Automation
The Five Things You Need for Successfully Launching Your Production and Logistics Automation Project
The automation of logistics and manufacturing is steaming ahead. This trend has been helped along by the constant pressure for efficiency, along with the digital transformation and a shift towards greater freedom from human capital. All this has made way for the deployment of new technologies, with which automation is often connected. How can you maximise logistics automation’s potential while making sure your project goes as smoothly as possible?
Digitalisation goes hand in hand with automation. And it can bring companies durability and flexibility.
Projects aiming to automate logistics tend to be a major challenge for companies. In this interview with Aimtec co-founder Roman Žák, we discussed the most common errors one encounters in projects like these – as well as how automation relates to digitalisation.
How to Automate Warehouse Processes with VNA: The General Prerequisites
More and more often warehouse halls contain VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) forklifts that zip through aisles all on their own, or in semi-automatic mode. But before they can do that, you need to integrate them into their surroundings properly. Unless you want VNA to stand for “Very Nasty Automation,” you need to make sure not to underestimate preparations. How can you prepare your warehouse and processes for this expansion of your fleet? We have a few tips on how to approach it.
Automation: Keeping Your Control System in Great Shape
In our previous article on how to tackle automation, we mainly focused on your team and on how to take an efficient and modern approach to your new control system’s deployment. Today we’ll look under the hood (or into the code?) of the system itself. You want it to grow along with you – and with the evolution of your processes and the hardware technologies in use at your warehouse. So you need it to be configurable, and naturally you need to attend to its maintenance too. But you can entrust that maintenance to… automation! Join us for a look at how to “automate automation” and have a control system that’s still as good as new after years of utilisation.
“We Originally Just Wanted to Improve Our Processes, but in the End We Automated Our Whole Warehouse,”
states Libor Toman from the board of directors of DŘEVO TRUST, a.s. He answered our questions just weeks after the start of live operation for their fully automated warehouse – that is, in a very special phase of the project. Mr. Toman captained the new warehouse’s investment project, and therefore we asked him about his experience and the path leading up to the automation.
How to Approach Logistics Automation
Automation. It’s so tightly tied to industrial manufacturing that just about everyone thinks of robots when they think of assembly lines. But what do you think of when you hear the phrase “internal logistics automation”? Self-driving forklifts? Conveyor belts? Warehousing and logistics was a back-burner field until recently, but now it’s time to change that. After all, inefficient intralogistics processes generate considerable financial losses. Thanks to the latest technologies, we can free workers’ hands and take productivity to a level that would be unachievable with manual warehouse operations. But how does one approach automation? What are its possibilities? What can it lead to? We have some answers for you.
Automation and Jobs: The Skills Revolution Is a Necessity
Automation replaces people. But does this mean we’re losing jobs? The media might make that seem at first to be the case, but what’s the real situation? Should we worry about massive redundancy and thousands of the unemployed? The jobs experts at Manpower and their study named “Humans Wanted: Robots Need You” tell us the opposite. Companies are seeking employees despite automation – new positions are being created with entirely new work tasks. After all, robots can’t get by without people. Thus we can expect a shift towards completely new activities and the need for a different approach to employees.
Catch a Ride with Autonomous Guided Vehicles into the World of Industry 4.0
While self-driving is fairly problematic for automobiles, carts without human operators are appearing in factories and warehouses with growing frequency. They differ in how they navigate and in the degree of their autonomy. For intralogistics, autonomous guided vehicles are a way to make processes faster and more efficient, and naturally, they’re also a way to free up people’s hands. Because they’re moving around among people, safety is important as well.
Warehouse Automation Achievement: Sellier & Bellot
Sellier & Bellot is one of the most successful industrial firms in the Czech Republic – and one of the oldest munitions manufacturers in the world. And it is also a renowned name in sport, for example in shooting disciplines and biathlon. Interestingly enough, it is likely the only company to have its own game reserve on its premises. But let’s take a look at the Sellier & Bellot warehouses, which saw a key turning point in 2016, when a new hall was built and equipped with a fully automated warehouse.
How Can You Master Automation? Your Internal Team and Innovative Project Tools Are the Key
Automation’s benefits are clear – saved costs, reduced human error, and faster, more efficient processes. But how much time will it take your team to grasp this Holy Grail? How can you prepare your key people for what awaits them and empower them to enable a smooth course for the entire project? Success is not just about suppliers and technologies, although they do play an important role. An often forgotten, but fundamental pillar lies elsewhere. In your people’s time.
“Above All, Communicate Your Automation Internally,”
advises Jiří Ovesný, founder of the logistics consulting firm INTRALOG SERVICES. He has been working in logistics and industry for thirteen years, and he currently provides consulting focused on automation, improving process effectiveness and putting Industry 4.0 into practice. We asked him for his opinions on how to approach automation and what to focus on right away in the project planning phase.
