BASF PLANT SCIENCE GMBHLIMBURGERHOF

Case Study

PROJECT / CUSTOMER‘S REQUIREMENTSFULLY AUTOMATIC ORDER PICKING OF SINGLE BOTTLES AND CONTAINERSOF DIFFERENT SIZES

BASF - for almost 150 years the abbreviation of the Baden Aniline and Soda Factory has stood for development, pro- gress and innovations. In the Agricultural Solutions division based in Limburgerhof, some ten kilometres south of Ludwigs- hafen, Aberle GmbH carried through an entirely new auto- mation solution for storing and picking mixtures and products in different-sized bottles and containers. In the meantime, the patented system design for the automatic order picking of mixed single bottles is also considered to be an innova-

tive industry solution for bottling and distribution centres in the retail trade. The fully automated system takes care of the complete procedure from receipt of goods to the trans-fer to the shipping packaging department. In addition, all goods are scanned, recorded directly in the IT system and booked out. This way, there is no need for time-consuming stock-taking. Aberle carried through the complete develop-ment and implementation of the innovative system solution in just over a year.

BENEFITS / SPECIAL FEATURESWith a capacity of 3,000 to 4,000 bottles per day, the system is set up for automatic bottle picking especially for the small and medium throughputs of SMEs in the beverage industry and retail trade distribution. Users benefit from significant increases in throughput, shortened picking times and minimum error rate when picking orders.

For the handling of different-sized bottles, the designers opted for robotics

Case Study BASF PLANT SCIENCE GMBH

In addition to installation on a storage and retrieval machine (SRM), the innovative system development can be integrated as a stand-alone solution in existing goods flows.

Solution

With its integrated components, the system design takes charge of handling including all necessary validation pro- cesses such as measuring, reading and weighing according to specified standards. All the picking and validation pro-cesses are carried out without wasting time while the bottles are being handled by the SRMs. At the same time, the bottles are automatically sorted, measured by laser technology, their dot-matrix codes recorded and the bottles weighed by a three-axis gantry robot mounted on the SRM‘s lifting equipment. The acquired data is then trans-mitted in real time to BASF‘s own goods management system and validated by it. In parallel, PMS-M computes the storing position for separate storage of different items. With grippers specially developed by Aberle, the robot takes the individual bottles from the transport containers and loads them into the trays in the warehouse. Order picking is carried out in reverse order. The SRM picks and sequences the order positions already during the retrieval processes. For precommissioning, a storage tower has been set up.

Integrated components

In a single-aisle automatic sample shipping warehouse, in six different compartment sizes for containers and trays each weighing up to 50 kilograms, there are just under 70,000 storing positions. The integrated SRM has a spe-cial handling configuration. Aberle has integrated modern robot technology. In addition, six individual inlays were developed for the storage trays to ensure the stability of the bottles during automated processing. At BASF the PMS-M process management system is used to control the flow of materials and the system components. Special characteristics: PMS-M reacts to different situations in the system and - depending on the operating condition of the plant - regulates the speeds of the SRMs. The PMS-V on-screen operation module installed by Aberle also offers the dispatchers a clear overview of the status of order processing.

SRM with three-axis gantry robot mounted onto load handling unit for direct order picking

Aberle GmbHDaimlerstraße 4074211 Leingarten · GermanyPhone +49 7131 9059-0Fax +49 7131 9059-59www.aberle-automation.cominfo@aberle-automation.com

Case Study BASF PLANT SCIENCE GMBH

TECHNICAL DATA

Industry / Products / Product range chemicals / fertilizer / PF bottles

General contractorScope of delivery - automated miniload - totes - trays - conveyor components - Warehouse Management System

Material being conveyed bottles and containers of different sizes

Throughput 3,000 - 4,000 bottles per day

Miniload AS/RS / Storing positions 1 aisle / 70,000 storing positions

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Load units/ Weight 414 trays (specially developed inlay) / 50kg

SRM 500 double cycles / day

Lifting equipment SRM with gantry robot mounted on it

Conveyor systems / Order picking tote conveyor technology with 2 picking workstations

IT-Base PMS-M / PMS-V