ProMat: Stars of the show

With more than 700 exhibitors, ProMat 2007 (held January 8-11 at Chicago's McCormick Place) provided a wealth of ideas for improving productivity. The products and technologies on the following pages illustrate several themes that emerged at the show.

By Corinne Kator, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 2/1/2007

The evolution of AGVs

For decades, automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) have been known for moving products between work cells in manufacturing facilities. But companies at ProMat made it clear that AGVs are moving on to different and often more complex tasks.

AGVs at the loading dock. Two companies, Jervis B. Webb (800-526-9322, www.jervisbwebb.com) and Egemin Automation (616-393-0101, www.egeminusa.com), demonstrated trailer-loading AGVs at their ProMat booths. Both vehicles are available with either laser guidance or inertial guidance systems and work without making alterations to trailers or loading docks.

If pallets are queued up, a single Egemin AGV can load a trailer in 15 to 20 minutes, says company executive Mark Stevenson. "Our guiding principle for this system is that if a fork truck can do it, we can do it," he says.

AGVs for picking, putaway. In a traditional distribution center, workers travel to the shelves to put away and pick products. First-time exhibitor Kiva Systems (781-221-4640, www.kivasystems.com) uses a fleet of AGVs to pick up individual shelving units and deliver them to the workers.

The little orange AGVs—which Kiva calls "robotic drive units"—navigate by reading optical markers laid out in a grid pattern on the floor. The battery-powered units automatically navigate to recharging stations when necessary. Sophisticated control software directs the entire system.

Obstacles are no obstacle. RMT Robotics (905-643-9700, www.rmtrobotics.com) introduced its automated delivery and manipulation (ADAM) vehicle at the show. Like traditional AGVs, ADAM can carry loads between workstations. Unlike traditional AGVs, ADAM uses an open path navigation platform to calculate the best path to its destination and to negotiate its way around unexpected obstacles.

Sorting faster, cheaper, better. These were the goals of companies showcasing conveying and sortation technology. The following are some of the ways suppliers achieved those goals, using both smart software and smartly designed hardware.

Same speed, more throughput. FKI Logistex (877-935-4564, www.fkilogistex.com) launched new software that increases the throughput of a sliding shoe sorter by making it smarter, not faster. The software works with FKI's sortation systems and with competitive sliding shoe sorters.

The UniSort MXT software module allows a sorter to operate with just 4 inches between cases rather than the traditional 12 inches. It increases the productivity of a sorter without increasing its speed, saving machine wear and tear.

Meanwhile, Dematic (877-725-7500, www.dematic.us) was talking up its own new sorter that works on the same principle. The S-L300's "parallel divert technology" allows cases to be spaced close together yet still be effectively diverted.

Alternative to sliding shoe. Building on the success of its narrow belt sorter introduced at ProMat 2001, TGW-Ermanco (231-798-4547, www.tgw-ermanco.com) introduced its Turbo sortation system at this year's show. With throughput rates around 150 cartons per minute, the narrow belt sorter competes in the lower-end of the sliding shoe sortation market.

"The estimated cost of our new sorter is 50% of the cost of a sliding shoe sorter, making it a much more economical choice for 100 to 180 cartons per minute sortation," says Dave Vande Kopple, director of business development for TGW.

Single-file before the sort. The Unscrambler from Intelligrated (513-701-7300, www.intelligrated.com) improves sortation accuracy by better aligning cartons before they reach the sorter. The system can receive a jumble of side-by-side packages and automatically organize them into a single-file line.

The singulation system uses three sets of rollers installed at different angles and running at different speeds to separate the flow of packages. Other such systems need 60 or more feet to achieve this "unscrambling," says vice president of sales Jim McKnight, but Intelligrated's system completes the task "in all of 18 feet."

Also promoting its singulation systems was Intralox (800-535-8848, www.intralox.com). The company's series 400 angled roller belt aligns cases using small rollers that protrude beyond the top and bottom of the belt.

