First combined project of automatic high-bay warehouse and AutoStore System® for the new logistics center building at iDM Energiesysteme GmbH in Matrei
The iDM Group is the largest Austrian manufacturer of heating heat pumps. Over 400 employees develop, produce and distribute more than 10,000 heat pumps for heating, cooling and hot water every year. iDM has made a good name for itself with its development expertise and numerous innovations. The intelligent iDM energy manager "Navigator 2.0" controls the heat pump, uses weather forecasts to adjust heat demand and solar power yields, learns heating and cooling behavior of individual rooms, and optimizes running times by retrieving hourly electricity prices. In this way, iDM makes a significant contribution to the energy transition by providing efficient and clean heat for generations.
For further expansion, a new logistics center is being built at the headquarters in Matrei, East Tyrol. In the first construction stage, an innovative AutoStore® small parts warehouse is being built. The second stage will be followed by the new pallet high-bay warehouse, the connecting conveyor technology and the central picking workstations, which will be served from both warehouses. The contract for the realization of the overall solution, including the HiLIS WMS system for both automated and manual warehouses, was awarded to HÖRMANN Intralogistics.
Automatic high-bay warehouse for the storage of semi-finished and finished goods
The new, three-aisle high-bay warehouse (HRL), measuring 57.5 x 22.5 x 31 m (L x W x H), is connected to the goods receiving area via pallet conveyor technology. At the infeed point, contour and weight checks are carried out. Afterwards, the Euro pallets, industrial pallets or mesh pallets on Euro pallets are conveyed to the pallet circuit in the pre-storage area of the HRL. Each of the three high-bay aisles has a separate storage and retrieval spur. Here, the storage and retrieval machines (SRMs) pick up the pallet. The stacker cranes control the assigned storage location via camera-based compartment fine positioning. The double-deep telescopic forks of the stacker cranes can extend to the second z-position and thus place the pallets double-deep, with pinpoint accuracy. The three stacker cranes operate with the HiLIS ECO power management system, which saves up to 25% of energy consumption through intelligent energy balancing. The HRL has space for 9,324 pallets and achieves a storage performance of 93 pallets/h and a retrieval performance of 85 pallets/h.
Dynamic AutoStore® small parts storage for 16,000 totes
To optimally adapt the AutoStore® small parts warehouse to iDM's requirements, HÖRMANN Intralogistics carried out a comprehensive system simulation with real data. This resulted in a configuration with one carousel port on the west side of the AutoStore® warehouse, which is mainly intended for putaways. Four conveyor ports are aligned with the central picking bays. The 16,000 totes, measuring 649 x 449 x 330 mm (L x W x H), are stored and handled on seven levels. Each tote has a net load capacity of approximately 30.5 kg.
The single-double grid with overall dimensions of 29.8 m x 35.3 m x 3.5 m (L x W x H) is located above the container stacks. On the grid, 9 Red-Line robots move in two directions by means of their four pairs of wheels arranged across corners, thus reaching any position in the grid. They communicate via WLAN with the AutoStore® controller, which assigns transport orders to the individual robots. When the order load is low or the battery capacity is too low, the robots drive themselves to one of the 10 charging stations at the edge of the grid. The AutoStore® system is connected to the electrical department on the upper floor via two transfer cells, a lifter and container conveyor technology.
Central picking for high-bay warehouse and AutoStore®small parts warehouse
Four picking stations are directly connected to the high-bay warehouse via conveyors and distribution carts. One conveyor port of the AutoStore® system is also responsible for supplying each picking station. This means that both palletized goods and goods from AutoStore® can be picked at each workstation. The supply from the high-bay warehouse is carried out by two distribution carriages on one rail, which can operate in a partially redundant manner. In addition, a gripper lifting aid supports each picking station when removing heavy items.
Maximum performance and availability with the WMS HiLIS and HiLIS AS
The warehouse management, system control and system visualization of the two automatic and the manual storage areas are carried out with the proven HÖRMANN Intralogistics Warehouse Management System HiLIS as well as the integrated, customized AutoStore® WMS HiLIS AS, which communicate with the customer's system via interface.
Facts
The scope of supply from HÖRMANN Intralogistics includes steel rack construction, roof and wall cladding, stacker cranes, conveyor technology, distribution carriages, fire doors, AutoStore® Grid, cladding, robots, loading stations, ports and the HiLIS/HiLIS AS WMS, system control incl. system visualization.
Construction stage 1 went into operation in the fall of 2021, with construction stage 2 following in the summer of 2022.
