A public listed automotive part supplier was not only using a large work force operating 4 shifts to facilitate order fulfillment, but they were also using a lot of floor space to break this process into sub operations which caused huge inefficiencies and quality challenges. Despite using a large work force, they were only producing at the rate of 28 UPH which was not keeping up with demand.
MAS Solution:
MAS redesigned the entire process of order fulfillment into one contiguous operation which was flexible to accommodate all of their high-volume SKUs, integrated with their warehouse management software and built the system that runs 8X faster than manual operations. With this integrated approach, the data is fed from SAP directly to the Robotic Order Fulfillment system providing input such as what SKU to run, quantity to produce, what data to print on the label, how many labels to apply and where to apply those labels. With various vision and sensor inspection, any improper formed product or label is removed automatically supplying only good parts to be palletized. All the change overs from one SKU to another is done automatically by the machine which learns about the next order using work orders scanned and queued up by the operator.
Technology Highlights
• Orders come into the 3PL’s database and the MAS developed AI technology organizes orders to process them in the most efficient manner, consolidating 4 shifts of production to 1 shift
• AI validates the orders prior to releasing them to the automation line reducing returns due to inaccuracies with manual order fulfillment
• As flexibility matters to process orders instantly, AI communicates to the robots to retrieve the correct box, print the correct label, place the label in the proper position robotically, what the product weighs, how to palletize, and more.
• The case study shown here employs robots, vision systems, conveyors, and AI to eliminate the need for operators to run and find the correct box, part, label, etc for each order and then erect, pack, label and palletize the orders.
• The entire line is run by two operators per shift that can process up to 250 Units per Hour vs. 64 operators per shift that are required to achieve the same throughput
• Change over times between orders is eliminated as servo driven tooling automatically adjust to handle different product SKU’s