Opex shows goods-to-person piece picking shuttle technology

Showcasing the Perfect Pick goods-to-person piece picking solution in a press conference on Tuesday, OPEX Material Handling (Booth 619), director of marketing Beth Ann Haven Ferner noted that the system has been engineered to eliminate the complexity associated with other shuttle technologies—and attendees at the show have been taking notice.

“We’ve had a lot of interest in the system’s iBOT intelligent wireless vehicles, which provide full access to the inventory in a single aisle without elevators, lifts or conveyors. They simultaneously stock items and deliver totes or trays directly to a picker at rates up to 1,000 dual cycles per hour,” she said.

Picking stations can be located at one or both ends of an aisle. Designed as a redundant system, Perfect Pick has no single point of failure making it a reliable picking solution ideal for manufacturing and order fulfillment, said David Stevens, CEO.

“The autonomous iBOTs can be quickly and easily extracted or introduced back into the system without any disruption to ongoing operations,” he said. “To expand, a single aisle system can accommodate more iBOTS at any time.”

The company has almost completed an installation in Hebron, Kent., for a 10-aisle system with 20,000 SKU locations at a height of 32 feet, and 100 foot-long aisles, Ferner added.

ProMat 2013 is scheduled to be held January 21-24, 2013 in Chicago’s McCormick Place South. The tradeshow will showcase the latest manufacturing, distribution and supply chain solutions in the material handling and logistics industry. Modern’s complete ProMat 2013 coverage.