The Finnish overhead gantry storage specialist, Cimcorp, will reveal its latest innovation for storage and order picking to the UK market at IMHX 2013.
Branded Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢, the new robotic system - which offers highly efficient storage and retrieval of plastic crates, totes and trays required for goods-to-person order picking - will feature in a live demo on Cimcorp's stand (17Q127) at the show. Based on proven gantry robot technology, the innovative feature of Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢ is a shuttle device that is integrated into the gantry to transport required totes back and forth, allowing the robots to return to storage tasks sooner and thereby boosting efficiency.
Six times more efficient
Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢ can make order picking six times more efficient than a manual solution. Explains Jarno Honkanen, the company's Sales Manager, "Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢ provides a goods-to-person picking solution that is extremely competitive against existing systems in retail, foodservice and e-commerce distribution centres and the solution becomes unbeatable as the number of SKUs and the size of storage increases." Combined with significant labour savings, the system's picking efficiency and simple construction make Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢ a highly cost-effective investment. Compared to manual picking systems, it is also significantly more space efficient and reduces forklift truck traffic enormously.
Modular design
With containers stored in stacks directly on the floor and the system being modular in design, the footprint of the system and the number of gantry robots can be varied to suit the precise throughput needs of each application. Use of a single technology with simple construction minimises maintenance costs and facilitates system extensions. In addition, as the robots are easily programmable, the solution offers unrivalled dynamism to meet changing flows of goods in the future. Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢ can take care of a distribution centre's entire operations or, alternatively, may operate as an 'island' of automation within a manual facility.
Simple operation
Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢ creates randomly mixed stacks of totes on entry to the storage area, which are collected by one of the overhead robots and deposited on the floor. When a particular SKU is required to fulfil an order, a robot retrieves the nearest corresponding tote and deposits this on the shuttle device. This then travels along the gantry and transfers the tote to the outfeed conveyor, from where it is fed to the picking stations. Once picking from a tote is complete, it is conveyed back to the entry point to the storage area.
Ideal for retail
The new Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢ solution is suitable for a wide variety of applications in which a large number of SKUs are handled in plastic totes or bins. The system is ideal for serving goods-to-person order picking stations in distribution centres for retail, foodservice (especially HoReCa), e-commerce or parts and components. Click here to view a short video of Cimcorp 3D Shuttleā„¢ in operation or visit www.cimcorp.com for more details.