Leading factory automation provider B&R recently automated its logistics processes in partnership with KNAPP.
B&R Industrial Automation GmbH, a member of the ABB Group, is a leading supplier of robotics, control systems and software. With highly dynamic logistics requirements at its headquarters in Eggelsberg, Austria, the company decided to automate its transport, storage and order-picking processes.
B&R chose KNAPP to provide the intralogistics solution. By combining an automated store, computer-guided picking stations and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), KNAPP was able to ensure a seamless material flow at the facility, from goods-in to dispatch.
Roman Seitweger, Head of Production for B&R, comments: “The KNAPP solution was particularly convincing because it wasn’t a standard solution, but one that was tailored to our specific logistics processes.”
High-density storage
KNAPP’s Evo Shuttle store is the heart of the automated solution, providing 91,622 storage locations, with 80 shuttles zipping back and forth on 40 levels. Three different heights are available in the racks, with containers stored double deep. Some containers are even stacked for storage automatically by a special stacker/destacker station with integrated measurement technology. In this way, the Evo Shuttle system ensures maximum storage density. Combined with faster access times, this has increased warehouse throughput at Eggelsberg by 35 per cent.
Order picking up by 50 per cent
Previously, order picking at the warehouse was a totally manual process, which was physically challenging and resulted in a relatively high error rate. Now the Evo Shuttle supplies four of KNAPP’s ergonomically designed Pick-it-Easy workstations, where picking for either manufacturing or shipping is guided by user-friendly screens for high levels of accuracy. There are also Kanban racks equipped with pick-to-light displays for fast-moving components. The workstations have increased picking throughput by 50 per cent, with up to 6,000 order lines processed per day.
Mobile robots
A fleet of KNAPP’s Open Shuttle autonomous mobile robots, along with existing tugger trains, connect the Evo Shuttle store with B&R’s manufacturing lines, delivering components to the production stations and taking completed parts or empty containers away. They operate through halls that are separated by rapid-action doors, which the Open Shuttles are able to control. The AMR system is adaptable, with new paths and processes being added as required, and integrated scanners ensure safety around employees.
Intelligent software
The control solution for the automation was also supplied by KNAPP, using its own KiSoft software platform, which covers all hierarchy levels and is connected seamlessly to B&R’s SAP® system.
Lifetime support
KNAPP also provides Customer Service for its solution at B&R, ensuring maximum system availability through reactive and preventative maintenance.
Related reading: Machine Vision for Warehouse and Logistics Automation
