Warehouse logistics 4.0 – this system solution makes it possible
KEB uses IIoT, motors, and more in its high-bay warehouse
Tough on the outside, high-tech on the inside: With around 1,000 tons of steel, the high-bay warehouse at KEB Automation's headquarters in Barntrup is an eye-catcher even from the outside. And the interior of the warehouse is also something special. It houses fully automated high-tech storage and retrieval machines, in which a system solution developed in-house ensures that internal logistics processes are taken to a new level. The open automation platform NOA plays a particularly important role here.
Intralogistics is not just intralogistics. This becomes clear when looking at the sometimes widely differing requirements for suitable drive solutions. Storage and retrieval systems (SRSs), cranes, conveyor systems, and driverless transport systems (AGVs) require tailor-made drive and automation systems for the smooth movement of goods. This is where KEB's coordinated components come into play. Inverters, motors, brakes, and innovative IIoT solutions from KEB's own development department are combined to create a system that can handle demanding logistics tasks.
One example is conveyor technology. Designed for high efficiency, durability, and optimal service, synchronous and asynchronous systems ensure the perfect movement in dynamic lifting, rotating, sorting, and packing stations with connecting transport routes. Compact drive electronics across the entire performance range and all variants of industrial gear motors complete the range for conveyor systems.
Highly efficient in high-bay warehouses
The way in which modern material handling applications are brought to life can also be seen at KEB's headquarters in Barntrup (North Rhine-Westphalia). All components and semi-finished products are stored in the newly built high-bay warehouse there. The 25-meter-high cantilevered hall is not only architecturally impressive, but the technology used in the storage and retrieval systems is also out of the ordinary. In addition to two SRS in the automatic small parts warehouse for 58,000 1/4 Euro containers, three SRS are also in use in a second segment for 8,000 pallets – equipped with innovative IIoT solutions and the option for continuous DC technology. Both storage and retrieval systems are identical in their basic functions. Each device has a chassis, a hoist, and a load handling device (LAM) with a telescopic boom for picking up and setting down load carriers.
The LAM in the small parts warehouse has four additional drives, as it can pick up and transport up to four containers at the same time. The particular challenge for KEB in automating this system was that the LAM is very compact and the motors therefore had to be too. KEB decided to use 48 V drives developed specifically for this purpose. COMBIVERT S6 servo drives drive the telescopic gear motors on the LAM of the pallet AGV. The lifting and chassis are driven by classic KEB gear motors and COMBIVERT F6 drive controllers. In addition, energy recovery units from the company's own portfolio are used. In this way, braking energy is not dissipated by the resistors that would otherwise be installed but can be efficiently fed back into the grid via EMC and harmonic filters.
IIoT meets intralogistics
A special highlight in the high-bay warehouse is the integration of the new, open automation and IIoT platform NOA. NOA stands for Next Open Automation and enables users to not only flexibly control and operate their machines, but also to intelligently use and analyze their machine data. “This reduces machine and system down times, lowers costs and increases efficiency. Apps such as machine learning, monitoring or solutions for HMIs can be installed easily and flexibly with NOA,” says Daniel Preuß, Product Owner IIoT Platform at KEB. NOA is offered with a basic module that can be expanded with customer-specific and third-party apps, both for users themselves and for their customers.
Its integration into the KEB high-bay warehouse is a successful practical example that demonstrates the possibilities of NOA in the daily application of plant operators. “NOA records measured values via additional vibration sensors that have been installed on various motors of the AGV. The platform simultaneously analyzes the data from the inverter operation via an edge gateway,” says Preuß. The goal is to train smart evaluation algorithms that can detect anomalies in the operation of the application. “Our open automation platform rounds off KEB's product portfolio as a system provider in the IIoT sector and enables our customers to increase the value of their machines with digital services,” says Preuß.
