The Evo Shuttle automated storage system runs smoothly at all temperatures, making it ideal for handling pharmaceuticals and food – from dry goods to perishable produce, chilled items and even frozen products.
KNAPP pioneered the shuttle storage concept back in 2002 and has been developing it ever since. The latest generation, Evo Shuttle, ensures efficient processes for distribution and production environments around the world – storing, picking, buffering, supplying and sequencing an incredibly wide variety of items. More than 600 Evo Shuttle systems, featuring over 60,000 shuttles, have been installed since the model was launched in 2018.
Dense storage
Handling containers, cartons and trays of various sizes and holding up to 50 kg, Evo Shuttle offers multi-deep storage for maximum storage density. The solution is available in two variants, Evo Shuttle 1D and Evo Shuttle 2D. With one shuttle per level and aisle, Evo Shuttle 1D is a powerhouse of performance – ideal for online retail or the pharma sector. Evo Shuttle 2D, meanwhile, gives more flexibility in the design of your processes through shuttles that can change aisle, allowing them to reach every lift in the system. With this approach, performance and the number of storage locations can be scaled independently of one another.
High performance
With shuttles supplying picking stations with goods from the automated store in the right sequence, Evo Shuttle makes order fulfilment quick and simple. Algorithms ensure an optimal workload at each station, keeping picking performance at an impressive 600 units per hour.
Energy efficiency
With either the 1D or 2D option, what makes Evo Shuttle special is its compact design. Its small footprint reduces energy costs – an especially important factor in cold chain management. Automating processes in cold environments helps to reduce the workload for employees at low temperatures. In addition, KNAPP’s intelligent software controls how long each container spends in a particular temperature zone, helping to ensure freshness and quality. Evo Shuttle also meets all FM Global Compliance requirements.
Online food retail
Evo Shuttle forms part of a comprehensive solution supplied by KNAPP to a Middle Eastern supermarket chain to fulfil its online orders. The highly automated central fulfilment centre (CFC) handles up to 7,800 orders a day for food across all temperature zones (22°C, 15°C, 4°C and -24°C). Frozen foods are retrieved from storage for picking, with dwell time management calculating how long each container can spend outside the frozen zone without thawing and how much time it must spend in the freezer area before it can be retrieved again. Cold-pack lids are added to picked orders to maintain the cold chain during transport to the consumer. These frozen lids are also stored in and retrieved from the Evo Shuttle store. Other KNAPP technologies deployed at the CFC include the Pick-it-Easy Robot for single-item picking, a fully automatic bagging machine for paper bags and KiSoft Genomix software for capturing and managing master data. Together, the automated systems ensure high picking performance, short lead times and delivery quality for the retailer.
Customers in the UK using Evo Shuttle include Boots, M&S, Matalan and The Very Group.
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