This two-part article on robots in distribution and warehousing zooms in on the pros and cons of robots. In addition, Andrew Manly discusses the different robots available on the market. How do you choose the right robot for your working environment?
Much of the day-to-day work in warehousing and distribution centres - for example receiving, identifying, sorting and shipping goods - is still done by hand. But robot technology is by now taking over more and more of these functions.
Warehousing and distribution companies face new challenges as the number of SKUs (stock keeping units) increases. Moreover, these companies have to deal with mixed 'direct-to-store' pallets. This increased complexity can mean that more - and more highly trained - people are needed to do the work. This naturally results in higher costs. Not only because of the increased labour, but also because there is more risk of damage and incorrect deliveries.
This makes it not at all a crazy idea to leave important tasks in the warehouse and distribution centre to robots. Robot suppliers are thus taking advantage of complex processes in companies. A growing demand for robot technology is lowering equipment costs and improving management programmes.
Automating a Mixed Item Palletising (MIP) operation is incredibly important for warehousing and distribution centres. This is therefore where distributors have the greatest opportunity for a quick 'return on investment'.
The challenges
Challenge one is making choices. It is difficult to get a robot to copy human behaviour. Humans make daily choices when selecting and placing a product on a pallet. Robots do not have that judgement and adaptability and are therefore unable to make these important choices.
It is also difficult to replicate the many actions performed by human hands. In the past decade, great progress has been made on the development of intelligent robots, software and 'end of arm tooling' (EOAT) that allows robots to mimic these actions.
Areas of work
The company FANUC Robotics is focusing its robot development efforts on the receiving/completion and order processing/shipping tasks within the warehousing sector. Indeed, robots could offer significant benefits in these tasks, according to FANUC Robotics.
When receiving or replenishing, 'robot layer handling' is used to break up homogeneous pallets, build up mixed layers of pallets or place a layer of products on a singler. This singler transports the individual items to the storage area.
In the field of order fulfillment and shipping, it is more about palletising 'direct-to-store' pallets. Building up such a pallet is usually done with multiple SKUs on one pallet. Moreover, in many cases, the pallets consist of orders for different shops.
Rules
According to Fanuc, there are certain 'rules' that must be followed to get the most out of each pallet. Rules that a pallet should adhere to include: maximising the allowable height for the end-user's storage and delivery requirements, dense packaging without gaps, maximising the emissions of the pallet, minimising the air gap, order loaded on a 'first-on-last-off' basis and stability to survive transfer and transport. Each order will be different depending on the products, transportation and industry.
Operational modes
MIP operations use two modes: pre-programmed mode and real-time mode. When an operation is pre-programmed , the customer's order data is properly analysed before the order is processed. 'Stock Keeping Units'(SKUs) from the order are then retrieved, phased and issued to the robot based on the results from the pre-planned algorithm that indicates the optimal solution for pallet construction.
When using real-time information, the best location for an item on a pallet is decided only at the very last minute. This mode is also known as the 'Random Order Mode'.
Tooling
' End of Arm Tooling' is designed to deal with products of different sizes, shapes and textures. 'End of Arm Toolings' must be highly reliable and be able to select from a wide range of SKUs. They must also be able to impose some constraints on the MIP algorithms. For instance, the options of pallet construction can be limited to ensure quality of the load. Several EOAT providers exist but in the warehousing and distribution sector, the OEM or systems integrator is likely to offer the best advice.
Software
There are also several software packages on the market. The software, coming from robot companies, software specialists or system integrators, must be able to build dense and stable pallets and must also be smart enough to handle events that go wrong, for example if the product from the wrong range arrives at the robot. Fanuc says its software package has the capacity to automatically switch between a pre-planned mode and a 'real-time' mode to deal with such issue. Without this capacity, human hands must intervene to still complete the operation.
Virtual pallets
A 'virtual pallet' feature determines the capabilities of the pallet being used. Only after this, the robot is instructed to pick the product. After the pallet is built, the stored information is delivered. This allows you to analyse whether the activities are performed optimally.
Having an understanding of product mix and average customer orders is important in determining the best solution for each operation. By obtaining this specific information, companies can determine their best algorithm. When the physical difference in products is low, the 'real time' algorithm may be the best choice, as the price and complexity are low. When the size of the products varies a lot, the pre-planned algorithm may offer a solution, but the associated cost and system complexity will be higher.
In the second part of the series on robots in logistics: Choosing the right robot
Andrew Manly - journalist Processing & Packaging
