With the continuous development of China's medical device industry and the increasing demand for terminal piece picking, the intelligent transformation and digitization of warehousing have become the focus of industry development. A medical device industry vendor in East China, which is a customer of Wayzim, successfully deployed and launched an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) with the assistance of Wayzim, greatly improving medical device picking efficiency and order response rate.

Solutions

1. Project Pain Points

As a large research and production base for disposable medical device products in China, this customer's warehousing and logistics system has faced tremendous pressure in recent years.

1. The business volume is increasing, making the limited storage space unable to accommodate more goods.

2. The increasing number of product SKUs makes it difficult to meet high timeliness requirements for orders.

3. The manual picking is inefficient with high error rates, failing to meet the demand during peak periods.

2. Solution Overview

Based on customer needs, Wayzim has adopted highly automated dense storage technology to achieve fully automated inbound, conveyance, storage, and picking operations for medical devices, helping the customer improve picking efficiency and reduce operating costs.

According to the project plan, over 3000 storage locations are available to store over 50000 cartons of goods. The efficiency of inbound and outbound operations can reach 60 pallets per hour, greatly improving operational efficiency and accuracy.

3. Product Configuration

In the Wayzim Automated Storage and Retrieval System, Vertical Reciprocating Conveyors are used to transport goods between multiple levels, and Pallet Four-Way Shuttles are used to flexibly place and pick up goods between storage locations. Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Warehouse Control System (WCS) are used for overall planning and scheduling, achieving efficient inbound and outbound operations. The detailed configurations of these products are as follows.

Vertical Reciprocating Conveyor

The Vertical Reciprocating Conveyor conveys items between multiple conveying levels by reciprocating on the planned four storage levels according to a predetermined material conveyance process. This equipment can handle the medical devices of different sizes and weights, and can meet the height requirements of any level within the maximum lifting stroke, realizing the automated material conveyance between different levels. The maximum load of this equipment is 1500 kg.

Pallet Four-Way Shuttle

The Pallet Four-Way Shuttle supports forward, backward, left, and right movements within the aisle, instant direction change, automatic handling, intelligent monitoring, and dynamic traffic management. This equipment has high flexibility and a positioning accuracy of ≤ ±2 mm.

Considering that this project features high storage density, low level height, and emphasis on cleanliness, a thinner 125 pure mechanical Pallet Four-Way Shuttle is used to reduce thickness and load. The distance between the lower surface of the pallet and the ground can be as low as 300 mm.

WMS/WCS

Based on the B/S architecture, WMS uses graphical user interfaces and digital information to help warehouse managers fully understand the goods, capacity, tasks, and execution efficiency of the entire warehouse.

The system complies with the new GSP standard in design and can upload data smoothly from the National Medical Products Administration, meeting the data regulation requirements of the Administration. WMS can be interconnected with ERP and MES to synchronize data flows and reports, improving overall efficiency and breaking information silos. WCS controls equipment to fully support intelligent warehouse operations, achieve uninterrupted operation processes while eliminating waste, and meet lean production requirements.

4. Project Highlights

1) Tailor-made, Flexible Adjustment of Storage Location Height

The Wayzim engineering team has conducted on-site surveys and determined the final shuttle AS/RS solution based on multiple factors such as warehouse space layout, floor load capacity, overall efficiency, and comprehensive cost-effectiveness, maximizing the use of warehouse space and meeting the customer's demand for as many storage locations as possible.

2) Protective Wall for Safety Protection

Fire protection during the charging process has always been a major challenge in shuttle applications. To address this problem, Wayzim has equipped the project with self-developed fireproof charging piles. If a fault occurs during the charging process, an alarm will be triggered immediately, providing protection for the operation process.

After a shuttle is connected to the fireproof charging pile, a protective wall immediately falls. If a fire is accidentally caused during the charging process, the fire can be effectively contained within the space enclosed on all six sides, limiting the spread of the fire to a large extent.

3) 3DMS Digital Twin System for Dynamic Feedback on Operational Statuses

The system can display real-time and intuitive information about the current tasks performed by the equipment, the number of storage locations, task type, task status, and equipment location. The system uses color changes to highlight equipment operating statuses. If a mechanical error occurs on the equipment, the system can quickly and accurately locate the abnormal equipment, allowing the customer to quickly resolve the problem and restore equipment operation.

Summary

With the help of Wayzim AS/RS, the customer improves warehouse utilization, ensures accuracy, accelerates order delivery, and saves hundreds of thousands of dollars paid for external warehouse renting each year. In the future, Wayzim will continue to follow the trend of warehousing and logistics automation in the medical device industry. Wayzim will provide more flexible, efficient, and intelligent warehousing solutions to help the industry achieve intelligent transformation and digitization.