High Capacity
Vertical
Conveying.
Like to minimize the cost
of ownership? The new High
Capacity Spirals are in response to
our customers need to go higher
and handle more weight. The load
capacity is 75 lbs. per linear foot of
conveyor for speeds up to 200 FPM.
Only one drive motor is required,
resulting in substantial savings
in energy, controls and system
integration.
Ryson Spirals are designed for
low maintenance and long life. An
innovative modular design allows
Ryson to customize with ease and
modify in the field to accommodate
emerging needs. For application
assistance or more information, give
us a call or visit www.ryson.com.
Visit us a MODEX Booth 8123
300 Newsome Drive • Yorktown, VA 23692
Phone: (757) 898-1530 • Fax: (757) 898-1580
VERTICAL CONVEYING SOLUTIONS
The facility offers 9,000 square meters
(96,875 square feet) of storage space.
Most products are housed in the high-bay warehouse, which contains an eight-aisle automated storage and retrieval system. Eight storage and retrieval machines
serve the aisles, moving pallets in and out
of 37,000 double-deep positions located
on 12 rack levels.
With its location in Scandinavia,
Copenhagen tends to experience cold
winters. To maintain temperatures for
products in the various areas of the
rack-supported building, the facility
deploys 28 temperature monitors inside
the structure and one outside the building. If the temperature should go too
high, skylights will open to cool it down.
If it gets too cold, an air circulation system blows warm air from the ceiling into
the aisles. The design assures the floor
remains frost-free no matter how low the
temperature drops outside. The movement of the cranes also helps to circulate
air throughout the racking.
The storage cranes are tasked with
retrieving single-item pallets and conveying them to output stations, where electric shuttles that ride on rails take over
the transport. The shuttles run throughout the building on a track totaling 450
meters ( 1,476 feet) in length. They are
the backbone of the building’s transport
system, which relies on automated conveying to handle much of the work normally done by lift trucks. Lift trucks are
reserved for tasks such as moving large,
bulky items like tents to shipping as well
as for inserting and retrieving pallets
from the automated systems.
The facility’s two miniload systems
feed smaller boxed items to picking stations. Each unit contains a miniload
crane that travels down an aisle lined
with storage positions. Between the two
systems, there are 3,000 tray positions.
Each miniload unit has 13 workstations
where picking is performed. The cranes
deliver trays to the workstations, where
displays guide workers in picking items
directly into larger order boxes.
After passing through automatic seal-
ing and labeling machines, completed
order boxes are delivered by conveyor to
palletizing robots. The robots then stack
them onto pallets in a sequence deter-
mined by the warehouse management
system. Two conveyor lines send finished
pallets to the shuttle system, where they
join with full pallets pulled from the AS/
RS for the journey to shipping.
The creation of kits with bulkier items
is performed at two workstations. The
shuttles transport products from the AS/
RS to 20 source pallet locations. The
cartons are opened, and their contents
are picked from these pallets into order
cartons. Completed outgoing boxes are
conveyed to the palletizing robots, then
head to shipping. Kits that are prebuilt
for later shipment are sent to the AS/RS
for storage until needed.
Temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and relief goods needed immediately
ship by air, while most of the goods that
support ongoing programs are loaded
into containers for ocean transport from
the nearby Port of Copenhagen.
ORGANIZED FOR EFFICIENCY
Since it began shipping from the new
facility in April 2012, UNICEF Supply
has seen throughput levels rise to an
average of 120 percent of what it was able
to achieve at the previous warehouse,
and there’s plenty of room to grow.
Currently, the facility operates only one
shift, Monday through Friday, although
additional shifts are added when the
need arises.
But beyond the gains in throughput,
the ability to respond quickly and accurately when help is needed most is critical to UNICEF’s success.
“The automation has given us better
organization in our work. Now, we can
see our orders, what is missing, what
can be packed, and what can’t be packed
yet,” says Kyungnan. She adds that all of
the work for creating a kit can be performed simultaneously, which is a huge
advantage over the previous operation,
where temporary packing lines had to be
employed until all of the needed items
could be gathered. “Now, it is organized
better, and we are more efficient,” she
says. “We can do our work in a systematic and logical way.” N
