When Bentley relocated its parts centre at Crewe in Cheshire, it turned to TGW Logistics Group to fit-out the new facility with an innovative automated warehousing solution.

Previously, the car manufacturer housed its automotive components within a designated area of its central warehouse at the Crewe manufacturing facility.

Over time, the manual order picking of parts proved to be increasingly labour intensive so, when the need for additional space and improved efficiency arose, Bentley moved the parts division into a purpose built facility on the same site.

To significantly improve the speed and accuracy of the order picking system following its transition to the new building, TGW designed and installed a state-of-the-art automated warehousing solution.

The system that TGW provided consisted of five automated storage and retrieval (ASR) machines to service the five aisles of warehousing and 60,800 storage locations within the new parts centre.

The five 9 metre high Mustang mini-load ASR machines have rigid masts and telescopic handlers that can reach “double deep” into the storage rack maximising the use of space within the available footprint. Extremely energy efficient and with a lightweight construction and improved centre of gravity, the Mustang can also achieve high acceleration and travel speeds without a top drive, which reduces the power requirement and lowers the operating cost.

An automated conveyor system transports the parts to ergonomically designed workstations where they are presented in an optimised position for manual packing. This network of transport conveyors also links the goods receiving and product conditioning workstations to the automated storage system. All the equipment is controlled using TGW’s warehouse management system.

As a result of the installation, Bentley has benefited from improved pick accuracy and better inventory control. By making optimal use of the space within the footprint of the building, the solution has also delivered substantial operational efficiencies and cost savings.

TGW Limited is a leading supplier of highly dynamic, automated logistics solutions for warehousing and distribution operations throughout the UK and Ireland and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the TGW Logistics Group.

With solutions that offer its customers an optimum return on investment and products that are widely regarded as ‘best in class’, TGW demonstrates the highest execution standards to achieve the seamless integration of its solutions in new builds or retrofits.

In addition to the automotive sector, the company provides logistics solutions to a wide range of industries including apparel, e-commerce, food and beverage, retail, fast moving consumer goods and manufacturing.

HOSPITAL EXPANDS AUTOMATED

MOVEMENT OF FOOD AND MATERIALS

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are becoming increasingly popular for efficient transportation of goods within hospitals. Such driverless vehicles typically move linen, refuse, medical waste, patient meals, soiled food trays and even surgical instruments. They can be programmed to open doors and use lifts automatically, allowing access to practically any area in a building.

Motol University Hospital in Prague is a good example of a medical centre that over the past 16 years has taken full advantage of AGV technology, in this case supplied by E&K Automation. The hospital, which employs 5,000 staff, is the biggest in the Czech Republic, with 2,400 beds for patients of all ages.

The flexible AGV system is an integral part of the hospital’s future, owing to the longevity of the constituent parts and E&K’s ability to constantly upgrade and develop the installation to suit the customer’s ever-changing needs.

Today, the institution’s infrastructure includes a 38-vehicle AGV system for transport of goods within and between the different buildings, including the original children’s hospital complex and an adult hospital built some years later.

Back in 1972, when the children’s hospital was opened, movement of goods within the buildings was carried out using manual carts and a limited number of lifts. Transport between buildings involved the use of trucks.

It was decided in 1983 to erect a new centre for adults near the existing children’s hospital. The project included the construction of a new, large-scale kitchen and a central store that includes an archive for medical files. At the planning stage, provision was made for the later introduction of an AGV system to service the buildings. However, it was not until 1995 that the E&K automated transport system entered service.The adult hospital was constructed with an underground corridor leading to the children’s hospital so that it too would benefit from automated goods handling. From the end of the corridor, the idea was for containers to be handled manually into lifts and to their destinations by hospital staff in the children’s section.

The inductive control wires that the AGVs follow in both directions were installed along the corridor, on each floor of the adult hospital buildings and in the lifts. Communication between the vehicles and the E&K control system employed induction loops in the floors at predefined distances. These guidance and communications technologies were of course standard in AGV systems of the early 1990s. In all, 28 vehicles were deployed.

Modernisation of the AGV network

In 2006, a complex modernisation of the children’s hospital was instigated, which was only completed in April 2011. It included a €2.8 m project for E&K to supply 10 new AGVs and extend the AGV system from the end of the corridor to all of the children’s wards. Reconstruction also involved installation of four new battery charging stations and 10 new lifts for the AGVs to access wings A, B and C of the children’s hospital. Civil work included further underground corridors for the AGVs to access the new lifts and construction of another operating theatre.

It was impractical to extend the AGV transport network and retain the old communication system. Moreover, spares for the early vehicles and control computers were becoming difficult to source. In addition, after eleven years of daily use, the vehicles needed refurbishing. So the complete AGV control and communication system was modernised as part of this project; refit being a core E&K business unit for the upgrade and refurbishment of both E&K and competitors’ AGV systems.

New control and communication systems

Between 900 and 1,000 containers are now transported every day around the AGV network at Motol University Hospital, all year round. During reconstruction and extension, it was essential that automated movement of goods was not affected.

