Due to the rise of online shopping, there has been a huge shift towards automated solutions. Automated picking frees up workers from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on higher level tasks. More businesses are moving towards goods to man picking, which means more autonomous mobile robots are likely to be seen. Another solution is pick to light, in which an alphanumeric display guides employees at picking stations through the process from picking to assembling.
This article was first published in the February 15th 2022 issue of Warehouse & Logistics News, subscribe to the magazine by clicking here.
LAC Conveyor Systems introduced a sortation solution specifically designed to accommodate small sized parcels for a leading consumer delivery company. The Automation Toolbox meant a combination of technologies could be combined to satisfy the required solution and could be delivered and implemented within a small footprint and with minimal disruption to current operations. The solution utilised LAC designed induct and feed conveyors, handling bulk parcels on infeed for initial parcel separation which were then separated further utilising a flighted belt conveyor, leading on to a horizontal conveyor with five moveable ploughs and one fixed.
Interroll, which provides ergonomic solutions for the realisation of picking lines, has announced its sales increased +20.6% year-on-year to £513.5m in 2021. Order intake in 2021 rose to £632.5m in consolidated currency (+43.9% year-on-year) and grew by +44.2% year-on-year in local currency. The second half of the year saw continued strong business momentum in the markets.
Vanderlande has changed its way of working to help food e-commerce retailers on their journey towards automation. By developing solutions, called “evolutions”, comprised of so-called ‘functional modules’ the company is able to offer true end-to-end systems that are based on flexible and scalable building blocks. This can help food retailers achieve improved performance, high picking efficiencies and long-term profitability whatever their size of operation – from micro-fulfilment to large-scale networks.
6 River Systems, LLC, a leading fulfilment solutions provider, just announced a new initiative to support warehouse efficiencies by teaming up with Ricoh USA. Under the arrangement, Ricoh’s service solutions business unit will augment 6 River Systems’ existing service team for its collaborative robots – called “Chucks.” This gives the young enterprise technology company an ample support network.
Order picking is set to progress further in the coming years as the automation technology evolves
George Simpson
Features Editor
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