Method for throughput optimization for industrial products

Abstract

A method for use with a facility having a plurality of locations and a conveyance for moving items between the locations, the method comprising: in response to an instruction which is associated with one or more notional termini, identifying, as a function of the one or more notional termini, a location of the plurality; and transferring an item to or from the location utilizing the conveyance.

Description

[0001] METHOD FOR THROUGHPUT OPTIMIZATION FOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

[0002] FIELD

[0003] The invention relates to the field of warehouse automation.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Significant efforts are underway worldwide in the field of warehouse automation.

[0006] It is normally a desirable outcome to achieve relatively high levels of one or both of capacity and throughput.

[0007] This poses difficulty, since the demands on many warehouses vary over time and true optimization in this context requires mathematical skill that is not typically possessed by warehouse operators.

[0008] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Forming one aspect of the invention is a method for use with a facility having a plurality of locations and a conveyance for moving items between the locations, the method comprising, as steps: in response to an instruction which is associated with one or more notional termini, identifying, as a function of the one or more notional termini, a location of the plurality; and transferring an item to or from the location utilizing the conveyance.

[0010] According to another aspect, each notional termini can be defined by one or more of the locations.

[0011] A facility for use with items forms another aspect of the invention. The facility comprises: a plurality of locations; a conveyance for moving said items between the locations; and a computing functionality.

[0012] The computing functionality is adapted to: receive an instruction associated with one or more notional termini and an item; identifying, as a function of the one or more notional termini, a position; and actuate the conveyance to transferring an item to or from the position in accordance with the instruction.

[0013] According to another aspect, the conveyance can comprise an automated overhead crane, the overhead crane having a trolley-mounted hoist that traverses a supporting beam and a pair of rails traversed by the supporting beam.

[0014] According to another aspect, each notional termini can be defined by one or more of the locations.

[0015] Advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent upon a review of the following detailed description, with reference to the appended drawings, the latter being briefly described hereinafter.

[0016] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] FIG 1 is a plan view in schematic of a facility embodying an example of the invention

[0018] FIG 2 illustrates the movement of ITEM 1 from the truck to CRC 101

[0019] FIG 3 illustrates the movement of ITEM 1 from CRC 101 to storage location 1-1

[0020] FIG 4 illustrates the movement of ITEM 1 from storage location 1-1 to shipping location CTS 109

[0021] FIG 5 illustrates the movement of the item in storage location 6-6 to shipping location CTS 108

[0022] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] A facility 20 according to an example embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 1

[0024] As an initial matter, this facility will be understood to be a distribution warehouse for receiving coils of steel of types A-D, storing coils of steel and shipping coils of steel and will be seen to comprise a shipping area 22, a receiving area 24, a plurality of zones 26, 28, 30, a conveyance 32 and a computing functionality 34. The shipping area 22 is for shipping trucks.

[0025] The receiving area 24 is for receiving trucks.

[0026] The zones consist of inlet 26, outlet 28 and storage 30. Each zone includes one or more locations 42, identified as CRC 101-111, 1-1 through 8-11 and CTS 101-111.

[0027] Each location has a status selected from occupied [O] or unoccupied and reserved [R] or available.

[0028] The locations in the inlet zone are each defined by a cradle CRC 101-111 and they include one cradle CRC 101 which defines a notional termini T1 . The locations in the outlet zone are each defined by a cradle CTS 101-111 and they include one cradle CTS 111 which defines a further notional termini T2. The locations in the storage zone 30 are identified with 1-1 though 8-11 and include one location 1-1 which defines a yet further notional termini T3.

[0029] The conveyance comprises an automated overhead crane. More particularly, the conveyance comprises a pair of rails, three supporting beams each traversing the pair of rails and, for each beam, a trolley mounted hoist. The three supporting beams comprise a shipping beam 44, a receiving beam 46 and a central beam 48. The shipping beam traverses at least the shipping area and the outlet zone. The receiving beam traverses at least the receiving area and the inlet zone. The central beam traverses the entirety of the locations. The functionality of the overhead crane is discussed more fully below.

