For warehouse operators, the challenge is how to increase throughput and flexibility without stopping the operation that already exists.
A distributed architecture, meanwhile, makes it easier to deploy control across different parts of the site, so new automation can be added and commissioned locally rather than forcing a full redesign of the wider system. Combined with open interfaces, that creates a more practical route to incremental expansion.
Continued expansion
The latest report produced by Savills for the UK Warehousing Association( UKWA) shows that the sector has grown by 61 per cent since 2015 and now stands at approaching 700 million sq ft. Development of warehouses over 1m sq ft has increased by 345 per cent in the last decade.
However, as was highlighted by Clare Bottle, the chief executive of UKWA,“ there is an acute shortage of both high-quality buildings and potential development land.”
Furthermore, JLL reports that 61 per cent of Europe’ s warehouse stock is more than ten years old, underlining the need to modernise existing assets rather than assume every improvement will come through new-build facilities alone.
For intralogistics operators, then, scaling is not really about starting again. It is about adding automation in a controlled, practical way within the reality of a live site. Much like a kitchen renovation, you cannot always tear everything out at once. PC based control and open architectures can help by facilitating a more incremental, staged approach, helping keep a live site operating while planned automation upgrades take place.
For further information, please visit www. beckhoff. co. uk
Issue 80 PECM 95