AutoStore and Pati-Versand a Winning Combo

The industry is dynamic and ever-changing, and Pati-Versand’s extensive product range is increased every year in line with new trends.

In 2018, the team decided to install a warehouse automation system to boost efficiency. After careful consideration, they decided on the AutoStore system, empowered by Hörmann Logistik.

The system, situated in their warehouse in Herzlake, Germany, went into operation in January 2019.

More about the AutoStore system

This AutoStore design was individually coordinated, and Hörmann Logistik carried out several system simulations with original data in real-time during the planning phase.

The system is operational for eight hours per day, five days per week. As the goods are perishable, the warehouse functions differently from what an auto parts warehouse or a clothing retailer would, both of which can run around the clock.

Here are a few specifics about the Pati-Versand system:

• The building in which this AutoStore system is housed is 5.5 meters (18 feet) high.
• Incoming goods and picking can be carried out at all workstations at any time.
• The AutoStore aluminum grid consists of 12 levels. The grid is 24.5 meters (80 feet) long, 33.3 meters (109 feet) wide, and 4.1 meters (13.4 feet) high. The size in cubic meters is 3,344 (118,092 feet).
• There are 25,000 Bins in the grid, which are stacked directly on the floor of the hall. The net load of the Bins is 30 kg (66 lbs) each.
• Thirty-two battery-operated, autonomous Robots glide across the top of the grid on rails above the stacks of Bins.
• The Robots cooperatively pick up Bins. They subsequently arrange them according to the orders received or the goods coming into the system via the CarouselPort and ConveyorPort workstations.
• The Robots move in two directions and manage to reach every position in the grid at a rate of 3.1 meters (10 feet) per second.
• If the order load is low or the battery capacity is too low, Robots drive independently to one of the 32 Charging Stations located along the edge of the grid.
• There are 6 CarouselPort workstations and 2 ConveyorPort workstations in the system. As a result, the required 110 goods storage and 1,040 goods retrievals, including around 10 quick orders per hour, can easily be implemented.
• The system can deal with 110 incoming storage batches per hour and retrieve 1,040 orders during the same period.
• The system has been configured in such a way that the team can easily expand it in future.

How Pati-Versand has benefited

The automated warehouse system reduces the work stress on Pati-Versand’s staff, as manual picking is no longer required. The energy costs of AutoStore are also low, and the system helps the company make the best possible use of the storage space available.

In addition, the Pati-Versand team has dramatically increased their picking rate, and there are very few picking errors. These factors have increased customer satisfaction, building trust in the Pati-Versand brand.