Recirculation Loop Pallet Conveyor for Warehouse Demand Prediction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Inefficient item retrieval and delivery processes in warehouses lead to delays and inefficiencies due to the need for frequent vehicle trips between storage and conveyor systems, causing picker wait times and traffic congestion.
Innovation Solution
A pallet-conveyor system with a recirculation loop and diverter mechanism, controlled by a computing system that selects items based on future demand and operates mobile robotic devices to maintain popular items in circulation, diverting them directly to a delivery area or retrieving them from storage as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If items are retrieved from storage and loaded onto conveyor systems using frequent vehicle trips, then items can be delivered to pickers, but vehicle traffic congestion and picker wait times increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-loads popular items onto the recirculation loop based on predicted future demand, so that when pickers need these items, they are already available on the conveyor system rather than requiring vehicle retrieval from storage. This preliminary positioning of items eliminates picker wait time for high-demand items.
Solution Approach 2:
The recirculation loop acts as an intermediary buffer between storage and the delivery point. Instead of vehicles directly transporting items from storage to pickers, items first enter the recirculation loop where they can be accessed by pickers, reducing the need for frequent vehicle trips and associated traffic congestion.
2Adaptability or versatility
If vehicles frequently travel between storage and conveyor systems to retrieve items, then item requests can be fulfilled, but traffic congestion and operational delays increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system proactively identifies and loads items onto the recirculation loop based on predicted demand patterns before they are actually requested. This ensures high availability of popular items while minimizing the need for reactive vehicle trips, thereby improving operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The recirculation loop continuously circulates items automatically, providing self-service capability. Pickers can directly access items on the loop without requiring vehicle assistance, reducing the burden on vehicle operations and improving overall system productivity.
3Area of stationary object
If all items are kept in storage, then space utilization is optimized, but item retrieval time and vehicle trips increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different storage strategies to different items based on their demand characteristics. High-demand items are positioned on the recirculation loop for quick access, while lower-demand items remain in main storage. This localized differentiation optimizes both space utilization and retrieval time for each item category.
Solution Approach 2:
The system anticipates future demand and pre-positions items on the recirculation loop accordingly. By predicting which items will be needed soon, the system moves them from main storage to the faster-access recirculation area in advance, reducing retrieval time without permanently dedicating excessive space to the loop.
Data Source
AI summary
Example pallet-conveyor systems may include a conveyor system configured with a delivery track arranged to move pallets to a delivery area, a recirculation loop, and a diverter mechanism. The system may include a computing system that selects an item for the recirculation loop based on future demand and causes a robotic device to maintain pallets of the selected item in the recirculation loop. The computing system may further receive an item request and determine that a requested item is available from the recirculation loop and responsively cause the diverter mechanism to divert the requested item from the recirculation loop to the delivery track. The computing system may also cause robotic devices to obtain and load pallets of remaining requested items onto the conveyer system for the delivery area, and cause pickers to remove one or more items from pallets at the delivery area in order to fulfill the item request.