Media Release by Swisslog
Warehousing and intralogistics automation leader, Swisslog, has combined with AutoStore, the manufacturer of a best-in-class cube-based goods-to-person Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), to look at the future of automation in Australia and New Zealand.
The two companies presented to the Supply Chain and Industrial Warehousing Summit (SCIWS), where they discussed megatrends, industry challenges, and how to make the best utilisation of available warehouse space, with the latest advances in automated solutions.
Swisslog is the world’s leading AutoStore integrator, with more than 300 projects in 26 countries, featuring a total of more than 7 million storage bins. Locally, Swisslog AutoStore projects include impressive names such as Linfox and SKUTOPIA.
Swisslog Sales Consultant, Richard Bercich, says that the supply chain and logistics industries are facing a range of different challenges, so working together on clever solutions has never been more important.
“When you combine rising energy costs, high cost of labour, and high costs of holding stock, you get a perfect storm of challenging business conditions, making it hard for companies to maintain growth,” he said.
Keeping up with the megatrends
In addition to navigating industry challenges, companies in retail, e-grocery, e-commerce, manufacturing, and materials handling need to keep a longer view of the megatrends, says Bercich.
“In previous decades, we saw globalisation and offshoring play a major role, but since the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain sovereignty has been growing louder. ‘Grow it here, build it here, supply it here, and sell it here’ has now become the prevailing message to ensure supply chains are less affected by external global disruption,” he said.
“The other major mega trend is our moral imperative for sustainability, to ensure our growth can meet future generations. Companies are adopting Net Zero targets, and need technology to assist in achieving these goals, whilst still remaining competitive in their marketplace.”
The future of grid-based automation
AutoStore is an ultra-high density, fast, and secure goods-to-person ASRS designed to maximise space utilisation in a warehouse.
AutoStore’s unique design enables direct stacking of bins on top of each other and storage of multiple SKUs in a single bin. Over time, fast movers naturally float to the top of the grid due to our unique put-away sequence. It happens naturally without additional software layer, making AutoStore simple to run and with simplicity comes speed, says Jason Wu, Business Development Manager for AutoStore.
Wu, who co-presented to SCIWS with Bercich, says that AutoStore is a highly sustainable and energy-conscious ASRS.
“AutoStore is also extremely energy efficient. 10 robots consume the same power of one vacuum cleaner!” said Wu.
“This low energy consumption combined with low maintenance costs makes for a very favourable total cost of ownership. Processing is made easy, too, because people don’t need to walk long distances to pick products – the robots deliver goods directly to pick stations to reduce picking times,” he said.
AutoPiQ – beyond the grid
To further extend AutoStore to more applications and product types, Swisslog is also introducing its AutoPiQ solution.
The core of this solution is the latest ItemPiQ robot cell, which is equipped with an intelligent vision system and multifunctional gripper to enable gripping of a wider product range.
The cell is based on a shared picking principle – the robot picks the item it is able to pick and the worker finishes the order.
“This human-robot collaboration opens up possibilities for new efficiencies. The robot picks any item it is able to pick, and the worker finishes the order,” explains Bercich.
“To enable high performance, the robot is mainly working in fast speed mode. Once a human enters the safety zone, it automatically switches into human-robot cooperation mode,” he said.
