The Latest Trend - Kiva Systems

The KIVA system is one of the latest innovation in warehousing.

 

Instead of pickers going to the goods, the goods goes to the pickers. The pod is a mobile AGV that carries inventories that is needed by the picker and bring it to them. The picker do not need to travel at all. It is also easy to install and it take as little as only one day. There is no requirement for aisles, thus there is higher space utilization. Replenishment and picking can be achieved at the same time. It utilizes random storage location, thus improving space utilization. The system is also flexible and changes can be made easily.

This will help pickers to pick multiple items at a time and save them on traveling time. Picking accuracy will also be improved as it is computerized. Productivity level will also be improved.

However it can be expensive to install as it is one of the latest technology and picking time may be affected by number of pods installed. It must have even-surface for it to travel. If the warehouse has a high ceiling, it will not be able to utilize the space provided by the high ceiling as the racks cannot go so high.

Find out more at www.kivasystems.com

Facilitator's Question

"How a warehouse/distribution centre decides between carousel and the live storage systems?"

There are a few factors that warehouses have to decide before making the decision. They are, size of the product, value of product, product line and capital availability

Size of the product - This is the main factor to consider when deciding between the two systems. Carousel systems are only suitable to store small items such as drugs whereas live storage are only suitable for pallets or items with a flat surface.

Value of product - The value of product also affects the decision. A product of high value should be placed in the carousel system as it provides much better security as compared to live storage. This is because carousel system stores its goods in a closed container whereas live storage simply stores it on the rack, which makes it easily accessible to potential thieves. Carousel systems are also able to keep track of who and what is taken out from storage whereas  live storage is not able to.

Product line - Product lines should be considered as each system handles different product lines differently. Live storage requires the inventory stored on the same row be of the same product line, only then FIFO can be achieved. It is a little bit of fixed location storage. Whereas carousel systems allows different product lines to stored in it. The order picker only need to input what he wants to retrieve and it will be automatically brought to the picker.

Captial availability - This is the limiting factor. The capital limits what a warehouse can install. A carousel system definitely has a higher initial setup cost as it is high tech as compared to live storage. However it ensures more accurate and easier picking as compared to the latter. Less workers are also need to tend to the security of the goods. It has good space efficiency too as compared to live storage.

Lifting

Raising and lowering of materials to different heights are definitely one of the movements in a warehouse. Cranes and hoists are the equipments to do it. However they are only able to do so in a defined space. Cranes and hoists are expensive and it is not easily modifiable when installed. Proper planning should be made before installing it. There are many examples of lifting equipments. They are, hoists, jib cranes, overhead traveling cranes, gantry cranes, crane attachments and scissor lifts.

Today we are only focusing on gantry cranes and scissor lifts.

Gantry Cranes

Gantry cranes travels on floor-mounted rails. It is built to handle large and heavy goods. It can carry up to 200,000kg. Usually gantry cranes are installed at shipyards and steel mills where heavy lifting of ship components are required.

Gantry cranes are cheaper than its alternative which is the bridge crane. The table below shows the cost comparison between the two alternatives.

Gantry crane may have a higher initial setup cost but gantry crane allows you to save up to $17,985 as compared to bridge crane in total cost.

It has a large work area and it allows easy movement of the goods. 

However, despite the lower cost, gantry cranes takes up a large space as it is dependent on the rails that are mounted on the floors.

Scissor Lifts

It is used to lift things from a platform to another of another level. It can only be raised vertically. It is operated by hydraulic actuated scissor mechanism under the table. It carry up to around 200,000kg. Scissor lifts can lift up to a height of 12-13m. It is cheap.

It is usually used in the loading and unloading stages of the warehouse operations.

Conveyors

Conveyors systems are used to move goods around the warehouses, either from receiving to storage or from storage to picking and eventually dispatch. It is fully automated and it only require human intervention during feeding and discharging. Conveyors are only useful for continuous movement and the routes are fixed. 

It is high in equipment cost but it is efficient in moving goods around the warehouse. It is useful when other handling equipments could not be used. 

There are many different types of conveyors. They are automated guided vehicle, gravity roller conveyors, chutes, skate wheel conveyors, accumulation, flat belt conveyors, slat conveyors gravity conveyor systems, powered conveyors, chain conveyors, tilt try and tilt slat conveyors, overhead chain conveyors. power and free conveyors and under-floor conveyors. Today we are only focusing on automated guided vehicles and gravity roller conveyors.

Gravity Roller Conveyors

It is one of the most popular type of conveyors. It is low in power usage and as its name suggest, it uses gravity. The rollers are spring-loaded so it can be easily removed. Goods must be flat surfaced and it must be smooth and firm.

The load must be in contact with at least 3 rollers.

 It it does not, the good will tumble out.

Automated guided vehicles

It is basically vehicles that are driverless. It usually travels on a guided path either by under-floor wiring or by laser-guided or by optically marked paths. 

a lightweight production AGV

A laser-guided forklift

AGVs have the ability to make path decisions. There are a few types of decisions to be made. They are the frequency that are transmitted to them by the underground wires, pre-programmed paths and by the magnetic strips that are embedded into the floor, these strips an control the speed of the vehicle.

Picking Equipments

Picking is activities of selecting and withdrawing goods or components from a 

store or warehouse to meet production requirements or to satisfy customer orders.

We will introduce 3 types picking equipments - Automated Picking Equipment; Manual Picking Equipment and Semi-Automated Picking Equipment.

Automated Picking 

Utilizing barcodes, conveying, storage, sorting and distribution can be performed automatically. Automated picking used when product moves to the worker, when higher costs can be offset by volume and greater reductions in the labor needed. one example of automated picking equipment is LIGHT DIRECTED PICKING SYSTEMS.

