Together, shipping, receiving and storage account for less than half of all warehousing activity costs. The major share of expenses – 55% – is bound up in order picking. Breaking down the activities associated with order picking reveals that over 60% of the time is spent by staff walking, and writing, searching and picking tasks constitute the balance of 40% of time.
Autonomous mobile robots can assist in streamlining warehouse productivity.
Based on this data, it is clear that automating the ‘walking’ element of an order picking operation could have a strong positive impact on overall warehouse productivity. At the recent Automate 2022 show, OMRON Logistics Strategic Account Manager, Yaqing Sun, outlined some of the ways in which autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) can be used effectively in the order picking process.
Transporting items to employees: ‘Goods to person’
Using an AMR to move goods to a warehouse associate can reduce the amount of time that associate spends walking. This in turn can reduce fatigue and contribute to improving work satisfaction. In addition, it improves traceability by automating the QR code scanning process.
Potential downsides of this intervention include high upfront investment costs, a relatively long integration and/or installation time, and the possibility of infrastructure changes to the facility. Nonetheless, logistics facilities generally find that the productivity benefits outweigh the initial costs of deployment.
Transporting items between zones: ‘Person to goods’
This involves breaking up the warehouse into separate order picking zones, each of which will have a dedicated employee. As a single order might involve picking from more than one zone, an autonomous mobile robot can move between the zones, stopping whenever an employee needs to retrieve a particular item.
Although each employee must still do some walking, having AMRs traverse the long distances between zones cuts down on the extent of walking required. The main downside of this method is that employees will continue to scan the items manually, so traceability is not fully automated.
Transporting items to a robot: ‘Goods to robot’
This method has the dual advantages of high accuracy and low dependence on labour availability (making it a good option for companies that are struggling to hire personnel). Some downsides include high investment costs and the possibility of lower throughput relative to manual picking.
Nonetheless, collaborative robotic technology is advancing and solutions that connect an autonomous mobile robot with a cobot are likely to become increasingly efficient. Furthermore, AMRs and cobots can work around the clock with minimal downtime.
For more information visit: http://www.industrial.omron.co.za