Greater Technical Warehouse Performance by a Clever Sequencing Solution in WAMAS

Pallets, bins and cartons in partly or fully automated warehouses are transported to palletizing, picking or shipping in certain sequences. The more efficiently this is done, the greater the technical performance that can be achieved. SSI SCHAEFER's WAMAS logistics software features a new sequencing solution that provides flexible waiting points for short-term buffering of goods within the conveyor network, increasing flexibility and scalability in the warehouse.

More and more complex customer requirements combined with increasing technical performances are reflected in ever more demanding conveying system topologies, the arrangement of individual conveying sections in a network and the associated control tasks. The consequence is that demands regarding specific control algorithms such as the sequencing of transport goods are constantly increasing. In order to meet the increased requirements, SSI SCHAEFER is continuously developing the software portfolio for the control and monitoring of its customers' facilities and presents a new sequencing solution within WAMAS.

The technical foundation for this new sequencing solution is based on automated reading of conveying system topologies from the warehouse layout. It recognizes different tree structures, parallel sections for buffering, differently arranged sequencing locations and loops for sequence correction fully automatically. WAMAS takes care of the further configurability in a fully integrated manner. The system is able to react to changes in the warehouse behavior and implemented diagnostic tools can still detect arising problems in the sequence. In combination with automated storage systems a new reservation of orders has also been adopted into the retrieval strategy. In case of system failures, such as a failure of a shuttle or of a lift, the affected retrieval order is immediately reassigned to another device in order to keep up the intended sequence. This way, orders can be processed smoothly despite the occasional mechanical incident. Pallets linked to the order are thus always completely stocked with goods even if there are complex pack patterns involved – e.g. with the SSI Case Picking Solution.

Standardization - that's what it's all about!

A core algorithm, which does not have to be changed for different projects, was implemented into the software WAMAS. The introduced processes for the software development and version-controlled updates ensure a mature and quality-assured standard.

The most important use cases are in the area of automated palletizing, goods-to-person picking and shipping sorting. The standard solution integrated into WAMAS is also used in further projects and SSI SCHAEFER uses the experience gathered there for the continuous further optimization of this solution.

Focusing on the customer's benefits

In the day-to-day operation, customers can benefit in different ways from the standard solution for sequencing of pallets, bins and cartons which is integrated into WAMAS. The tried and tested software can be used already during commissioning, which improves the adherence to delivery dates. During operation, the system availability is higher. And if malfunctions occur, the configurability and analysis tools provide easy solutions for error handling. On the whole, SSI SCHAEFER can provide even more reliable systems with even more solid processes.

About the authors:

Marian Bobrik graduated from the Slovak University of Technology in 2002 and has been working in software development since then, focusing on software optimization and algorithm design. He has been working for SSI SCHAEFER for 13 years, the last 8 of them in product development.

Peter Kanonir graduated in mechanical engineering in 2003 and subsequently worked in various positions in the industry. His professional focus was always on the field of intralogistics. After working in the automotive industry, he moved to logistics plant engineering in 2008, where he held various positions in planning, project management and sales. He has been working for SSI SCHAEFER for 11 years. For 3 years in the function as product manager for the material flow control software.

By implementing the clever sequencing solution into the core algorithm of WAMAS, all automated processes in the warehouse benefit from the increased throughput. More information about the semi to fully automated software solutions from SSI SCHAEFER: