The Open Shuttles by KNAPP find their way through the warehouse safely and quickly. The driverless transport vehicles are successfully operating at the Grene central warehouse in Denmark. In July 2012, Grene decided on a comprehensive expansion and a retrofit of the existing warehouse system to keep up with the growing market demands and to become equipped for multi-channel. Along with the heart of the solution, the goods-to-person picking system OSR Shuttle, the Open shuttles are now independently handling complex transport jobs.
Flexible in every situation
Grene was looking for a flexible, space-effective opportunity to connect different warehouse areas. In this case a static conveying system was out of the question: there were long distances to be covered and the space had to remain clear for personnel, forklift trucks, and other transport vehicles.
The Open Shuttles by KNAPP were the perfect alternative to a static conveying system. For more than six months, three of the automatically guided vehicles have been on the job more than 10 hours a day, quickly and flexibly handling transport orders. The Open Shuttles are used for a variety of tasks in the warehouse, from supplying the work stations with replenishment to transporting completed parts for storage in the OSR Shuttle. The integration of the shuttles into the existing warehouse was quite fast and easy: startup with training and on-site assistance was handled within just two weeks.
Dennis Pallesen, head of the Grene Denmark warehouse, is satisfied with the performance of the Open Shuttles. “The transport processes could be set up very quickly and flexibly with the Open Shuttles. This saves us time and we can work much more efficiently. Our warehouse workers view working with the Open Shuttles very positively.”
Fast but safe
The Open Shuttles are distinguished above all by their intelligent and safe vehicle movement. Through their innovative dimensions scanner, the Open Shuttle detects static as well as moveable objects and reacts intuitively. They independently plan the fastest route and find alternative routes when blocked by an obstacle, without optical or physical aides. This guarantees a safe and flexible interaction between people, other transport vehicles and the Open Shuttles. The free-moving vehicles work according to the principle of swarm intelligence. The Open Shuttle fleet precisely adjusts to the work requirements and takes care of tasks independently in the different areas of the warehouse. The swarm is where the work is.
The user interface for monitoring the Open Shuttles is designed to be especially intuitive and user friendly. In keeping with the easyUse principle by KNAPP, the customer can configure everything easily and independently. This configuration includes activating or deactivating shuttles, making changes to the layout, changing paths, locking warehouse areas and much more.