The ECONO-PICK pick to light system was designed to provide light directed order fulfillment that is easily installed, controlled, and maintained.

All ECONO-PICK devices are identified with a serial number, which assures no two devices are the same. This serial number is used to identify a device when communicating with it. Display based" systems use a full 4-digit numerical pick module at each pick location. This format provides the ability to show all required picks and their corresponding quantities at once. As picks are completed, pickers press the task complete pushbuttons until all are extinguished.

Manual Picking

It is very labour intensive. An example of manual picking equipment is Gold - Place Manual Pick & Place Series . These manual pick and place systems are designed specifically for low volume and prototyping assembly runs for the second stage of the SMT assembly process - placing components on the board assembly.

Semi-Automatic Picking

The semi-automated system supplement a mechanised system by automating specific handling requirements. I introduce a semi-automatic picking equipment- OSS - ORDER STORAGE SYSTEM.

The OSS is a semi-automatic, paperless system operated via radio frequency terminals for processing batch orders. Ideal for all non-breakable products which, can only be picked manually. For fast, medium and slow-moving products. For all product shapes with maximum dimensions of 400 x 260 x 200 mm (except fragile products).

Dispatch Center

This video can help us understand how goods be dispatched.

Inventory Stacking (Video)

It is about how inventory be stacking.

Lift Trucks (Video)

This clip is about how people use Lift Trucks in normal warehouse activity.

Lift Trucks

Lift Truck is a strong family in Logistic Industry. It includes Counterbalanced Fork Lift Trucks (CBFLT), Reach trucks (Double deep & Four directional reach trucks), Stacker trucks, side loaders, free path high rack stackers & stacker cranes. They are efficient, fast moving, heavy loading and flexible.

Counterbalanced Fork Lift Trucks (CBFLT)

CBFLT have relatively fast. It can carry a weight of 1,000kg to 45,000kg. It is also easy to operate. Smaller models may have 3 wheels instead of 4 so that it is easier to maneuver. There are 2 kinds of CBFLT. One is the sit-down and the other is the stand-up truck.

It can go up to the height of 5m.

It is usually used in the storage and picking stage of the warehouse operation. 

Reach Trucks

Reach trucks are driven electrically and it does not have any counterbalance because it does not have a long length. It can carry a weight of 1,000kg to 3,500kg, which is a big difference as compared to CBFLT.

It can go up to a height of 8m

There are 2 kinds of reach trucks. They are double deep and four directional reach trucks.

Double Deep Reach Trucks

It is a type of reach truck whereby it has a longer fork to access double deep racks.

Stacker Trucks

It is a lightweight truck which can carry only up to 2,000kg of goods.

Side loaders

It has a mast which is perpendicular to the direction of the travel. It can handle loafs that are 6-7m long.

One example of usage of side loader is the loading of rods onto cantilever racks.

Free path high rack stackers

It travels on rails in very narrow aisles. The truck can access stock from either side of an aisle. The width of the aisles need not be too wide, as long as it is wider than the goods. Some of them are operated from the ground.

It can go up to the height of 12m.

Stacker crane

It travels on rails that are mounted on the ground and on the ceiling. It has a mast which is responsible for lifting and lowering the carriage to the height required and load into and out of the racking on either side of the crane aisle. It is computer driven, however it can also be manually driven.

It can go up to a height of 30-35m

Non-Lift trucks

Non-lift trucks are usually used to transport goods from one place to another without lifting them from a certain height. There are 2 examples of non-lift trucks. They are trolley, pallet-truck.

Trolley 

The platform hand truck is a very common handling equipment. It is suitable to carry a variety of goods. The maximum load for it can be up to 300kg.

It is cheap but it usually requires manual labour. 

It is used in almost every stage of the warehouse operations.

Pallet-Trucks

The pallet truck is commonly used to transport pallets around the warehouse. It can be powered or non-powered. The above one is non-powered and it requires manual labour. The handle can be tilted to allow the operator to walk easier while operating it. It does not allow stacking of pallets.

The price of it can vary but the non-powered ones are usually cheaper but it requires manual labour. 

Racks

Some racks can be classified as a Materials Handling System and a storage system. I have listed two examples below. They are the carousel system and the live storage.

Mechanized System

Mechanized system are storage systems that are entirely automated. There are two types of mechanized systems. They are vertical and horizontal. In vertical systems, the carousels can be built to make use of available building height. They are driven electronically. The stock is automatically brought to the operator’s location. This reduces operator movements and give good order packing rate. Stocks are easily accessed. It uses random location storage, thus storage space is fully utilized. Goods are also secured as it is in a protected storage.

The setup can be expensive as it is of high technology and automated. It does not need any vehicle to access the goods.

One example would be the Vertical carousel system

It is used mainly in the picking stage of the warehouse operations

Live Storage

Live storage is a system that supports FIFO. Basically goods are loaded from one end of the rack and unloaded from the opposite end of the rack. This rack is suitable for high throughtput items. Goods can be carton boxes or any unit load with a flat surface as it uses roller conveyor belt.

This setup is very expensive as compared to the other 2 racking system and it can be accessed by a fork truck.

It is used mainly in the picking stage of the warehouse operations.

Our Focus

Our blog will focus on Materials Handling Equipment.

This topic is vast topic which covers a wide range of activities in a warehouse. It can be interlink with Receving & shipping dock operations, storage systems and many more.

In the following weeks we will post entries about the different kind of equipments that are used in a warehouse. In each entry, we will detail at which stage is it used.

Introduction

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