Tailored material handling by Wemo xPacker

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2024-03-19

Nordic’s leading electronics chain, Power, reached out to Wemo for assistance in crafting a tailored automation solution for their central warehouse. The primary objective of automation was to optimize material handling and alleviate employees’ ergonomic strain.

Power International Logistics AB, PILAB, serves as the central warehouse for the electronics giant Power. Products are shipped from here to stores and online customers across the Nordic region. Depending on the season, the number of employees ranges from 200 to 270 cargo handlers. The central warehouse spans an impressive 90,000 square meters, with plans for an additional 20,000 square meters in the near future.

PILAB’s operational year follows a rhythm of three seasons: low season, mid-season (summer), and peak season (November, December). The number of pick rows per day varies from an average of 20,000 during the low season to 32,000 during the peak season. Wemo’s portal robots play a crucial role by handling approximately 80 percent of these pick rows.
During the most demanding days of the peak season, when up to 45,000 pick rows (!) need to be handled, the xPacker robots are an indispensable part of the workflow.

The need for ergonomic and efficient workflows is explained by the high number of pick rows. It is essential to find solutions that can handle even the most intense periods.

 

John-Robin Glandberger, Project Manager at Power International Logistics

John-Robin Glandberger, Project Manager at Power International Logistics

 

We had a chat with John-Robin Glandberger, Project Manager at PILAB. He explains that the primary purpose when Wemo was contacted was to address ergonomics. He paints a picture of an area they wanted to improve.

 

Wemo solved our problem
“Before the automation solution, employees manually handled the pre-packaged cartons. The cartons weigh up to 20 kg and are stacked on pallets up to 2.40 meters high. This task poses a high risk of strain injuries and is ergonomically unsustainable.”


 

John-Robin also describes that the automation solution allowed for the possibility of reallocating personnel to other tasks in warehouse operations, especially during times of extra high workload like Black Friday. By automating material handling with two portal robots, the work environment became more efficient, more ergonomic, and less personnel intensive.

He concludes by adding that the collaboration with Wemo has worked very well.

“From the ideation stage and throughout the dialogue, the collaboration has worked very well. Together with Wemo, we have created and adapted a solution that fits perfectly for our operations. The response from Wemo has been excellent throughout the process, even when we needed to make adjustments along the way. Their approach has been both responsive and focused on finding the best solutions for us. They have been quick and cost-effective in their work, which is, of course, appreciated from our side. Even after the solution was deployed, they have maintained their high level of service. Additionally, being geographically close to each other has meant short lead times for service and maintenance, which is an extra advantage.

 



 

Material handling with specific requirements
Wemo’s task for Power was to design an automated material handling solution based on given parameters where input and specifications from Power were crucial. The result was two xPacker units handling all packaged goods, totalling 28 pallet spaces distributed over 14 pallet spaces per robot. The cartons are to designated pallet spaces, such as a specified postal code. The height of the carton varies because the amount of content determines its height, simply to transport as little air as possible. The cartons are then placed on a pallet and stacked up to a maximum height of 2.40 meters.


To get more information about Wemo’s work, we asked Johannes Kjellgren, CEO of Wemo, to describe the assignment in more detail.

 

Record-sized Robots
Power International Logistics was a new customer for us at Wemo. We got in touch through a common partner, Knapp, who handled the integration at Power when they expanded the central warehouse. We delivered two XXL-sized xPacker units while Knapp ensured that the project was also equipped with conveyors, palletizing stations, and machine guards. Despite the xPacker units being the largest robots we have ever delivered for a project, we felt confident that everything would run smoothly and that the customer would be satisfied. In essence, the mechanics and approach are precisely the same as when we design a smaller model. It’s a proven concept, just a bit larger. That our products demonstrate their great value in a palletizing process is something that fills us with extra pride since it may not be widely known that we offer this service.

The logical structure was a challenge
When asked if the project had any challenges, Johannes explains that Wemo’s skilled development department developed a solution that reads the height of the carton to place it correctly on the pallet. Since there is a maximum height for the pallets, the robots also keep track of the total height for each pallet space.

The inquiry reached us during the September/October 2020 transition, and the installation was completed in May 2022. The most time-consuming part of the project was designing how the robots would handle the picking of the cartons and the logical structure behind it all. From the start, the possibility of handling more than one carton simultaneously was discussed, but that idea was later discarded. Another challenge was designing the logical sequence for how the boxes would be distributed to their respective locations from the WMS system, which was managed by the customer’s own warehouse management system. Additionally, we needed to receive information about when a carton was ready to be picked up. Many challenges but enjoyable challenges! The development team and robot builders solved it in the best way.”

Installation and commissioning
The automation solution was installed by Wemo’s technicians in about two weeks. Then followed the commissioning, where a developer from Wemo and a representative from Knapp collaborated to ensure that the software worked seamlessly and effectively.

 

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