Once on the main system, cartons travel
down a decline conveyor where they merge
with any cartons inducted from the ground
floor infeed. Cartons continue to travel
down the line and turn a 180 degree bend
before being checked automatically for their
expected weight. The warehouse control
system (WCS) validates the actual completed
order weight against the system’s expected
weight and any cartons with weight issues
are diverted to a reject spur for rectifying.
Further down the conveyor line, the
warehouse management system (WMS)
alerts the conveyor if a carton contains any
fragile items. If so, the system diverts the
carton to the fragile repack work benches.
Here, colleagues suitably repack any fragile
items before placing the carton back onto
the main conveyor system.
After items have passed both the weight
and fragile repack stations, one of three
document inserting machines place the
customer’s shipping note into each carton.
When the shipping notes have been placed
into the cartons, they are then sorted by size
before they reach either of the two carton
lidding machines. The machine measures
the height of the products and reduces
the carton to a suitable height. Folding the
carton to remove empty space and sealing
it with glue increases the strength of the
packaging. A lid is then automatically placed
and sealed on top of the carton.
Once lidded, the cartons run through
two labelling systems. The first label
machine applies the shipping labels, with
the destination address, to the top of the
cartons. The second label machine applies
a label to the side of each carton with both
the customer’s name and the carton weight.
This is important for store orders as it allows
colleagues to easily identify customers’
parcels when they are stacked in store. As
the labelled cartons continue to travel to the
despatch area, they are scanned again to
ensure that both the LPN and the shipping
label match up correctly.
In the despatch area, AMH has installed
a total of eight despatch lanes. The first
four lanes are used for the parcel carrier
companies. Here, AMH has installed four
telescopic loading booms to transfer the
parcels directly into the back of the trailers
for rapid loading. Three of the remaining
despatch lanes transport parcels for in-store
collect orders whilst the eighth lane is a
reject lane for any incorrect or unreadable
parcels.
AMH provided the controls and software
to operate the automated system. A new
WCS was designed and installed by AMH
to integrate with the customer’s WMS. This
allows orders to be processed automatically
throughout the integrated solution. AMH
also supplied a SCADA (supervisory control
and data acquisition) software system. The
SCADA displays a real time model of the
system which can be accessed from any
computer terminal on-site by both the
operational team and AMH’s engineers.
OVERCOMING PROJECT
CHALLENGES
Colin Holland continues, “Initially, we asked
AMH to come up with a solution for a facility
at a different location, however, our plans
changed and we decided to stay at Ollerton.
This was a challenge for AMH as the Ollerton
site is spread over three floors which wasn’t
part of the initial design. Additionally, the
site was fully operational and AMH needed
to come up with a time plan to install the
system without disrupting the day to day
operations.
“Despite the site change delaying the start
date, our end deadline remained the same
and we still needed to be running in time
for Black Friday. Throughout the installation
process, AMH handled everything on-site in
order to meet our deadline. They appointed
a project manager to run the site, however,
the directors were always available when we
needed them.”
AN EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL
PROJECT AND PARTNERSHIP
Colin Holland concludes, “The system that
AMH has designed is capable of handling
our forecasted peak throughput capacity
up to 2020/21. In addition to this, the
system is fully adaptable so if our volumes
should change, we can add additional
automation to accommodate an increase
in order processing.
“Overall, AMH surpassed our expectations.
The quality they have delivered
throughout the entire project has been
second to none, they couldn’t have
been more efficient. During the whole
process they have been extremely open,
honest and helpful. It truly felt more like
a friendship than a partnership – it’s been
very refreshing working with them.
“Through AMH, we have employed
two full-time maintenance and service
engineers who were involved with the
commissioning and launch support to
ensure site set up and familiarity. They now
provide us with effective engineering site
maintenance and support utilising the 24/7
telephone hotline and callout function.
With this high level of technical support
always readily available it not only gives
us total peace of mind that the automated
system is always serviced and maintained,
but also that it meets health and safety,
and compliance requirements.”
Telephone: +44 121 550 4342
Web: www.amhlifeservices.com
Issue 38 PECM
95