Robotpicking

PHASE 1 : Verification of the goods

All goods coming from our suppliers are verified in the reception warehouse. When the goods are sorted, they are brought to the Maestro warehouse. There, the goods are inserted in the Maestro system. All goods are inserted using green cases. Each green case is provided with a unique barcode, which will be scanned.

The reception ticket is scanned, on that moment the system knows which product and how many articles of this product are placed in the green case. After that, another verification follows to ensure that the green case contains the expected quantity. For this verification, a weight control is used. If the product in the green case is not known, the products are first weighed and then all data is inserted in the system.

PHASE 2 : Input of the goods

The green cases that are already prepared, are now inserted in the Maestro system. The green cases are placed on the conveyor belt and the barcode of the case as well as the code of the goods are once again scanned. At this moment we are 100% sure that the green case contains the right number of boxes of the article. Following, the green cases are one by one brought to their place on the shelves using the conveyor belt.

PHASE 3 : Functioning of the robots

The barcodes of the inserted green cases are read through the system by the scanners. On that moment the place on the shelf is defined and the case is placed on the conveyor belt (stocking) of the assigned robot. There are 7 robots continually delivering and retrieving green cases. Each robot has the capacity to stock 2 green cases and to pick 2 green cases. In the latter, the barcode of the green case is read once again by the scanner and transported to the assigned picking spot using the conveyor belt (picking). At the picking spot the goods are manually picked for the customer.

PHASE 4 : Picking of the goods

By the aid of the scanner, the robot can place the green cases at the right picking spot. There are maximum 6 green cases in rotation per picking post and only 2 green cases can be lead to the picking post at the same time. The picker receives the right case and sees on the screen how many goods he has to take out of the case. The picked goods are placed in a carton box by the picker. These boxes are brought to the picker by the means of a conveyor belt (“empty boxes”). With each picking the first box automatically receives a ticket.

When the picking is finished, the picker presses “validate”, this makes sure another weight control is executed. After that, the green case disappears from the picking post and goes back to the shelf. The next green case is brought to the picking post.

If the carton box is full, the picker presses “close carton” and takes a new carton box. After the validation of a next picking, a new ticket is automatically printed for this box. Each closed carton box is pushed to the conveyor belt ‘closed boxes’ and arrives at the right expedition spot.

PHASE 5 : Expedition of the goods

Using the conveyor belt ‘expedition’ the carton boxes are sorted per order and arrive at one of the 10 expedition spots. These boxes are collected on a palette. Eventual order lines from the palette warehouse are released and added to the order. Only when everything is collected the order can be finalized and prepared for shipment to the costumer.