Fully automatic picking systems are only economical at high technical performance rates and capacity utilization, and sometimes require high investments. The payback takes place during the runtime. If the conditions for this are not given, semi-automatic picking systems and well-thought-out processes offer a solution.
In this approach, the existing material flow in the warehouse and distribution center is analyzed. The result of the analysis accounts for factors such as the required or reasonable degree of automation in the overall process and local conditions in order to automate parts of the logistics chain.
Picking is often carried out manually, while buffer storage, replenishment supply of the picking warehouse as well as transport of pallets and roller containers take place automatically.
Supporting processes such as identifying and stacking empties and bins are also frequently automated to enable the employees to focus on manual, extremely high added-value core processes.
