One company wanted a better way to store and retrieve heavy pallet loads, while another needed a system for handling tiny electronic components. The answer for both? An AS/RS.
David Maloney has been a journalist for more than 35 years and is currently the group editorial director for DC Velocity and Supply Chain Quarterly magazines. In this role, he is responsible for the editorial content of both brands of Agile Business Media. Dave joined DC Velocity in April of 2004. Prior to that, he was a senior editor for Modern Materials Handling magazine. Dave also has extensive experience as a broadcast journalist. Before writing for supply chain publications, he was a journalist, television producer and director in Pittsburgh. Dave combines a background of reporting on logistics with his video production experience to bring new opportunities to DC Velocity readers, including web videos highlighting top distribution and logistics facilities, webcasts and other cross-media projects. He continues to live and work in the Pittsburgh area.
Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are among the most flexible of material handling technologies. They're able to store everything from large, heavy pallet loads to small, lightweight parts. The chief selling point of these systems is their ability to track inventory and deliver it when needed to fulfill orders.
The two main types of automated storage and retrieval systems are those used for storing large items on pallets and those used to store smaller items in totes, also known as miniload systems. What follows are the stories of two companies with very different requirements that each found the answer to its storage needs in an AS/RS.
THE CREAM RISES TO THE TOP
The thing about ice cream is that it has to remain frozen or it quickly turns to ice goop. The right technology, such as a pallet AS/RS housed within a large freezer, can help it keep its cool.
Since its founding in 1907, Blue Bell Creameries has become one of the best-known ice cream brands in the South. Headquartered in Brenham, Texas (near Houston), the company produces ice cream at three main plants in Brenham as well as in Alabama and Oklahoma. The ice cream is sold in 20 southern and western states.
The company attributes its success and steady growth to its model of doing only direct-to-store delivery, without any middlemen or wholesalers involved. "It allows us to control the quality," says Paul Prazak, manager of plant operations at the Brenham production facility.
Direct delivery requires that the ice cream be readily accessible so that the product that hits the stores is as fresh as possible. Using automated storage helps Blue Bell achieve that goal. Last year, the Brenham production building installed a new pallet automated storage and retrieval system. It replaced a storage system originally installed in 1982 that required an operator to ride along on the cranes to help gather items. That system did not offer the capacity or speed that Blue Bell would need in order to keep up with growing production and inventory volumes.
The new AS/RS from Daifuku Webb stores the ice cream on pallets within racking. Frozen ice cream can be quite heavy, so using pallets to hold product has proved to be both effective and space-efficient. The facility uses mainly dedicated pallets to assure that products can be easily handled by the automated system. Workers then select products from these dedicated pallets to fulfill customer orders.
The new AS/RS sits in the same footprint as the old system. "We just did not have the real estate to add on to the building," explains Prazak. "The new automation fits very nicely in that 275- by 75-foot space."
Although the footprint remains the same, the new system holds much more product than its predecessor. That's because the roof was raised by 40 feet. The system contains 7,720 storage locations in five aisles, each with a fast-moving storage crane. Compared with the old system, the new system operates more quickly, efficiently, and reliably. And an operator no longer needs to ride along, which has allowed those workers to be assigned elsewhere in the facility. The entire system sits within a huge freezer space, keeping the ice cream at a chilly 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
The company produces about 40 different ice cream flavors at a time that are typically sold to the public in half-gallon containers. It also produces ice cream products in a variety of other packagings. In all, a total of about 250 stock-keeping units (SKUs) are held in the automated storage system. Most will be there less than a month before they're selected for orders. Some ingredients are also stored in the system.
In addition to the AS/RS, Daifuku Webb also supplied two shuttle car systems to transport pallets to and from the automated system and to nearby traditional racking, where slower-moving SKUs are held. One loop is found on each end of the five aisles. Six shuttle cars ferry products to the input side of the AS/RS on about 400 feet of track. Here, they drop off products to be picked up by the five AS/RS cranes for putaway. Four additional shuttle cars handle output duties on a loop consisting of over 300 feet of track. Both systems also feed the stationary rack areas, which, like the AS/RS, are housed within the large freezer warehouse.
The input end of the racks features an additional input/output station on a second level. This gives the operation the flexibility to process additional volumes during peak periods and accommodate products coming from the other two production plants. It also provides redundancy if one of the main input or output stations is down for maintenance.
