Derby Silk Mill is widely regarded as the site of the world’s first modern factory, built in the valley that changed the world.
Celebrating the area’s rich history of innovation, the Museum of Making in the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site is a contemporary space telling Derby’s 300-year history of making to inspire new creativity.
The museum was the ideal place for Warehouse & Logistics News to hear Hilton Campbell, Managing Director of Interroll, introduce the company’s new Smart Pallet Mover (SPM).
Hilton then handed over to Business Development Manager Paul Wilkinson who presented all the benefits of SPM.
Interroll had the SPM on display at the museum for all to see. We were all then treated to a fascinating demonstration from Germany and Holland. Senior Instructor Jens Popig demonstrated while Solution Sales Director Martijn Smit talked through the system, explaining how the SPM works and answering questions.
SPM can be used manually to programme how the flow works. The system is very flexible, offering manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic modes. In manual mode, the work-flow and movements are controlled by the operator. Semi-automatic mode allows movements to be controlled by the operator using pre-programming work-flow. In automatic mode, movements are controlled by interfacing machines using pre-programming work-flow.
It is very easy for the user to build flows and configure the system how they want.
Eventually users will be able to configure the system, get a cost and then purchase all in one go online.
There was then a Q&A session where Interroll were asked how safe the new SPM is. The system is very safe, with over 60 built-in sensors meaning no fencing is needed, unlike conventional pallet conveyors.
Interroll were also asked about the system’s battery life, which is very good and charges quickly. The mover automatically goes to a charging point when not in use, ensuring full charge when the mover is needed.
They were also asked how easy it is to combine SPM with other Interroll conveying and stacking systems, to which the reply was “The Smart Pallet Mover is compatible with all other platforms of Interroll products, such as Dynamic Storage Systems in a warehouse, Stacker Cranes, Transfer Cars and Modular Pallet Platform (MPP) Conveyor modules”.
We then had a lunch and were treated to a tour of the museum, where we encountered the majestic and newly renovated Grade I listed Bakewell Gates, which have stood proudly at the front of Derby Silk Mill since 1725. The guests then entered the new Civic Hall – a triple height glass atrium that forms the entrance to the new museum. This space had to be built around the impressive seven-tonne Rolls-Royce Trent 1,000 engine, which is suspended from the ceiling above visitors’ heads.
As well as a gallery setting the historical context of the ‘valley that changed the world’, visitors had the opportunity to explore everything in the museum’s vast collection – there are no ‘behind the scenes’ areas.
Innovative solution
The SPM is designed to transport, sort and buffer boxes or pallets weighing up to 1,000 kilograms. It represents a mobile and autonomously acting material flow system that can be used, for example, as a cost-efficient supplement or substitute for forklifts or automated guided vehicles (AGVs).
The Smart Pallet Mover solution consists of various modules. The centre of the solution is a mobile unit (SM1000 Mover) that runs underneath non-driven conveyor sections and moves pallets lying on them. A transfer car (SM2000 Transfer Car) which moves on a rail can transport pallets between parallel conveyor sections.
The flexibility of this innovative solution, the use of proven technologies and a very short payback period ensure that users can significantly strengthen their competitiveness. As with all Interroll products, the Smart Pallet Mover is extremely easy to install, operate and maintain. The modular plug-and-play solution can therefore be put into operation without lengthy interruptions to production, even during modernisation projects. Networking capabilities based on global data standards such as REST API and JSON ensure maximum compatibility and ease of use. The conveyor modules can be reconfigured very easily if required, and height-adjustable supports allow the system to be installed even on uneven floors.
Before the official market launch, the new solution had already won two internationally renowned awards. The Smart Pallet Mover won the Red Dot Award, Product Design 2021, for its exceptional design quality and degree of innovation. At the same time, the solution was chosen by the independent experts of the “International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year Award (IFOY AWARD)” in March 2021 as a finalist of this globally renowned intralogistics award.
With this new offering, Interroll is taking into account the fact that production managers are increasingly focusing on material handling, as shown by the survey “Production Logistics in Medium-Sized Businesses,” which Interroll published last year: The average degree of automation of internal material transport at the companies surveyed was only 53 percent. Almost every tenth company (9 percent) had a degree of automation of less than 25 per cent.
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