In order to guarantee just-in-time replenishment for its ultra-modern production facility, one of the world's leading manufacturers of mechatronic systems relies on the fully automated high-bay pallet and container storage system from Stoecklin.
Construction of a fully automated high-bay pallet and container warehouse for automated material flows from receipt to production and dispatch
Pallet high-bay warehouse with 8,000 pallet storage locations and two MASTer storage and retrieval machines; automated small parts warehouse with two BOXer SRMs and 32,000 storage locations for containers
Highly automated intralogistics system to ensure the doubling of production volume with a doubling of material flows
Special pallet recognition system and special solution for largely automated handling of incoming deliveries on a variety of different pallet types
Sonceboz is an internationally active Swiss technology company with 1,300 employees. The company develops and produces mechatronic solutions for the automotive and truck industry, medical technology and industrial automation at several locations with an almost 100% degree of automation.
In 2021, the company plans to double its production capacity at the Boncourt site. In order to enable the associated intensification of 24/7 material flows at the same level of automation, the company also invested in intralogistics.
Stoecklin built a new, double-deep automated pallet high-bay warehouse and a triple-deep automated small parts warehouse including the Stoecklin WMS warehouse management software module.
The modular high-bay pallet warehouse (HBW), which is designed for further expansion, has over 8,000 pallet storage locations and achieves a throughput of over 50 pallets per hour with two MASTer storage and retrieval machines (SRMs).
In the new automated small parts warehouse, two BOXer stacker cranes serve almost 32,000 storage locations for containers and manage around 250 storage and 250 retrieval operations per hour.
Pallet and container storage are connected via a transshipment point, because: A third of the pallets delivered carry cartons with components, which - after intermediate storage of the pallet in the high-bay warehouse - are depalletized, placed on trays and transferred to the low-bay warehouse when the stock level falls below a minimum. Ready for call-off from production.
Stoecklin developed a special system for Sonceboz in order to be able to automatically handle the particular variety of wooden and plastic pallet types in use: non-conveyable special pallets are placed on a standard pallet (slave) during collection. A special pallet recognition system now distinguishes between standard and slave pallets in the subsequent material flow. It recognizes which slave pallets can be transported to a special separator (where both transport units are automatically separated again) and ejects the small proportion that has to be handled by forklift. Slave pallets are automatically transported back to the pallet magazine, supplier pallets automatically go to the exit.
The modular, expandable intralogistics system was installed and integrated smoothly during ongoing operations. Thanks to careful simulation based on real operating data during project planning, an optimum layout was found that measurably confirms its performance in real life and can cope with the doubling of production with maximum automation.