The new AS/RS is able to handle up to 250 pallets in and out per hour, and it has provided the additional capacity that Blue Bell Creamery needs now and for the future. On top of that, it has reduced labor needs, which means fewer people have to work in the freezer's arctic conditions. "It gave us the room to grow," says Prazak. "It has also been very reliable and gives us the throughput we need while minimizing labor."
PARTS PERFECT
It's said that good things come in small packages, and Phoenix Contact would certainly agree. The German company is a worldwide manufacturer of industrial electronics and control products, most of which consist of small items. In order to house all of those tiny parts and components, its U.S. operations installed a miniload automated storage and retrieval system at its manufacturing and distribution facility in Middletown, Pa. The AS/RS, supplied by viastore systems, holds finished goods manufactured in Middletown, imported items for distribution in North and South America, and raw materials used in production. In all, about 95 percent of the company's stock-keeping units (SKUs) can be housed in the system.
The four-aisle AS/RS was originally installed as part of an expansion to the Middletown facility that took place in 2008. Since then, the system has been expanded and now boasts seven aisles (with room to expand to 12) and more than 70,000 tote storage locations. "Totes" is the key word here, as using totes is vital to reducing human touches. "The whole [supply chain] system is designed around our totes," says Lou Paioletti, director of supply chain services. "We repack virtually nothing."
While some parts are manufactured in Middletown, the vast majority of inventory comes from Germany. These parts are packed overseas into the same totes that will be used to house the products within the AS/RS. The totes are loaded into ocean and air shipping containers that are owned by Phoenix Contact. Middletown receives three or four containers every week by boat as well as a daily air shipment. Upon arrival, the totes are removed and inducted directly into the AS/RS.
Eliminating the need to repack items into other storage containers has greatly simplified the receiving process. "We can receive a sea container in less than a day using only [the equivalent of] three and a half people. Before the automation, it took seven people two and a half days to receive the same container," Paioletti reports.
As parts are needed for orders, the warehouse management system (also supplied by viastore) issues instructions for the appropriate totes to be delivered to 10 goods-to-person picking stations. A computer screen displays which of five sizes of cartons should be used to pack the order. It also indicates how many of each item to select. Some of the totes may contain as many as four different SKUs, separated by dividers. To confirm that the correct part has been selected, the worker is asked to scan the item's bar code. In all, approximately 7,500 picks are made daily.
The selected items are placed into a shipping carton, and a packing slip, bar-code label, and shipping label are printed right at the station. The worker completes the order by applying the labels and sealing the carton.
Once a tote has been emptied, the container is filled with products manufactured in Middletown for shipment back to Germany. They are loaded into the company-owned shipping containers for transport back to Europe as part of an efficient closed-loop system.
As for how the new system is working out, the reports are decidedly positive. "The receiving process from day one has been a dream come true," says Paioletti. "Before, we had a separate packing area; now that has been eliminated by combining the picking and packing at the goods-to-person stations. It is so much easier now."
The automated system has also cut picking errors in half, while providing a robust accuracy rate of 99.9 percent. On top of that, Phoenix Contact has seen productivity improve by 45 percent.
But those productivity gains haven't translated into job losses; workers have instead been reassigned to other functions, Paioletti explains. "Even with the labor savings, we have never had a layoff in the history of our company," he says. "If we did not have the automation, however, we would need a larger footprint and a lot more people."
Put another way, only 6% of Fortune 500 companies scored an A for their cybersecurity efforts, as companies worldwide hustle to defend against threats caused by the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, coupled with the expanding attack surface due to cloud adoption, remote work, and complex supply chains.
That assessment comes from a Cybernews Business Digital Index report from the Vilnius, Lithuania-based group, which evaluated risk across seven key areas: software patching, web application security, email security, system reputation, SSL Configuration, system hosting, and data breach history.
Despite those poor results, the category of transportation and logistics companies had the highest share of A-level companies (20%). That was following by technology and IT (18%), healthcare and pharmaceuticals (10%), and construction and engineering (9%), the security experts found.
Transportation leaders, policymakers, administrators, and researchers from government, industry, and academia will gather January 5-9, 2025, in Washington, D.C., for the 104th annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), sponsored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
The meeting’s program covers all modes of transportation and features hundreds of sessions and workshops on various transportation-related topics. The theme for this year’s conference is how innovations in technology, business, and processes help support transportation’s role in a thriving society, according to TRB.
Speakers at this year’s event include TRB executives as well as federal, state, and international government leaders and policymakers. Discussions on zero-emissions freight, supply chain shifts, automated vehicles and roadway digital infrastructure, National Transportation Safety Board investigations, and other topics will take place throughout the week, according to TRB. Held every January in Washington, D.C., the TRB Annual Meeting attracts more than 13,000 attendees from throughout the United States and around the world.
