Evaluation of Automated Material Handling Solutions

1. How to establish efficient and effective material handling processes?

2. How to address labor shortages and reduce costs?

3. How to ensure stable and efficient product output, minimizing human errors?

4. How can AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) replace human labor in environments with safety hazards?

5. How to achieve precise alignment for loading and unloading operations?

6. How to maximize the utilization of existing floor space and avoid congestion?

7. How to reduce fatigue for on-site operators involved in material handling and enable them to focus more on product manufacturing?

8. How to lower management costs and enhance production control through automated material handling, leading to improved production management?

1. Application Scenario Analysis

Application scenario analysis focuses on the environment where the automated material handling solution is intended to be implemented. This includes factors such as handling frequency aligned with production cycles, handling paths for material transport, dimensions and packaging of the items being handled, load-bearing capacity of the site, surface flatness, and loading as well as unloading methods. Understanding and measuring these factors are crucial for planning and implementing the automated material handling solution, ensuring alignment with the desired goals.

2. Safety

In most manufacturing environments, production and material handling activities are performed in a collaborative manner between humans and machines. Therefore, the equipment used for automated material handling should comply with safety requirements specific to the site. This may involve installing safety devices such as obstacle-contact buffers, multi-channel proximity detection devices, safety protection mechanisms for automatic unloading, emergency stop features, etc. The safety measures should be assessed and implemented based on the specific site conditions, considering the factors of people, machines, materials, and the surrounding environment, to ensure safe operation after implementation.

3. Basic Parameters and Performance Indicators

After conducting the application scenario analysis and safety evaluation, the performance indicators for the desired automated material handling solution can be defined. These indicators may include guidance methods, types of drives, weight and load-bearing capacity of AGVs, operating speed, turning radius, precise positioning, alarm and emergency stop functionalities, as well as system integration requirements with upper-level systems.

4. After-Sales Service

Based on the evaluations of application scenarios, safety, and basic parameters and performance indicators, an initial understanding of the required equipment types, quantities, scheduling system functionalities, and corresponding hardware and software support can be obtained. When evaluating potential suppliers, in addition to the aforementioned evaluations, it is important to consider the after-sales service. This includes aspects such as responsiveness to general inquiries, system updates, maintenance for troubleshooting, and technical services (including design and installation) to ensure smooth daily operations and handling of any exceptional situations. Since the implementation of automated material handling solutions has comprehensive implications rather than just localized impacts on traditional production, it is advisable to include after-sales service evaluation as part of the assessment to mitigate potential risks.