KNAPP, the global warehouse automation and software supplier, will demonstrate its expertise and promote its latest technologies for efficient omnichannel distribution on stand 12U85 at IMHX. The KNAPP team will explain how the group’s solutions for flexible, errorfree and intelligent automation can boost productivity and quality in intralogistics, while providing the greatest possible investment security for clients. With over 1600 installations worldwide and a network of 30 subsidiaries, KNAPP achieved a record turnover of over 466 million Euros in the financial year 2014-15.
Craig Rollason, Managing Director at KNAPP UK speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News about the forthcoming IMHX exhibition.
Warehouse & Logistics News – First of all, Craig, as Managing Director, what is your role in the company from day to day?
Although I head up KNAPP UK as an organisation and I am therefore responsible for the various ‘back office’ disciplines, I spend a good part of my time in the sales arena. As we have key clients with major supply chain operations, I need to maintain relationships with them in order to understand the evolving needs of their businesses. In addition, getting alongside potential clients and working on proposals for them is also an important aspect of my role.
WLN – Can you talk us through the different products and services KNAPP provides?
The OSR Shuttle™ system is found at the heart of many of our solutions. KNAPP pioneered shuttle-based storage technology and, to date, we have delivered over 18,000 shuttles in over 250 systems worldwide. The OSR Shuttle™ system serves our Pick-it-Easy workstations, which are equipped with pick-to-light technology. The latest generation of the OSR Shuttle™ is capable of operating single, double or triple deep and handling cartons directly. Another core solution is the Pick-it-Easy Pocket overhead conveyor sortation system, which is ideal for ecommerce applications. This year we have expanded our range of Open Shuttle driverless vehicles and now offer versions suitable for handling plastic totes, cardboard trays and pallet loads.
Other KNAPP solutions include Autopicker, the A-frame fully automatic picking machine; the KNAPP-Store system for slow-moving articles in the pharma sector; tote and pallet conveyor systems; voice picking technology; sortation systems; garment-handling conveyors; and warehouse management systems. All these technologies are supported by our Customer Service division, which offers a wide range of services including emergency call-out, routine maintenance, resident engineering, hotline support and spare parts management.
WLN – What kinds of businesses in which industry sectors are your solutions aimed at? What specific needs do they target?
Our key business sectors include retail and ecommerce for general merchandise; food retail; fashion; pharmaceuticals; and manufacturing.
Key themes of KNAPP solutions are flexibility – to handle business peaks – and ergonomics, to maximise productivity. In particular, our Pick-it- Easy range of workstations have been designed around the needs of various industries – including Pick-it-Easy Shop for retail and e-tail, Pick-it-Easy Health for pharma and Pick-it-Easy Tray for grocery retail.
WLN – When was your business established? Who owns the company now? Which other countries do you operate in besides the UK?
KNAPP was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Graz, Austria. It is a privately owned group, which still has two generations of the KNAPP family on its supervisory board. Employing some 3,000 staff across all continents, KNAPP has 25 subsidiaries and 13 representative offices.
WLN – What sets your company apart as a supplier in your sector? Why should busy professionals from the warehouse and logistics industry take time out to visit your stand at IMHX?
What stands KNAPP apart from its competitors is the combination of leading-edge technologies with a depth of understanding of the needs of specific industry sectors – backed up by the strength of our Customer Support network. Clients these days are very aware of lifetime costs, which makes operational resilience, energy efficiency and ease of maintenance key factors in securing orders.
WLN -What will visitors be able to see on your stand at this year’s show?
We will have the Pick-it-Easy Multi workstation, demonstrated in conjunction with the Pick-it-Easy Pocket overhead sorter. In this system, pockets are connected to a rail system via a ‘rolladapter’, which features an RFID transponder. The solution uses a three-step matrix sortation process to sequence the pockets, sorting them into the precise order required by the packing stations. Pick-it-Easy Multi is an innovative workstation for multichannel environments at which flatpacked goods can be placed into sorter pockets. Operators take articles – such as film-wrapped garments, shoes, books and DVDs – from the transport container and move them over an integrated scanner (either barcode or RFID). When the item is scanned, the confirmation is displayed through a light signal in the adjacent chute, through which the goods land in the prepared pocket. The article data is allocated to the RFID transponder on the pocket and, from this moment on, the goods can be identified in the system. With this solution, returns can be stored in a dynamic buffer and given priority to leave the warehouse.
WLN – The last IMHX was in 2013. How have your customers’ needs changed since then? How are you addressing these?
Three years is certainly a long time in intralogistics. The continued rise of e-tail is favouring KNAPP’s focus on goods-to-person technologies. The combination of a wide product range and small order quantities typical in ecommerce means that orders are more labour-intensive to fulfil, but automation can help retailers to reduce costs. The improved picking accuracy achievable through paperless picking systems also helps to minimise costly returns. A particular demand for e-tailers has been the shifting of order cut-off times and our solutions have been geared to enable them to rise to this challenge. For example, KNAPP’s OSR Shuttle™ technology provides an ideal dispatch buffer solution, with orders sorted in a way that facilitates vehicle loading.
WLN – Can you tell us about your major customer contract wins in the last three years?
During 2014 and 2015 KNAPP UK was busy kitting out the second distribution centre for John Lewis at its Magna Park campus in Milton Keynes.
Connected to the existing facility by a bridge, the 675,000 sq ft DC features not only a high-bay pallet store but also a hanging garment system. 2015 also saw the automated handling solution supplied to Staples at its new warehouse in Corby go live. This warehouse serves Staples’ contract and online customers and features an OSR Shuttle™ system for slower-moving products, a pick-tolight solution for fast-movers and a pick-to-belt area for bulky goods. Earlier this year, the KNAPP system for Marks & Spencer’s new distribution centre in Bradford went live. In addition to an OSR Shuttle™ system serving Pick-it- Easy workstations, this warehouse also features a high level of automation for goods-in, decanting and dispatch.
WLN – How do your products and solutions address today’s increased emphasis on safety and environmental impact in warehousing and logistics?
Health and safety is an overriding factor in everything we do – for our customers’ staff and our own employees. Energy efficiency is also a key feature of all KNAPP solutions. We strive to minimise the number of movements within the warehouse and handle items in the most efficient way.
The OSR Shuttle™, for example, achieves up to six times the rate of totes in/out than a traditional ASRS with only some 5% of the energy consumption.
WLN – And finally, it’s three years to the next IMHX. Where do you see your market sector and your company going in that time?
Finding the right balance of intralogistics capacity and flexibility to meet the demands of omnichannel retail will continue to occupy both our clients and our own R&D teams. Within this, image recognition technology will become much more common in warehouses, helping clients to increase order accuracy and minimise returns. The other key trend will be the rise of robotic technologies, particularly collaborative robots – or ‘cobots’ – in picking and packing operations.
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