The mobile robot SOTO, by part of the Jungheinrich group),the Munich-based companyMagazino automates material at MAN in supply between the warehouse and assembly linea one-year pilotphase will be deployed starting this fall twelve of these robots for engine assembly to ensure.
Magazino's SOTO robot transports small load carriers (SLCs) fully autonomously. Magazino and MAN combined their specific expertise during the development phase of the SOTO robots. The preceding pilot phase, which was successful, served to test the robots' functionality in live operation. Based on this, MAN now considers the prerequisites in Nuremberg for the fleet-wide deployment of twelve Magazino robots for the full automation of small parts logistics to be met.
“The robots thus also serve as an example of the ongoing digitalization and automation of our factory logistics,” said MAN project manager Simon Becker. “It’s impressive to see how efficiently and harmoniously humans and robots can work together.” The decision to introduce the SOTO robots at MAN is also the result of a long-standing collaboration with Magazino, which stands for technological excellence and continuous improvement.
For the "last mile" in the camp
“The SOTO robots autonomously pick up the small load carriers (KLTs) at the automated small parts warehouse (AS/RS), and each robot delivers up to 18 containers at a time to the individual assembly lines,” explains Markus Ruder, project manager at Magazino. “At the production line, they place the containers, which currently weigh 12 kg, directly onto the shelves.” On the opposite side of the shelf, workers can then easily access the individual parts for assembly. The SOTO robots can also autonomously pick up empty containers and transport them to the central collection point.
The Nuremberg plant uses standard container formats conforming to the VDA standard. The robot's adaptive gripper automatically adjusts to the corresponding container size and, like a human, flexibly navigates different heights of the transfer racks. The robot receives transport orders directly from the warehouse management system.
While assembly lines in the manufacturing industry are now highly automated, the supply chain in most warehouses is still largely manual. "Existing solutions such as tugger trains or simple automated guided vehicles (AGVs) do not fully automate the process, as manual work is still required for loading and unloading." At the MAN plant in Nuremberg, small load carriers (KLTs) are automatically depalletized and stored in the automated small parts warehouse (AS/RS) upon delivery. With SOTO, MAN is now automating the "last mile" of the KLT retrieval process, aiming for the first human intervention to be assembly workers transferring the empty KLTs from the full goods bin to the empty bin of the rack, from where the robot retrieves them.