Productivity gains of 7 to 8% are typical on the sorting lines where the application has been installed, says Intralox product manager Tré Lapeyre. "Another benefit is labor savings," he says. "At some facilities, singulation is done manually by an employee, but by installing a system, you can repurpose that employee somewhere else to help handle the higher throughput."

Lift trucks were back at ProMat in a big way. At least eight companies introduced new lift trucks (see "Market Trends," page 18), and several other companies showcased technologies—from fleet management software to battery washing systems—specifically designed for lift trucks. Much of the truck-related news from the show related to hydrogen fuel cells and other eco-friendly technologies.

Toyota's green truck. The centerpiece of Toyota's (800-226-0009, www.toyotaforklift.com) booth this year was its new 8 Series of lift trucks, billed as "the world's cleanest internal combustion lift trucks." The fuel systems minimize hydrocarbon, oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide emissions, surpassing current EPA standards and meeting California's 2010 emission standards three years early.

Hydrogen fuel cell pilot project gets underway. Lift truck manufacturer Raymond (607-656-2311, www.raymondcorp.com) held a press conference to announce a hydrogen fuel cell pilot project. Fuel cells promise the cleanliness of electric motors with the performance of internal combustion engines. Raymond executives said they've decided the best way to explore hydrogen technology is to use it in their own manufacturing facilities.

For the next two years, the Raymond plant in Greene, N.Y., will become a living lab with hydrogen-powered lift trucks working throughout the facility. Development of infrastructure for indoor hydrogen fueling systems is planned, too. The project has received $750,000 in funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Cat dealer to distribute fuel cells. Hydrogen fuel cell pilot projects will also take place in South Carolina this year. Fuel cell supplier Hydrogenics (661-253-2593, www.hydrogenics.com) announced it will be working with Cat lift truck dealer LiftOne (704-596-6700, www.liftone.net) and the South Carolina Research Authority to deploy hydrogen-powered lift trucks in several manufacturing facilities in the state.

In addition to its work with the funded pilot projects, LiftOne plans to market Hydrogenics fuel cells to its customers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Hydrogenics executive John Werderman said he believes the distribution deal makes LiftOne the first materials handling distributor to offer hydrogen-powered lift trucks.

As order sizes get smaller, the demand for case-level materials handling is growing. This focus on cases was apparent at ProMat, where several companies introduced powered storage systems designed to handle individual cases and cartons of products.

Two cranes working together. Daifuku (614-863-1888, www.daifukuamerica.com) introduced a mini-load AS/RS that uses two storage and retrieval (S/R) machines working in the same aisle. Each S/R machine can store and retrieve its own load, or the two machines can work together to move a larger load.

According to Daifuku, the Synchronized AS/RS performs nearly three times faster than dual-fork mini-load systems, outputting 800 cases per hour. The system on display handled plastic totes, but a system can be customized to handle products in other containers.

A new concept in case storage. A demonstration of the Case-A-Matic drew onlookers to HK Systems' (800-457-9783, www.hksystems.com) booth. The Case-A-Matic is a new type of automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) that uses pivoting arms to surround cases and slide them on and off a shuttle, handling up to seven cases at a time.

The system on display stored multicolored boxes on standard rack shelving. It was programmed to accumulate seven cases and then deliver them to a robotic palletizer. The system could also be used to create a dynamic pick face or to deliver sequenced work-in-process to an assembly line.

Doubling and tripling case-handling throughput. Also introducing a high-speed AS/RS for handling cases and totes was Knapp Logistics & Automation (678-388-2880, www.knapp.com). Rather than being floor-mounted, Knapp's Spider S/R machines travel on rails mounted to the rack structure.

The system can be built with up to four machines operating simultaneously, one above the other. According to the company, operating four S/R machines at once means the system can double or triple the throughput of a traditional AS/RS. And because there's no rail mounted to the floor, the system can be added to an existing building, regardless of the condition of the floors.

Cases by the layer. A traditional AS/RS stores and retrieves unitized loads on pallets. A mini-load system stores and retrieves individual cases. Westfalia Technologies (717-764-1115, www.westfaliausa.com) featured an AS/RS that does something in between: It stores and retrieves layers of cartons in a specific configuration.

