New cargo center delivers for SAS
Scandinavian Airlines doubles its cargo capacity and expedites deliveries to customers with its new highly automated cargo center at Copenhagen Airport.
By Sonja Randall -- Modern Materials Handling, 7/1/1999
"Up in the air, airplanes move at relatively the same speed," says John HarpsØe, director of the Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) cargo operation in Denmark. "To have the advantage over the competition in air cargo you have to be quick on the ground, and efficient."The company's new highly automated cargo center at Copenhagen Airport has been designed to give SAS the edge by handling cargo that passes through it more efficiently and more safely.
Copenhagen airport is the North European hub for airfreight to all of Scandinavia. Freight transfer is the main cargo business in the Copenhagen Airport.
If the battle between cargo companies is on the ground, then the 344,000 sq ft SAS cargo center has prepared itself for a clear advantage. The center is equipped to handle a full range of import and export cargo.
A unit loading device (ULD) warehouse, special ULD handling, and a Euro-pallet warehouse work together under one roof to attain such an advantage over competition.
SAS now expedites its deliveries, has since improved its lead times, eliminates human errors, guarantees safe handling, and has the ability to have its star alliance partners (SAS, Lufthansa, Thai Airways, United Airlines, and Air Canada) under one roof. Additionally, all cargo handling is performed on one floor.
The SAS cargo center began productive operation on December 28, 1998-just after the Christmas rush ended. In only five months, SAS reached a 95% quality level. The terminal is able to handle 350,000 tons of cargo each year, (an increase of 106,000 tons), with 204 operations per hour.
The smallest piece of cargo SAS handles is about the size of a fingernail-industrial diamonds. The largest units are 20 ft containers that can weigh up to 40,000 lb. And then there's everything in between.
In addition, some cargo needs special attention. It needs to be refrigerated or frozen, or it could be a live animal, or a human corpse. (SAS on average handles four corpses each day).
Approximately 80% of the cargo that passes through Copenhagen airport is transfer cargo, or cargo traveling between two flights. To process cargo in as little time as possible, SAS built its new center close to the aircraft and runways.
But there were other significant reasons for placing the cargo center in its strategic location. It was important to be near the new highway infrastructure. The cargo center is also near the new bridge currently under construction that will link Denmark and Sweden with a 15-20 minute drive. Sweden is a major market for the goods routed through Copenhagen.
The business of cargo is not an easy one. "When you're in this business you have to have a logistics system to take care of all the documentation simultaneously while you handle loads so you can make sure that the cargo and documentation always follow the same line," says HarpsØe. "Unfortunately it's never the same people taking care of the documentation and the cargo. This makes it all very complicated."
The centerpiece of this effort is an integrated control system for the entire cargo terminal. A series of networked computers connected to a host computer are responsible for the flow of information throughout the cargo handling operation.
This management and control system processes all the data on bulk goods, pallets, import/export cargo, and transfer cargo. The system also calculates the most favorable routes for these materials. Information relevant to the freight handling is sent to the air cargo terminal (ACT) main computer.
The ACT computer carries out the materials flow planning for optimum use of resources. The main system generates the transport orders required for the movement of materials in the cargo terminal. The main ACT computer updates the host on the real-time status reports the current status of all operations.
Siemens PL (++49 911 895 3388) managed the project and provided the electrical equipment, control and computer technology, as well as the entire integration. This is the first cargo terminal endeavor for Siemens.
The diagram on this page shows in detail the location of the integral parts of the cargo center which includes the ULD handling and storage area and the Euro-pallet storage.
From the planes, containers are transported to one of the cargo terminal's dock doors for further processing.
ULD warehouse
The ULD warehouse has 296 container bays on four levels with an average handling capacity of 70 moves per hour. Containers up to 20 ft long are transferred to temporary storage by two elevating transfer vehicles (ETV's). Containers remain in temporary storage until they can be processed or transhipped.
Included in the ULD warehouse are the 14 automatic loading docks for terminal cargo traffic traveling to and from the airfield.
In addition, there are four refrigerated positions and four freezer positions to facilitate 10 ft units as well as a storage room for empty pallets. Other special facilities in the warehouse include a room for radioactive cargo, a "strong" room for valuables, and a veterinary room for animal examinations.
The ULD warehouse can run with full automatic control. But it is possible to run semi-automatic or manual control options.
Adjacent to the ULD storage area is a series of workstations. There, incoming containers are opened and the outgoing containers are prepared for dispatch. There are 30 workstations for 10 ft containers and two workstations for 20 ft containers. Each workstation holds up to 19,000 tons, with an average lifting speed of about 32 ft/min. It takes only 65 seconds to transport the containers to and from the inward/outward lanes using forklifts or automated transport devices such as ETVs or driverless transfer vehicles (TVs).
Operator control panels are suspended from the ceiling to keep the floor free from hindrances. Working heights can be adjusted to each individual worker's specifications and each workstation has its own scale.
Euro-pallet warehouse
The pallet storage area serves as a buffer for loose goods. Four fully automatic storage and retrieval machines are used to putaway and retrieve 1,560 European standard pallets on 13 levels. All freight with a longer waiting time of two hours is automatically parked in the Euro-pallet warehouse before being dispatched again.
Some containers require no additional work as they pass through the cargo center terminal. A fast lane transports containers directly through the terminal by way of conveyor. The fast lane transports cargo in both directions; from the plane directly to trucks and from the trucks directly to the planes.
It is significant to note that the cargo center is not totally automated. Semi-automatic and manual control options also exist for equipment in this cargo center.
The previous cargo terminal SAS utilized was 25-years-old and constantly required the construction of additional buildings.
The SAS cargo center has plenty of room to expand in the future, by almost 50%. HarpsØe believes that in six to eight years SAS will be able to fill that extra 50%. An additional building will be completed in the next two or three years to handle small parcel shipment and airmail. This cargo terminal will serve a total of 33 airlines including SAS.
To compliment its new facility, SAS developed a new fiber cargo container that is approximately 165 lb lighter than the standard cargo container. HarpsØe predicts that in time they will be used all over the world.
ULD warehouse
296 positions
4 storage levels
14 automatic loading docks for terminal traffic to and from the airfield
4 cooling positions for 10 ft units
4 freezing positions for 10 ft units
Storage room for empty pallets
Full automatic control
Semi-automatic and manual control options
2 ETV's for handling ULDs, travel speed 100 meters/min.
ULD handling
30 workstations for 10 ft units
2 workstations for 20 ft units
Capacity of 19,000 tons per workstation
Average lifting speed 9.84252 meters/min.
65 second transport time from workstation to inward/outward lanes
Workstations operated by TVs in 3 separate tracks
Semi-automatic and manual control options
Euro-pallet warehouse
Capacity of 1,560 pallets
Expandable for 390 new locations 13 levels
Ceiling height 72 ft
204 operations per hour
Full automatic control
Semi-automatic and manual control options
Integrated bar code reading
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