The automated material handling sector has been buoyant again in 2014, continuing the trend of increased capital investment seen last year. AMHSA members have been actively bidding for and securing new orders, with particularly significant growth in e-commerce retail and also a number of projects in the strong UK automotive sector.
Storage trends
Recent statistics from the European Federation of Materials Handling (FEM) show some interesting trends. While pallet cranes are clearly declining in number – with man-up systems practically obsolete – and the number of miniload systems is relatively stable, there has been a significant rise in shuttle-based storage systems. This technology – which consists of an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) that features a dedicated shuttle on each level of the store – can have a dramatic impact on the handling of slow- to medium-movers in particular. As with other areas of automation, shuttle technology has benefited from technological innovation over the past few years that has significantly improved energy efficiency. These developments – available across a range of automated handling equipment – have helped to reduce the lifetime cost of automated systems.
Energy efficiency is key
Typically, energy use in a distribution centre comprises some 15% for lighting, 35% for heating or air conditioning, 2% for other activities and a massive 48% for transport and storage techniques. This high figure attributed to transport and storage means that the choice of logistics strategy within a warehouse can have a large impact. Retrieval of a tote bin by a miniload crane requires considerably less energy than retrieval of a pallet load by a stacker crane; and retrieval of a tote bin by a shuttle requires less energy than retrieval by a miniload crane.
Intelligent control plays a key role here too, as typically 80% of cost reduction in a warehouse is the result of smart control systems, rather than simply using more efficient components. This is an area of material handling that will be increasingly under the spotlight in 2015 and beyond and it is, of course, a field in which automation is unrivalled.
Phone: 01858 414229
Email: secretary@amhsa.co.uk
Web: www.amhsa.co.uk
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