracy.

When it comes to easy-to-implement automation, pick-to-voice technology ranks high in the category of low capital investment and quick integration. Voice-directed picking offers increased efficiency, accuracy, and safety. Particularly advantageous to distributors with high SKU counts, pick-to-voice systems can be operational in less than one hour, based on their flat learning curve. The voice technology can be integrated with existing WMS software, leading to order accuracy of 99.9 percent.

Under the old model of labor-centric order picking, order quantities peaked at 2,000 to 3,000 per day. With advanced conveyor systems working side by side with voice-directed order fulfillment and pick-to-light systems, order efficiency is optimized and throughput can be as high as 5,000, depending on the industry vertical. “Order picking is where we’ve seen the most new automation lately,” says Counihan. It is an important segment of Warehouse Automation

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