[0030] Broadly, the computing functionality 34 will be understood to be adapted to:

[0031] • receive an instruction associated with one or more notional termini and an item;

[0032] • identifying, as a function of the one or more notional termini, a location; and

[0033] • actuate the conveyance to transfer an item to or from the location in accordance with the instruction.

[0034] For clarity, FIG 1 shows:

[0035] • coils of type D in cradles CTS 110 and CTS 111

[0036] • a coils of type A in 7-9

[0037] • coils of type B in 2-1, 2-4 and 5-3

[0038] • a coil of type C in 102

[0039] • a coil identified as ITEM 1 in inlet zone 26 WORKFLOW OVERVIEW

[0040] By way of introduction, the following concepts are employed in the present example:

[0041] Associations

[0042] This example facility has been functionalized with the following associations:

[0043] • notional terminus T3 will be understood to be associated with movements from the inlet zone to storage.

[0044] • notional terminus T2 will be understood to be associated with movements to the outlet zone

[0045] • notional terminus T1 will be understood to be associated with movements from the inlet zone

[0046] Instructions

[0047] Orders are instructions that relate to the movement of an item between an origin location and a destination location.

[0048] Requests are instructions that relate to the movement of an item between locations that are missing at least one of origin location and destination location and provide sufficient information to enable the missing information to be calculated. Thus, in the present simplified situation, a request will include:

[0049] • an origin location or an origin zone

[0050] • a destination location or a destination zone

[0051] It will be appreciated that instructions can be delivered to the computing facility through many conventional methods, such as data entry or fulfillment software. Queue Formation

[0052] When the computing facility receives an order, it compares the details of the order against the inventory and confirms that it can be completed. If it can be completed, the order is placed into a queue and the locations are appropriately updated. For example, if a coil is to be moved from one location to another, the computing facility ensures that the one location is occupied and unreserved and the other location is unoccupied and unreserved. If those conditions are present, both locations will be marked reserved and the order will be placed into a queue.

[0053] Similarly, when the computing facility receives a request, the computing facility confirms that it can be completed before placing the request into the queue. For example, if a coil is to be moved from one location to the shipping area, the computing facility confirms that the one location is occupied and unreserved. If this condition is present, the one location is marked reserved and the request is placed into the queue.

[0054] Queue Clearing

[0055] Whenever the crane is idle, the computing facility reverts to the queue, starting with the instruction first received.

[0056] If the instruction is an order, the instruction is drawn from the queue and given to the crane as a job.

[0057] If the instruction is a request, the computing facility determines if the request is capable of execution. For example, if the request contemplates movement of a coil to the shipping zone, and there are no available cradles, the computing facility moves to the next instruction in the queue. If the request is capable of execution, the computing facility calculates the missing information and passes the origin location and destination to the crane as a job.

[0058] Jobs

[0059] On receiving a job, the mobile crane moves the item from the origin location to the destination location. As the crane retrieves an item from an origin location, the location is marked unoccupied in a database. As the crane delivers an item to a destination location, the location is marked occupied in the database.

[0060] Calculation of Missing Information

[0061] Upon receiving a request that has an origin zone, the computing functionality searches the origin zone for locations that are occupied and chooses the location nearest any notional termini associated with that zone.

[0062] Upon receiving a request that has a destination zone, the computing functionality will search the destination zone for locations that are occupied and choose the location nearest any notional termini associated with that zone.

[0063] Thus, for a request that includes the storage zone as the origin zone and the outlet zone as the destination zone, the computing facility will create a job wherein the occupied location nearest the outlet zone is the origin location and unoccupied location nearest the outlet zone is the destination location. This arrangement will be understood to expedite the loading of trucks.

[0064] Similarly, for a request that includes one of the locations in the inlet zone as the origin and storage as the destination zone, the computing facility will create a job wherein the location in the inlet zone is the origin location and the unoccupied location nearest the inlet zone as the destination location. This arrangement will be understood to expedite the unloading of trucks.

