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OPTIMIZATION OF SEMI AUTOMATED PICKING STATIONS
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Goals
Use of a simulation model to validate the design of a new material
handling system regarding orders
preparation.
Sector
Medical
Results
Study of different ways of preparing orders. Tool to support daily operative to choose the best resources configuration. Justification of the investment.
Development
Working side by side with the client and system supplier, the development of the model was fast and succesful as it was being built and validated simultaneously. Therefore, once the 3D environment was created, all the logic were defined: ASRS ́s, transporters, conveyors routing, orders preparation and picking, etc.
Analysis & Results
Regarding the analysis, the amount of pallets that enter in the conveyor system per hour was identified as a key measure. Different ‘What If’ scenarios were simulated by using the interface in which the main entry variables were parameterized: buffer pre-picking capacity, number of pallets in transit to picking stations, number of picking stations…
Background
In one of the plants of a company which produces surgical components,
increasing the efficiency of the order picking process was considered as a vital need. Nowadays, this process is carried out manually: there are various forklifts which load pallets from the racks and unload them
in the order preparation areas.
An extension of the system is projected and its main purpose consists of the automation of the process: asrs ́s, conveyors and new transporters will be needed so the validation of this in terms of prepared orders by time is required as the investment is really big. Thus, a simulation model made with FlexSim is the perfect tool to analyze the new system and help to the decision making stage.
Conclusions
An additional picking station was founded to be necessary,
operators are not the bottleneck of the system and some other measures which improve the efficiency of the system were proposed and validated (capacity of 4 pallets in buffer pre-picking, 5 pallets in transit per station). As a result, the design was validated, the investment was justified and the simulation model can also be used as a guide for the PLC programmers as all the logic is validated and ready to implement.
Sucessful Case
How to verify the design of a new warehousing system? How to analyze and justify the investment?
Simulation system
Intralogistic
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