NEW LOGISTICS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
EDITED BY SUSAN LACEFIELD rollouts
Software and data collection suite: Honeywell has launched
a software and data collection suite called Operational Acuity to
help warehouses and DCs identify opportunities to reduce costs
and improve safety compliance.
The portfolio leverages Honeywell’s mobile technology to
capture and analyze operational data, and then uses predictive
modeling techniques to produce actionable recommendations.
The Operational Acuity portfolio features two initial solutions:
Vehicle Performance and Workflow Performance.
The Vehicle Performance Solution leverages existing network
and Honeywell vehicle-mounted computers and includes a vehicle sensor unit, badge reader, and video cameras. This equipment enables vehicle access control and driver authentication;
videotapes vehicle operation and worker performance; and
senses, detects, and documents any vehicle impact—such as a
minor bump to a pallet—or incident.
When user-defined alerts are triggered, supervisors are notified on their mobile phones and can resolve them remotely or
locally. The solution provides management with performance
insights that can be used to improve worker safety and compliance, analyze damaged-goods incidents, optimize vehicle use,
and better control vehicle operating and maintenance costs.
The Workflow Performance Solution captures and analyzes
how mobile workers in a warehouse or distribution center
perform various functions and measures their proficiency using
existing Honeywell Vocollect voice solutions. This helps management assess the value of process enhancements to various
workflows, identify and eliminate causes of inefficiencies, maximize worker performance, and find worker training and support
opportunities.
Both Workflow Performance and Vehicle Performance will
be available in the summer of 2015. (Honeywell Scanning &
Mobility, www.honeywellaidc.com)
Control system for AGVs: The
System Automation Manager
(SAM) from Jervis B. Webb
Co. is a control system for the
company’s automated guided
vehicles (AGVs) and SmartCart
automated guided carts (AGCs).
The SAM system can be customized for each customer and provides the following benefits:
; Centralized management of the movement of all vehicles,
; A graphical user interface (GUI) display of all vehicle activity,
; Easy integration with major programmable logic controls (PLCs), warehouse management systems (WMS), and
human-machine interface (HMI) displays, and
; Easy-to-read reports that provide data on all vehicle activity.
SAM allows customers to program their AGV systems themselves, pull graphical reports, and show all vehicles on one comprehensive screen for quick troubleshooting, according to Jervis
B. Webb. (Jervis B. Webb Co., daifukuna.com/)
Sortation system: Beumer
Group’s newest offering for
sortation and distribution, the
Automatic Parcel Singulator
(APS), transforms a bulk flow
of parcels into a uniformly separated, spaced, and aligned
flow suitable for induction into
a high-speed loop sorter.
The Automatic Parcel
Singulator is able to handle a
wide variety of postal items
and provides a single system
for handling parcels, flats, totes, and sealed bags from the collection and distribution sorting areas. Cyclical operation enables
the Automatic Parcel Singulator to adjust the speed of the parcel
flow in response to changing levels of demand at the point of
induction into the sorting system. As a fully automated system,
the Automatic Parcel Singulator minimizes the need for manual
handling and supervision during normal operation. It also features a compact design that is energy efficient and low maintenance. (Beumer Group, www.beumergroup.com/en)
Customer loyalty program: The Interroll Group has launched
a customer loyalty program called “Rolling On Interroll.” In
collaboration with partners, systems integrators, and original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs), the program is aimed at
raising awareness among customers of the critical importance
of using high-quality key components in their material handling
machine engineering.
According to Interroll, some key components, such as rollers
and drives, are more mission-critical than others. “Rolling On
Interroll” is aimed at helping customers understand how using
high-quality products increases the value of the entire system.
The program will include training courses at Interroll’s academy and joint workshops with Interroll product managers. The
program is mainly intended for medium-sized OEMs and systems
integrators who are committed to using Interroll products in
mission-critical applications. (Interroll, www.interroll.com/roll-ing-on-interroll)
Packaging automation: In a collaborative effort, Combi
Packaging Systems LLC, a company that supplies packaging
equipment, and Motion Controls Robotics, a specialist in robotic
automation, have released a new robotic solution for end-of-line
packaging operations. The new Robotic Random Case Erector
(RCE) combines a Fanuc six-axis robot with multiple case magazines and a bottom-flap folder with a 3M tape head.
The RCE uses vision systems that can be integrated with other
technology to assign, verify, or track case lot or serialization
numbers.
The system is ideal for fulfillment centers and contract packagers, according to Combi. (Combi Packaging Systems, www.
combi.com)
