DC Velocity - January 2010

rollouts

Robot ready: The Schaefer

Robo-Pick (SRP) is a fully automatic picking cell that can be smoothly integrated into existing warehouse architectures. Unlike other automated systems, Robo-Pick does not require that information for individual products (like their characteristics, features, and positions within the unit) be entered into the system. Instead, the two-step image processing system automatically recognizes the position of the products on the trays and controls the universal picking robot. The robot and the vision system can achieve more than 2,000 picks per hour.

Typical users of the Schaefer Robo-Pick are wholesalers, e-commerce companies, and mail-order shippers. These types of users typically compile shipments of two to 20 articles each, which would be picked from the 5,000 to 50,000 articles in stock. This occurs several thousand times a day for the many individual customer orders. To accommodate these demands, this system is designed to pick more than 100,000 individual articles in a typical distribution center on a daily basis.

SSI Schaefer achieved this technological breakthrough with the combination of 3D and 2D picture processing. In a matter of seconds, the picture processing cell, consisting of industrial standard components, identifies four to six products on the passing article tray. Products in several layers or inclined positions, jet-black articles, round products, or asymmetric or beveled packages do not affect the vision system.

Applications for the Schaefer Robo-Pick are not limited to order picking. The system is also suitable for returns handling, the company says. (SSI Schaefer, www.ssi-schaefer.us)

For picky operations: FastPic Systems has released the new FastPic5 OP (Order Processing) inventory management software. Developed to improve throughput, accuracy, and storage density, FastPic5 OP software can manage a single workstation or multiple work zones and workstations using its own SQL database to store material and inventory information. New features of the software include improved inventory control functions, document management, graphical bin and shelf configuration, and host integration. (FastPic Systems, www.FastPicSystems.com)

Taking the temperature: Thermo King has introduced a cellular version of its TracKing asset tracking and management system. This new Web-enabled temperature management system provides real-time monitoring and tracking of untethered units in a truck fleet.

TracKing gives users the information they need to schedule, control, and manage operations of any size, improving overall asset utilization and fleet productivity, according to the company. TracKing also provides added security. With its alarm and notification feature along with the mapping and dealer locator, TracKing can reduce losses and risks by ensuring that temperature-sensitive products are transported at the correct temperature, Thermo King says.

The new system is intended to complement the existing TracKing satellite system. TracKing cellular works best for local and regional distribution customers, and TracKing satellite is best suited for cross-country carriers and rail customers. (Thermo King Corp., www.thermoking.com)

Leading the fleet: Crown Equipment Corp. has released Crown InfoLink 2. 5, the newest version of its fleet management system. InfoLink 2. 5, which is designed to transform forklift operating data into meaningful information, includes new features that significantly reduce false impact alarms, deliver real-time performance indicators based on user-defined goals, and display critical measurements in graphic form for at-a-glance decision-making.

The new interactive InfoLink interface helps busy managers quickly identify and prioritize issues around compliance, impacts, and equipment. Color-coded opportunity indicators allow managers to tell at a glance whether conditions in each area are meeting established goals (green), require attention (yellow), or need immediate action (red). Dashboard views deliver a graphical overview of performance based on the user-defined operating range for each opportunity. Drill-down reports present a more detailed analysis of areas like service efficiency, equipment use, and operator performance.

Crown InfoLink 2. 5 also marks the introduction of Crown Impulse Technology, an intelligent impact-sensing system that combines data from the impact sensor and the truck to provide more accurate and meaningful impact alarms. With Crown Impulse Technology, only those impacts that meet user-defined criteria, based on truck operating data, trigger alarms. (Crown Equipment Corp., www.crown.com)

Earning its stripes: Sealed Air introduces a paper packaging system that offers selectable void-fill or cushioning material at the flip of a switch. The new PackTiger Hybrid system allows operators to use a single system to create either void-fill or cushioning materials with variable pad length and density.

The PackTiger Hybrid system produces pad-like materials from sheets of 100 percent recycled paper. The materials are suitable for void-fill applications with small and medium voids, and can also be used for more demanding cushioning or blocking and bracing applications.

The new PackTiger Hybrid paper packaging system is more compact than traditional paper packaging systems, allowing it to fit into any packaging operation. (Sealed Air, www.sealedair.com)

A taxing solution: Prophesy Transportation Solutions has released its new Tax Tally GPS. With this product, Prophesy has combined its TaxTally Fuel Tax Reporting software and its Prophesy Tracker dynamic GPS truck tracking solution to offer a robust fuel- and road-tax reporting solution.

Tax Tally GPS works by gathering precise GPS locations every few seconds for each vehicle in a given fleet. These location points are recorded and then downloaded and merged with fuel transaction data from the fuel card provider. Once the information has been validated, quarterly International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) reports are calculated and prepared automatically without any further interaction or data entry within Tax Tally GPS.

The solution enables users to see their entire truck fleet on digitally enhanced, full-color maps. (Prophesy Transportation Solutions Inc., www.mile.com)