The AS/RS can store up to 12 layers deep. Working in conjunction with a vacuum-lifting device for palletizing, the system can automatically build rainbow pallets.

Cases in carousels. Diamond Phoenix (888-233-6796, www.diamondphoenix.com) introduced a low-cost horizontal carousel system with bins large enough to hold full cases of product. At 4 x 3 feet, the bins are the largest ever used in a carousel, according to the company.

The large bins allow a DC to receive products directly to the carousel, eliminating the need to replenish bins between picking cycles. Diamond Phoenix designed the carousel specifically for the lightweight products in the footwear and apparel industries.

RFID was the talk of ProMat two years ago. And while some of the energy surrounding RFID has since dissipated, the technology still had a strong presence at this year's show. The most-apparent trend: RFID tag reading is no longer restricted to stationary readers at the dock door. Readers are now found throughout factories and DCs, sometimes even roaming the facility as mobile devices.

RFID and conveyors. Accu-Sort (800-227-2633, www.accusort.com) demonstrated a low-cost RFID reader that can be installed in a roller slot in a conveyor. That allows a distributor or manufacturer to capture data as a product, carton, tote or pallet equipped with an RFID tag rolls over multiple points on a conveyor.

The reader automatically tunes to the proper frequency, freeing the installer from performing that step and significantly reducing installation time.

RFID and lift trucks. RFID-enabled lift trucks were on display in at least three booths. Raymond displayed one of its Reach-Fork trucks with a mobile RFID reader from Symbol Technologies (866-416-8545, www.symbol.com) mounted behind the mast. Intermec (800-755-5505, www.intermec.com) exhibited a similar system it developed with lift truck attachment maker Cascade Corp. Meanwhile, LXE (800-664-4593, www.lxe.com) showcased a mobile RFID reader that installs like a canopy over the forks of a lift truck.

RFID and mobile workers. LXE's truck-mounted RFID reader was just one component of a larger data-collection system the company demonstrated. The system, known as ARIA (Adaptive Recognition and Information Assurance), is a computing platform that allows multiple data collection technologies—including RFID, voice recognition and bar code scanning—to work together more seamlessly.

ARIA may allow companies to better integrate new handheld and truck-mounted RFID readers with existing data collection methods.

Wheels, racks and pallets are among the oldest and most basic materials handling technologies, but that didn't stop exhibitors from finding ways to improve them. The following are some notable twists on these products.

Reinventing the wheel. Believe it or not, Rotacaster ( www.rotacaster.com.au), an Australian exhibitor, has reinvented the wheel. Rather than being swivel-mounted like a caster wheel, the multi-directional Rotacaster has a fixed mounting. It gains its multi-directional capability from the design of the wheel itself, which features high-strength plastic bands that not only roll forward and back, but sideways.

The design gives the wheel greater stability and greater directional control than a traditional caster wheel, says general manager Jim Morwitch. Rotacaster hopes to attract makers of dollies, carts, hand trucks and other wheeled equipment as customers. Moritch also sees a market for the product in conveyors, where the wheels serve as multi-directional rollers.

Triple-wide racking. Conventional pallet rack stores one pallet in each storage position. Twinlode's (800-535-6719, www.twinlode.com) patented rack designs, however, allow two pallets in each storage position.

The company announced it has been issued a provisional patent for a triple-wide racking system, allowing the transfer and storage of three pallets simultaneously. If the product takes off, Twinlode may need a new name.

Building a better pallet. Pallet leasing company CHEP (800-243-7872, www.chep.com) believes it has succeeded in building a better wooden pallet. Blue Step, a redesign of the standard 48 x 40-inch pallet, features a new notched block design.

Notching the block allows CHEP to use a thicker lead board on the top and bottom of the pallet. When struck by a lift truck, the lead board will bump up against the notch in the block, rather than tear away and damage the next board in the pallet. CHEP will begin introducing the new design into its pool of 75 million pallets in the late spring.