FDBusiness.com

Warehouse automation specialists from KNAPP will be presenting a range of solutions for optimising efficiency in multichannel distribution centres at IMHX 2013.

Exhibiting with sister company, Dürkopp Fördertechnik, at the show from 19-22 March at Birmingham’s NEC, KNAPP will be promoting its expertise in the design, installation, maintenance and upgrade of automated handling systems. The group’s stand, 20D30, will feature a live demonstration of a Pick-it-Easy workstation, a display of the award-winning Pick-it-Easy Pocket solution and some working Open Shuttle mini AGVs.

The Pick-it-Easy workstation is designed for use in conjunction with KNAPP’s market-leading OSR ShuttleTM storage and retrieval system, which forms the heart of many of the company’s warehousing solutions. Featuring an independent shuttle on every level of the storage cube served by dedicated lifts at the aisle ends, OSR ShuttleTM achieves up to six times the rate of totes in/out than a traditional ASRS, while having about 20% less footprint and using only some 5% of the energy consumption. Part of a range of ergonomically designed work areas to suit the needs of various industry sectors, the Pick-it-Easy workstation on display at IMHX will demonstrate how pick-from and pick-to totes required for current orders are delivered to the picker, with pick-to-light technology directing the order fulfilment process and light curtains detecting when goods are placed into the wrong tote.

Also on display will be the innovative Pick-it-Easy Pocket solution, which is ideal for multichannel distribution centres. Consisting of a hanging pocket – suitable for items such as flat-packed clothes, shoes, accessories, books, DVDs or toys – that runs on an overhead conveyor system, Pick-it-Easy Pocket allows the performance of an OSR Shuttle™ system to be maximized through batch-picking of orders and then sortation of those goods ready for dispatch. Batch-picked goods are placed into a series of hanging pockets – each of which has an RFID tag – which are then conveyed to a matrix sorter and sorted so that they arrive at the packing stations in the correct sequence to collate each customer’s order. Pick-it-Easy Pocket recently won the coveted Logistics Innovation Award in the category ‘Logistics installations or systems’ for client SeD Logistique at the SITL in France.

Visitors to the KNAPP stand will also be amused by the movement of several free-roaming Open Shuttle vehicles. These laser-guided mini AGVs are designed to handle cartons and containers and have the advantage of keeping access ways free from fixed lines of conveyor. Ideal for all kinds of lower-throughput transport needs or to combine transport and picking tasks, Open Shuttles are highly manoeuvrable. They are also polite – they can be programmed to ask obstructions to move out of the way and, if an obstruction is not removed, the vehicle will simply turn and take another route to its destination. Open Shuttles are perfect for use in just-in-time environments – such as automotive production – or in processes where tracking of material is important, such as in the pharmaceutical industry. They are also suited to manufacturing applications for the delivery of raw materials, the transport of work-in-process, the removal of finished goods and the supply of packaging.

KNAPP will also use IMHX to promote its VISION technology of image recognition and augmented reality, designed to improve picking accuracy in the company’s quest to achieve the ‘Zero Defect Warehouse’. As well as developing brand-new solutions around this technology, KNAPP is applying VISION expertise to its existing automation systems, including its ‘A-frame’ central belt autopickers and the OSR Shuttle™ system. The first installation of its mobile, head-mounted KiSoft VISION system for manual picking went live in September 2012 at the site of the leading eyewear designer and manufacturer, Michael Pachleitner Group, in Nuremberg.