A WLAN-based control and communication system was supplied along with the new AGVs. The former was installed over the entire area within and between the hospitals, independently of the old system and alongside it. This part of the project also included access points for the lifts. Operation of the old system, including communication with the vehicles, could therefore continue normally. Switching between the old and new control systems was done by means of a simple changeover switch.

Each night, when batteries powering the 1995 vehicles were being recharged, the new vehicles, control system, lift control and WLAN were tested. That was the most difficult time during the modernisation of the system, because at 5.30 the next morning, the entire system had to operate at full capacity again.

That phase took several months, after which the conversion and overhaul of the old AGVs, including installation of new communication modules, was completed within six weeks. The critical moment occurred when the 10 new vehicles were brought online with the 28 old AGVs, as the decision to switch to the new system permanently was then irrevocable.

During hospital operation, there are no fixed rules concerning the number and frequency of transports. Each day is different and control at peak times is performed in software by setting priorities according to the urgency with which goods are needed. The longest transport distances are in excess of half a kilometre and vertically the vehicles travel in lifts up to 12 storeys.

Three photographs herewith:

1. Containers being transported automatically on E&K AGVs along an underground corridor connecting the Motol adult and children’s hospitals in Prague.

2. E&K AGVs entering two of the new lifts in B wing at Motol children’s hospital.

3. A more modern E&K AGV system in a hospital environment, including all of the latest technology. This is how an installation would look if designed and implemented from scratch.

On behalf of: E&K Automation Ltd, 25 Campbell Court Business Park, Bramley, Hampshire, RG26 5EG.

Tel: +44 (0)1256 880228.   Fax: +44 (0)1256 880338.

E-mail: peterholdcroft@ek-automation.com

Web site: www.ek-automation.com

Contact:  Peter Holdcroft, Managing Director

Many suppliers have recently been promoting the advantages of cloud based Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), but is this a case of jumping on the bandwagon without considering all the implications?  Logistex’s Head of Sales and Solutions Derek Kay considers what cloud technology means for the industry.

“For a smaller business with a manual warehouse operation, cloud technology initially appears to makes sense in many respects, particularly when combined with a software as a service (SaaS) payment option.  Cloud systems benefit from a large scale IT infrastructure with applications running on virtual servers hosted remotely from the warehouse site.  The disaster recovery plan is already in place and the customer does not need to worry about maintaining servers on site.”

But what does it really save? 

“To get the real benefit of a WMS you need to be using RF terminals to ensure accuracy in receipt, storage, picking and despatch operations.  RF terminals require an RF infrastructure, the maintenance of which needs to be someone’s responsibility. It’s possible to outsource this support to your WMS provider or third party, but how long can you afford for the operation or at least part of it to be out of service while they respond with a site visit?  A cloud based WMS also needs a reliable internet connection and an internal IT infrastructure to connect local PCs and peripheral equipment.

So in reality someone on site needs to be responsible for internal IT support regardless.”

“These are not uncommon arguments against use of a cloud WMS.  However one key argument always seems to be overlooked.  Most businesses have aspirations to grow – and growth generally requires increased throughput and improved efficiency. So what happens when you realise that to get these improvements you need to move to some level of automation, no matter how simple?”

“The general opinion is that you need to have an on-site Warehouse Control System (WCS) to integrate and control the materials handling equipment (MHE).  So now you have a WMS hosted remotely and a WCS hosted locally, communicating over the internet, which can mean you’re paying for two systems, often from two suppliers.

Many WMS vendors specifically avoid any responsibility for WCS functionality, focussing only on non-automated operations.  However this can preclude their customers from receiving the benefits that come with efficient use of MHE.”

“Logistex’s LWS Reflex Warehouse Management System is different because it includes an inbuilt WCS capable of controlling and managing all of the typical MHE found in a modern warehouse.  LWS Reflex can be deployed initially as a cloud solution but when growth leads to automation the application can be directly transferred to local servers and immediately make use of its WCS capabilities.”

“The question that needs to be asked when considering a cloud based WMS should really be – ‘Do I want my business to grow and will this system limit that?’  LWS Reflex allows the user to pick and pay for any selection from a comprehensive suite of pre-installed features, as and when they need.  So as a business grows and changes, the inventory management and control process matches the client’s needs step-by-step.  The cost reflects actual usage of selected features, delivering fast pay back and ROI.”

“Designed to work with ERP, SAP and other Enterprise systems, LWS Reflex is ideal for warehousing, manufacturing and assembly environments – and its ability to handle single item applications makes it a highly effective tool for fast-growing E-tailing and catalogue operations.

This is not to say that cloud computing will not have a huge impact on how we share and manage data.  Hybrid cloud computing in which enterprises extend their

resources to public clouds may well be the trend of the future.”

“In addition to providing reliability and scalability of public clouds, hybrid cloud computing has the appeal of providing the most suitable environment for some applications, such as databases, that run better on a dedicated server than on a shared server.  What is important as with any new technology is to understand both its advantages and limitations and to ensure it fully integrates with established and proven systems”.