[0065] Examples

[0066] The invention will be better understood with reference to the examples below.

[0067] Example 1

[0068] Reference is initially made to FIG. 1 which shows ITEM 1 in receiving area 24. The receiving operation commenced with movement of the item by an operating using crane 46 to CRC 101, as shown in FIG. 2. Once placed, the operator scans the coil and creates a request for the coil to go to storage zone 30. The computing facility chooses storage location 1-1 since 1-1 is closest to the STORAGE anchor point T3. A job is then created, and the coil is moved from CRC 101 is moved to 1-1, as indicated in FIG. 3

[0069] Example 2

[0070] In this example, an operator creates a request for ITEM 1 to go to outlet zone 28. The computing facility chooses CTS109 since it is the closest unoccupied location to the SHIPPING anchor point T2. A job is then created, and the coil is then moved from 1-1 to CTS109, as indicated in FIG. 4

[0071] Example 3

[0072] In this example, an operator creates a request for an item of TYPE B to go to the outlet zone 28. The computing facility chooses the item in 6-6 since it is the closest coil of TYPE B to the shipping anchor point T2. The computing facility chooses CTS 108 as the destination since it is closest to the SHIPPING anchor point T2. A job is then created and the item in 6-6 is moved to CTS 108, as indicated in FIG. 5.

[0073] Manual Interaction

[0074] Whereas the foregoing description has focused on the automated crane, and more particularly, on automated updated of the location status by the computing facility, it will be appreciated that, in the example embodiment, manual cranes are used in shipping and receiving areas, with the result:

[0075] • in the receiving area, as each item is drawn from a truck is placed on a cradle, the operator scans the cradle, which automatically triggers a request that includes the cradle as the origin location and the storage zone as the destination zone; this request is placed at the bottom of the virtual pile, i.e for immediate action

[0076] • in the shipping area, as each item is drawn from a cradle is placed upon a truck, the operator scans the cradle, which automatically vacates the cradle in the inventory Variations

[0077] Persons of ordinary skill will readily appreciate that the simple embodiment herein described is susceptible to variation.

[0078] Without limitation in this regard:

[0079] • items can be variable in size and other features, which variances can be reflected in the inventory and used as a filter in any request

[0080] • the items need not be coils and could, for example, be stacked or bundled products and can be palleted;

[0081] • locations can be variable in size, which variance can be reflected in the map and used as a filter in any request [and in acceptance of jobs into the queue]

[0082] • additional zones can be created, for example, for processing or special storage

[0083] • consolidation can be conducted when the job queue is empty

[0084] • locations can accommodate stacks of items and dig locations can be set aside

[0085] • the notional termini can be defined as a single location, a row of locations, a group of locations or a spatial position

[0086] • the notional termini can be defined in the abstract, such as by directionality, ie. rather than specifying a location in the NW corner of a storage room, the notional termini can be expressed as NW, or SE to NW, or from SE

[0087] • requests can be created automatically in response to customer orders

[0088] Accordingly, the invention should be understood as limited only by the accompanying claims, purposively construed.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for use with a facility having a plurality of locations and a conveyance for moving items between the locations, the method comprising: in response to an instruction which is associated with one or more notional termini, identifying, as a function of the one or more notional termini, a location of the plurality; and transferring an item to or from the location utilizing the conveyance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each notional termini is defined by one or more of the locations.

3. A facility for use with items, the facility comprising: a plurality of locations; a conveyance for moving said items between the locations; a computing functionality adapted to: receive an instruction associated with one or more notional termini and an item; identifying, as a function of the one or more notional termini, a position; and actuate the conveyance to transferring an item to or from the position in accordance with the instruction.

4. The facility of claim 3, wherein the conveyance comprises an automated overhead crane, the overhead crane having a trolley-mounted hoist that traverses a supporting beam and a pair of rails traversed by the supporting beam.

5. The facility of claim 4, wherein each notional termini is defined by one or more of the locations.

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