based on inventory velocity, with A being
the fastest movers, C the slowest. Six aisles
hold active A and B items in two blocks of
three aisles each with single-deep storage
using a high-speed mini-load. The mini-load is equipped with TGW’s Booster
stacker cranes to ensure rapid handling,
the supplier says. The 12,600 single-depth
storage locations contain all A- and B-classified items and offer direct access to
the stock for order picking.
The remaining three aisles contain the
vast majority of tote positions—
38,640—and include C items and replenishment A and B items in double-deep
storage using TGW Mustang stacker
cranes. Order selection takes place in all
three sections.
All together, the A, B, and C items handled in the TGW mini-load system
account for about 70 percent of all picks.
Those goods are selected at any of eight
workstations. Each workstation has two
in-feed conveyor lines for totes coming
from the AS/RS and one inclined conveyor for order totes to move out. Each station also has eight pick-to-light positions.
Source totes are delivered by the mini-load to a pick face via the conveyor system. Order pickers receive instructions for
the pick on a screen at the station. Those
instructions include what tote section to
pick from (a single storage tote can contain as many as eight sections), the article,
the quantity, and an arrow to the left or
right showing which order tote to pick the
goods to. Each order tote location
includes a put-to-light module indicating
the correct tote.
Completed order totes move to a consolidation area. A single order could
include goods in a number of totes from
several picking areas. The order totes
move to a single mini-load aisle with a
TGW Booster stacker crane. Once the
system determines an order is complete,
the totes move from the buffer to operators on a spur off the conveyor for packing. Small orders, in contrast, move
directly from picking to packing for
shipment.
In addition, some 700 bulky items are
stored in Aesculap’s high-bay warehouse.
The company uses narrow-aisle forklift
trucks to batch pick those items to pallets
for later division into specific orders.
ROOM TO GROW
Hermle says the system has proved
beneficial for Aesculap, minimizing
errors and improving overall per-
formance. On top of that, it has
reduced costs and throughput time,
and helped the company make better
use of space.
