Modern AutoStore® warehouse for original Giesswein mill products in Austria

Giesswein Walkwaren AG is a Tyrolean family business in its third generation. From hand-picked wool in traditional quality, modern, sustainable and functional clothing and shoes are produced in our own production facilities. With special know-how and a holistic approach, the company has developed into Europe's leading manufacturer of clothing made of 100% new wool. At the Brixlegg site, a finished goods warehouse is to be built in an existing warehouse to support the steadily growing online shop business and stationary trade. Hörmann Logistik was awarded the implementation contract with its tailor-made concept and the modern, versatile AutoStore® system.

Concept

Joint planning discussions and several system simulations with real data led to the individual AutoStore® system configuration with 31 robots and 17,500 containers on nine levels. The height of the AutoStore® grid was determined by the 4.6-metre high existing hall.

In order to guarantee the performance specifications of 140 storage and 900 retrieval operations per hour, 5 carousel and 3 conveyor workstation modules were initially provided. A further carousel workstation module has already been preconfigured.  The single-double grid with the overall dimensions of 26.1 x 30.4 x 3.1 m (L x W x H) is clad on two sides.

The 17,500 containers in the standard format 649 mm x 449 mm x 330 mm (L x W x H) each allow a load capacity of approx. 30 kg.

31 robots supply the Carousel workstations 8 hours a day. This requires a charging process per robot of approx. 4 hours per day, for which a total of 24 charging stations are provided at the edge of the grid.

Maximum flexibility and efficiency

In principle, all workstations are equipped so that goods receipts or picking can be carried out there at any time. The incoming goods are delivered to the workstation by the warehouse staff.

In the grid system, stacks of 9 containers each are placed directly on the hall floor. A single-double-grid rail system is mounted above the stacks of containers, on which the battery-operated, autonomous robots travel. They pick up containers cooperatively, re-sort them as required and serve them at the carousel ports. The containers can be flexibly subdivided by means of separating inserts for the use of several articles.

The robots move in two directions by means of their four pairs of wheels arranged in a corner and thus reach any position in the grid. They communicate via WLAN with the AutoStore® controller, which assigns the transport orders to the individual robots. If the order load is low or the battery capacity is too low, the robots drive automatically to one of the charging stations located at the edge of the grid. The AutoStore® controller is located on the connected service platform.

For the picking of articles, AutoStore® can transfer complete picking orders (task group) with the individual picking positions (task). With a lead time of 30 minutes, AutoStore® with its integrated optimization algorithms ensures maximum efficiency in the processing of orders. The items that belong together are stored in the shipping carton. For this purpose, the carton is provided with a barcode that is "married" to the shipping order number. In a second construction stage, the conveyor connection of the picking workstations to the goods issue is planned.

The AutoStore® system at Giesswein Walkwaren in Brixlegg is already being installed and is scheduled to go into operation in July 2020.