Going green with automated materials handling

As sustainability becomes the next buzzword in business, companies looking to reduce energy consumption and emissions at their facilities may want to look at automated materials handling.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 4/19/2007

“Save the Planet – Or Else.” That’s the headline on the cover of the Newsweek issue that focuses on cleaning up the environment.

It highlights an inconvenient truth: From Al Gore’s Oscar to Wal-Mart’s “Sustainability 360” program, with a goal of reducing packaging by 5%, it seems like everyone is going green. Last December, for instance, we ran a story on the impact of energy on the supply chain. Just the other day, we covered a new initiative from Georgia-Pacific designed to help manufacturers reduce the amount of packaging for their products.

As everyone who’s ever tried to lose weight or quit smoking knows, goals are one thing. Reaching them is another. As Kermit the Frog once said, “It’s not easy being green.”

So, given the attention that business is beginning to pay to the issue, Jim Stollberg, vice president of business development for HK Systems, has a simple suggestion: “Maybe it’s time that materials handling automation played up its contribution to saving energy and reducing emissions,” Stollberg says.

You may not think of automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), conveyors and AGVs as energy-saving devices. But compared to the size and energy required for conventional solutions, there’s a story to be told. For instance, conventional storage needs lighting for workers; an AS/RS needs none to operate.

“One initiative we worked on compared a 300,000 square foot facility with automated high-rise storage to a 1 million square foot conventional warehouse,” says Stollberg. “When you factored in all the lighting, HVAC and vehicles required for the larger facility, the automated facility was just 20% of the cost of running a conventional warehouse.”

Now, Stollberg is the first to concede that this is an emerging trend. “When we’re selling automation, the industry tends to look at labor savings and so do end users,” he says. “Right now, I don’t think you’ll justify many $50 million automation projects on sustainability alone.”

At the same time, he believes there is a growing awareness of the impact of energy and emissions on the part of end users. “Customers have told us that some plans are being fast-tracked if there’s a sustainability aspect to the project,” says Stollberg. “And, lo and behold, I think this industry has a great message to get out there.”

At the end of the day, automated systems may not save the planet, but they may be a place to start saving energy.