AGVs link pharmaceutical process steps
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/15/1999
How do you move pharmaceutical bins through a loop consisting of filling stations, blenders, production lines, and washers? One company found the answer in a fleet of automatic guided vehicles (AGVs).Pharmaceutical materials arrive on the main floor where they are removed from pallets and mixed. From here they are sent to filling stations on the lower floor, where they are emptied into bins.
An AGV takes the bins from the filling stations to a blender, where the vehicle also picks up previously blended bins and delivers them to a material lift for transport to the second floor.
Another AGV on the second floor transports the bins to stations where they are dispensed for production on the main floor. The vehicle also carries the empty bins to the washer, from the washer to the "prep" area, and finally from the prep area to the material lift for the return to the lower floor.
In the production area, an AGV picks up materials in totes. Full totes are transported either to a staging rack or an outbound conveyor. The AGV also picks up clean totes from a conveyor station and delivers them to production for processing.
The fleet consists of fork outriggers and the NAV-30. This vehicle is designed with forks mounted on a rotating turret, allowing it to handle loads in aisles as narrow as 75 in. Its lift is hydraulic, capable of lifting a maximum of 3,200 lb at 12"/sec. to a maximum height of 300 in. An additional side shift feature allows the forks to reach deep into racks. Positioning operations can occur simultaneously, thus increasing throughput and productivity. Traveling at speeds up to 375 ft/min., the vehicle is driven by a single drive/steer unit and is equipped with all the standard safety features, such as infrared detectors and emergency stop buttons.
FMC
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