Successful projects…

…speak for themselves. For this reason, we have prepared various SAFELOG automation projects in best-practice reports and documented some of them with video material. The projects come from several industries with completely different requirement profiles. Here you can gain an insight into which processes can be mapped with mobile robots and get inspiration for your own automation projects.

Joseph Dresselhaus GmbH & Co. KG

In the central warehouse at the headquarters of Joseph Dresselhaus GmbH & Co. KG in Herford, more than 55 mobile robots from SAFELOG GmbH are in use. As part of the warehouse modernization, the entire order picking process in the brownfield environment was converted to a goods-to-person solution during ongoing operations. In addition to the automation of transportation between incoming goods, high-bay warehouse, dynamic pallet warehouse, picking islands and outgoing goods using mobile transport robots, pick-by-light systems were also installed. In combination with the connection to the fully automated shuttle warehouse and an articulated arm robot, the solution enables a considerable increase in throughput and a significant minimization of the error rate.

Mercedes-Benz Factory 56

SAFELOG’s Mobile Transport Robots are in operation in one of the world’s most advanced automotive production facility. In shopping cart and non-shopping cart processes, more than 500 AGVs transport components to the production line. This is where the vehicle-specific assembly of the components to the S-Class, Maybach and EQS models takes place.

Roman Mayer Logistik GmbH

The logistics service provider Roman Mayer Logistik GmbH relies on SAFELOG’s Automated Guided Vehicles in its fulfillment center in Nuremberg. In order to ensure a continuous outbound transport of the goods, two AGVs of the type L1 are used for the pallet transport between sorting workstations and a fully automated wrapper. Cantilever rack stations designed specifically for the application, which are driven under by the mobile transport robots, ensure optimized ergonomics at the sorting workstations. At the same time, they enable an optimum use of the storage area, as only a small aisle width is required due to the omnidirectional travel mode of the AGVs. The fully autonomous solution works without an interface to Roman Mayer Logistik’s LFS and does not require a cost-intensive higher-level control station, as the mobile transport robots communicate with each other through agent-based control. The positive effects of using the AGVs in this process are manifold: In addition to an almost negligible risk of damage to equipment, the ergonomics at the sorting workstations could be optimized and productivity increased by 30%.

 

KNOLL Maschinenbau GmbH

In order to optimize the use of personnel in production, KNOLL Maschinenbau GmbH from Bad Saulgau has automated internal transport tasks with the help of SAFELOG AGVs. The AGV L1 mobile transport robots manage the complete material supply of the assembly lines from the warehouse. Through the connection to the higher-level transport control system, the worker can order the delivery or collection of materials directly via a tablet. In this way, material supply to the assembly boxes can take place just-in-time. In a further process, the AGV M3 travels along a timed circuit to defined stations to deliver semi-finished products or to collect them for transport to the warehouse. The automated guided vehicles handle up to 100 transports per day with distances of around 600 m. Thanks to the introduction of the mobile robots, employees can concentrate completely on their value-adding activities. This has made it possible to significantly increase the efficiency in KNOLL Maschinenbau’s production.

SportOkay.com

The Austrian online sports retailer SportOkay.com relies on SAFELOG’s automated guided vehicles in its logistics center. In total, 28 AGVs are used in two different processes at SportOkay.com. On the one hand, 10 AGV L1 ensure that shelves with goods are transported from the 10,000-item warehouse in the basement to the picking stations on the first floor. On the other hand, 18 AGV S2 transport picked orders from the picking stations to the packing robot. By using our Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs), the daily distances traveled by individual employees have been reduced by more than 80% and the probability of errors in the dispatch of goods has been reduced to almost zero. Furthermore, the automation of the logistics center facilitates the handling of a constantly growing number of orders and enables the guarantee of short delivery times.

ABB AG

At ABB AG’s production site in Ratingen, the internal material flow is continuously optimised. In 2021, the transport of gas-insulated medium-voltage switchgear in the final assembly area was automated with the help of SAFELOG AGVs. The pre-assembled switchgear is provided with a serial number and is fed into the system based on this number. By selecting the serial number, the panels can be requested to the respective workstations. SAFELOG AGV L1 are used to transport the requested medium-voltage switchgear. The total weight of the transported goods including transport aids can be up to 1,500 kg. After lifting the panels, an AGV transports them to the work station. The mobile transport robots carry out more than 100 transports a day and thus ensure ergonomic relief, an increase in occupational safety and lean processes along the value chain. Within the final assembly there are 30 different target stations, which are linked to each other via 850 different routes. After all work has been carried out, the plants are discharged at special storage locations and prepared for further transport for quality inspection, packaging and shipping. In the next stage of expansion, further internal transports as well as material supply will be automated through the use of SAFELOG AGVs. By 2025, the ABB site will have established state-of-the-art manufacturing processes, taking into account the application possibilities of digitalisation and Industry 4.0 technologies.