Hitachi Energy Optimizes High-voltage Service Warehouse in Zurich With AutoStore

Zurich, 5 August 2022 – Hitachi Energy is a global leader in high-voltage technology, offering a wide range of high-voltage products up to 1,200-kilovolt (kV) helping enhance the safety, reliability and efficiency of power networks while minimizing environmental impact. The Dietlikon site, where the Kardex AutoStore solution is being implemented, covers all processes for the service components business of the "High Voltage Products" business unit. This includes goods receipt and inspection, storage, picking, packing, and shipping of the service components.

Sustainable, flexible, and highly efficient

AutoStore systems are operated by autonomous high-speed robots that move on a three-dimensional aluminum grid system. Within this grid, storage bins are neatly stacked on top of each other in multiple rows. The battery-powered robots pick up bins from their storage location, rearrange them, and present them to the directly connected workstations (Ports) for picking and replenishment. The highly flexible grid system maximizes storage density and enables four times the capacity in the same footprint compared to traditional manual warehousing. AutoStore's modular design allows for both throughput and storage capacity expansion at any time during operation, enabling AutoStore systems to grow with business needs.  

For the customized design of Hitachi Energy's AutoStore solution, Kardex performed several system simulations with real data during the planning phase. The results, which were based on the required operating times for picking and putaway of the service components as well as other customer requirements, led to a system configuration with a total capacity of 3,250 bins measuring 25.6 in x 17.7 in x 8.7 in (l x w x h). In the first expansion stage, the grid will be equipped with 3,000 bins only, two "Red Line" (R5) robots and two Conveyor Ports. Various system extensions are already in the planning. The Warehouse Management System (WMS) Kardex Control Center manages the various warehouse systems and optimizes the connecting processes.  

"With our new AutoStore spare parts warehouse, we will be able to react even more flexibly to customer needs and process orders even faster thanks to greater availability of the service components," Looser continues. "In addition, as a pioneer in sustainable technologies, we are setting another important milestone with our investment in AutoStore."

Hitachi Energy is actively working towards a sustainable energy future, which is exactly where the AutoStore technology will make an important contribution in the future. Ten AutoStore robots consume no more energy than a standard vacuum cleaner, and whenever robots lower a bin or reduce speed, power is returned to the batteries. AutoStore's compact design also requires no aisles, decreasing energy consumption significantly by reducing the number of areas that need to be illuminated. With an average availability of 99.6% and "built-in" redundancy, AutoStore is the world's most reliable and efficient storage system.

Kardex社について

Kardex社は、自動入出庫およびマテリアルハンドリングシステムを提供するイントラロジスティックスソリューションのリーディングカンパニーです。Kardex RemstarとKardex Mlogという2つの起業家的経営部門で構成されています。Kardex社の使命は、商品や材料の保管と取り扱いの効率性を高めるソリューションとサービスを世界規模で提供することです。

この2つの部門は、顧客の製品やソリューションのライフサイクル全体にわたってパートナーとしての役割を果たします。プロジェクトの分析から実現、そしてサービスまで、Kardex社は、あらゆる段階で顧客のパフォーマンス向上を支援します。Kardex社は、自社の生産工場をドイツに3つ、北米に1つ有しており、品質の高いソリューションを提供しています。Kardex社は、技術革新と優れた顧客ロイヤルティにおける自社の競争優位性を維持および強化するため、研究開発、サプライチェーン、サービス組織の拡大、さらには買収による新テクノロジーの獲得に投資しています。Kardex社は、AutoStore、Rocket Solution社、Robomotive社、Intertex社、Sumobox社など、Kardex社と同じ価値観を共有し、Kardex社のソリューションを補完するグローバルリーダーと積極的に提携しています。

Kardex employs 2,000 team members across 30 countries and has installed over 140,000 industry-specific solutions worldwide.

For more information visit: AutoStore | Kardex