HERO España uses AGV-S in their warehouse in Alcantarilla
The leading manufacturer of baby food, jams, and marmalades based in Murcia, Spain, was looking for a powerful technical solution to improve efficiency and safety in their over 5,000 square metre warehouse near the Costa Blanca.
Innovative and modern
In the volatile and flexible food sector, the ability to adapt to the wishes of consumers and to the market at any time is of major importance for every producer. In order to do so, it is necessary to speed up and optimise typical intralogistics processes. Specifically, this meant that repetitive tasks are carried out automatically and at high speed, that transport and stacking operations are carried out efficiently, and that pallets are moved from the automatic silo into the dispatch area via storage areas.
Highly accurate, autonomous, maintenance-free
Our bespoke automated solution for HERO España featured an automated guided vehicle (AGV-S) at its core. This second level order picker in series production has been expanded, featuring the automation package and the Traffic Manager transport monitoring software. The AGV-S receives its orders from the Warehouse Management System (WMS) via a data radio system and processes these autonomously.
The AGV-S is guided along predefined travel routes by the Traffic Manager. The automated forklift truck uses its laser navigation system and position reflectors for this purpose, giving great flexibility. This means that the warehouse layout and transport routes can be amended in minutes without moving the reflectors. When the AGV-S has completed a command, it sends wireless confirmation to the WMS. This confirmation includes complete information about the process and any problems that occurred, for example obstructions along the way. Soon after the system was put into operation at Hero España, intralogistic processes became more efficient and a there were considerably fewer errors throughout transport Management.
Like an extra employee
In the opinion of Hero España’s warehouse manager, Juan Francisco García Gambín, the decision to use us and the implemented solution is perfect. “Due to the small size of the machine, we were able to redesign the ideal order picking area.” He added: “Since we placed Jungheinrich's AGV-S in operation, productivity has increased noticeably from the very first day, due to the independent way the machine performs its tasks. In terms of safety, the employees who work with the system have no concerns at all thanks to the personnel protection system with which the machine is equipped."