Keep ReadingShow less
2024 International Foodservice Distributor Association’s (IFDA) National Championship
It’s probably safe to say that no one chooses a career in logistics for the glory. But even those accustomed to toiling in obscurity appreciate a little recognition now and then—particularly when it comes from the people they love best: their kids.
That familial love was on full display at the 2024 International Foodservice Distributor Association’s (IFDA) National Championship, which brings together foodservice distribution professionals to demonstrate their expertise in driving, warehouse operations, safety, and operational efficiency. For the eighth year, the event included a Kids Essay Contest, where children of participants were encouraged to share why they are proud of their parents or guardians and the work they do.
Prizes were handed out in three categories: 3rd–5th grade, 6th–8th grade, and 9th–12th grade. This year’s winners included Elijah Oliver (4th grade, whose parent Justin Oliver drives for Cheney Brothers) and Andrew Aylas (8th grade, whose parent Steve Aylas drives for Performance Food Group).
Top honors in the high-school category went to McKenzie Harden (12th grade, whose parent Marvin Harden drives for Performance Food Group), who wrote: “My dad has not only taught me life skills of not only, ‘what the boys can do,’ but life skills of morals, compassion, respect, and, last but not least, ‘wearing your heart on your sleeve.’”
The logistics tech firm incubator Zebox, a unit of supply chain giant CMA CGM Group, plans to show off 10 of its top startup businesses at the annual technology trade show CES in January, the French company said today.
Founded in 2018, Zebox calls itself an international innovation accelerator expert in the fields of maritime industry, logistics & media. The Marseille, France-based unit is supported by major companies in the sector, such as BNSF Railway, Blume Global, Trac Intermodal, Vinci, CEVA Logistics, Transdev and Port of Virginia.
To participate in that program, Zebox said it chose 10 French and American companies that are working to leverage cutting-edge technologies to address major industrial challenges and drive meaningful transformations:
Aerleum: CO2 capture and conversion technology producing cost-competitive synthetic fuels and chemicals, enabling decarbonization in hard-to-electrify sectors such as maritime and aviation. Akidaia (CES Innovation Award Winner 2024): Offline access control system offering robust cybersecurity, easy deployment, and secure operation, even in remote or mobile sites.
BE ENERGY: Innovative clean energy solutions recognized for their groundbreaking impact on sustainable energy.
Biomitech (CES Innovation Award Winner 2025): Air purification system that transforms atmospheric pollution into oxygen and biomass through photosynthesis.
Flying Ship Technologies, Corp,: Building unmanned, autonomous, and eco-friendly ground-effect vessels for efficient cargo delivery to tens of thousands of destinations.
Gazelle: Next-generation chargers made more compact and efficient by advanced technology developed by Wise Integration.
HawAI.tech: Hardware accelerators designed to enhance probabilistic artificial intelligence, promoting energy efficiency and explainability.
Okular Logistics: AI-powered smart cameras and analytics to automate warehouse operations, ensure real-time inventory accuracy, and reduce costs.
OTRERA NEW ENERGY: Compact modular reactor (SMR) harnessing over 50 years of French expertise to provide cost-effective, decarbonized electricity and heat.
Zadar Labs, Inc.: High-resolution imaging radars for surveillance, autonomous systems, and beyond.
The deal will add the Google DeepMind robotics team’s AI expertise to Austin, Texas-based Apptronik’s robotics platform, allowing the units to handle a wider range of tasks in real-world settings like factories and warehouses.
The Texas firm joins other providers of two-legged robots such as the Oregon company Agility Robotics, which is currently testing its humanoid units with the large German automotive and industrial parts supplier Schaeffler AG, as well as with GXO. GXO is also running trials of a third type of humanoid bot made by New York-based Reflex Robotics. And another provider of humanoid robots, the Canadian firm Sanctuary AI, this year landed funding from the consulting firm Accenture.
“We’re building a future where humanoid robots address urgent global challenges,” Jeff Cardenas, CEO and co-founder of Apptronik, said in a release. “By combining Apptronik’s cutting-edge robotics platform with the Google DeepMind robotics team’s unparalleled AI expertise, we’re creating intelligent, versatile and safe robots that will transform industries and improve lives. United by a shared commitment to excellence, our two companies are poised to redefine the future of humanoid robotics.”