Elevated Pathways for Mobile Robots in Warehouse Order Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional order-picking methods in warehouses are labor-intensive and inefficient, especially for operations with low items per order or high numbers of orders, leading to excessive travel time and congestion, which increases costs and reduces productivity.
Innovation Solution
Integration of elevated pathways dedicated for mobile robots within storage systems, allowing them to transport cargo holders and items efficiently, thereby reducing human involvement in transportation and enabling robots to handle tasks such as order fulfillment and inventory stowage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If human order pickers use forklifts to pick items one order at a time following routes through warehouse aisles, then items can be picked and transported to shipping docks, but travel time becomes excessive for operations with low items per order and congestion occurs when many pickers work in the same areas
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the order fulfillment process into separate functions: mobile robots perform automated item retrieval and transportation along dedicated elevated pathways, while human workers focus on order assembly and packaging at stationary workstations. This segmentation eliminates the need for human workers to travel through warehouse aisles, dramatically reducing travel time and increasing order fulfillment speed.
Solution Approach 2:
Mobile robots serve as intermediaries between the storage racks and human workers. The robots travel along elevated pathways to retrieve items from various locations and deliver them to human workers who then complete the order assembly. This intermediary system handles the time-consuming transportation tasks, allowing human workers to remain stationary and focus on value-added activities.
2Productivity
If multiple human pickers work in the same warehouse areas to handle large numbers of orders, then order volume increases, but congestion from many pickers working in the same areas slows down the processing of orders
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the workforce into mobile robots that handle transportation and human workers that handle order assembly. Multiple robots can simultaneously service multiple human workers without causing congestion, as the robots travel along dedicated elevated pathways separate from human walkways. This allows the system to scale order processing volume without the congestion problems that plague traditional systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile robots operate on elevated pathways above the warehouse floor, creating a separate dimensional space for transportation. This vertical separation allows robots and human workers to operate simultaneously in the same horizontal area without interfering with each other, eliminating congestion while maintaining high order processing volume.
3Productivity
If traditional rack picking methods are used, then items can be stored and retrieved, but the operation becomes labor intensive and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile robots are equipped with autonomous navigation capabilities and automated item retrieval mechanisms that allow them to independently travel to storage locations, retrieve items, and deliver them to human workers without human intervention. This self-service capability eliminates the need for human workers to manually operate forklifts or traverse warehouse aisles, dramatically reducing labor intensity while maintaining high picking efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual mechanical operations (human workers operating forklifts) with automated robotic systems that travel along elevated pathways. The robots use automated mechanisms to retrieve items from racks and transport them to human workers, substituting labor-intensive mechanical operations with automated systems that reduce labor requirements and costs.
Data Source
AI summary
Robotic automation and methods described herein can be used to enhance the efficiencies of order fulfillment and inventory stowage processes. For example, this document describes the integration of elevated pathways that are dedicated for mobile robots to use in conjunction with a human-operated order picker lift to transport items for order fulfillment processes in an efficient manner. In some embodiments, the elevated pathways for the mobile robots can be at least partially integrated into storage systems such as pallet racking. The described systems and methods allow the elimination of human labor particularly related to transporting saleable goods and similar items. Mobile robots take over many of the tasks related to transporting the picked items. Accordingly, the efficiency of the human order picker, as measured by the number of line items picked per hour for example, is greatly enhanced.