BY BEN AMES, SENIOR EDITOR
AUTO ID
technologyreview
Recent advances in
technology have
renewed the buzz about
dark, or “lights-out,”
warehouses, where
machines fill orders
without human
intervention. But not
everybody’s ready to
flip the switch.
WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION HAS COME A LONG WAY IN RECENT
years, as distribution centers turn to technology in their effort to meet the
demands of fast fulfillment.
Today it’s increasingly common to find warehouses deploying sophisticated automated equipment, such as self-guided forklifts, vision-guided robots,
automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), robotic palletizers, and
high-speed conveyors, in their daily operations.
These systems can deliver speed and accuracy in a complex material handling environment, but some businesses say the best is yet to come. Combine
all these ingredients together, they say, and the result could be a fully automated facility that operates without any human labor at all.
Also known as a “dark warehouse” or a “lights-out facility,” this vision
promises swift, error-free fulfillment operations, enabled by key technologies
such as automated material handling equipment, warehouse execution systems, and automatic identification (auto ID).
Candidates for this sort of fully automated operation include cold storage
or freezer warehouses, such as those used in the food and beverage or pharmaceutical sectors. There are a couple of reasons for that. For one thing,
replacing humans with machines eliminates the need for people to work in
adverse conditions like sub-zero temperatures.
For another, automation helps reduce the amount of traffic in and out
of the refrigerated chamber, thereby enhancing climate control, said Matt
Engle, director of ID products marketing and logistics at Cognex Corp., a
company that specializes in machine vision technology and industrial bar-code readers. Excluding workers from the refrigerated room helps prevent
humidity from entering the chamber when people enter and exit the area for
shift changes and coffee breaks, Engle said. Too much humidity can create
frost buildup on goods and equipment, damaging materials and requiring
extra maintenance, he explained.
Lights out!
