SSI Schäfer's latest hit is not just a swarm of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), but also those that can ascend, climb and move in three-dimensional space with the new "RackBot System Elevate" and agile "ClimbBots".
The new RackBot Elevate system is a complete goods-to-person solution that enables the cost-effective automation of order picking processes in racking systems up to 12 meters high. At the heart of this new solution is a fully integrated swarm of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), known as ClimbBots. Thanks to their combined climbing and driving capabilities, the ClimbBots can access all horizontal and vertical routes within the warehouse. The roaming concept of the bot swarm allows each AMR to utilize all aisles and areas within the warehouse and access every container. Should one of the bots fail, the remaining vehicles can take over its tasks at any time.
As a result, the time between order placement and container delivery by the ClimbBots is reduced to less than two minutes. Furthermore, the risk of picking errors is virtually eliminated.
Thanks to their compact design, the robots only require aisles as narrow as 900 mm. Their maneuverability eliminates the need for cross aisles. The available space can be used to its fullest potential: in a 12 m high system, up to 30,000 storage locations can be created on a floor area of 1000 m².
In such an environment, throughput rates of up to 4000 containers per 1000 m² per hour are possible. Depending on the contents being picked, 200 to 800 containers can be transported to the employee's picking workstation per hour.
Numerous use cases
“Until recently, semi-automated goods-to-person systems were primarily of interest to companies that could reliably forecast their picking processes. Those wanting to invest in such solutions needed stable business development – usually over a period of seven to ten years,” explains Markus Külken, VP Product Line Material Flow at SSI Schäfer. “With RackBot System Elevate, this perspective changes fundamentally: We combine high-performance, proven standard components into a fully integrated overall solution with an extremely short amortization period – in many cases, less than a year. This not only lowers the barrier to entry but also enables viable investment decisions for semi-automated warehouse solutions, even in times of dynamic growth, seasonal fluctuations, or uncertain business conditions.”
Thanks to the high scalability of RackBot System Elevate, a wide variety of applications are possible – from smaller rack warehouses with a few thousand containers to systems with six-figure container volumes. This makes the system suitable both for getting started with semi-automated warehousing and for business cases involving the integration of goods-to-person solutions into fully automated large-scale systems with high performance requirements.
“We can always offer our customers precisely the solution that most sustainably fulfills their business objectives,” explains Külken. “In goods-to-person environments, in addition to the new RackBot solutions, our miniload, shuttle, and lift systems can also be used. The final layout of a new system depends on the specific customer requirements.”
Comprehensive system integration
The automation experts place particular emphasis on integrating robot control with order management. Numerous other integration services are also offered, such as connecting goods receipt, distribution, and production supply.
“Depending on customer requirements, we combine robots, racking systems, load types, workstations, and IT environments into high-performance, comprehensive solutions,” Külken concludes. Support is provided by local service teams.
