[The cutting edge of logistics digital transformation] Industry Alpha and Taiyo Shigyo launch initiative to automate logistics warehouses

background

Warehouses, which are the core of Japan’s manufacturing and logistics industry, are now required to be more efficient due to the expansion of the EC market and the decline in the working population. In fact, warehouse automation is expected to significantly reduce labor costs and maximize production efficiency.
Warehouse automation requires not only the introduction of robots and AI, but also the design of the entire warehouse with future scalability in mind.
Until now, only a few companies have been able to introduce automated warehouses that draw logistics lines from the warehouse construction stage, but since it requires huge capital investment, many companies have been asked to automate existing warehouses.
However, as existing warehouses are automated, there are frequent cases where automation is abandoned because the system does not fit or commercially available products cannot be used.
Therefore, there was a demand for a solution that enables optimal operation of existing warehouses by partially automating them.
Automation initiatives

This time, Industry Alpha and Taiyo Shigyo have rented a logistics warehouse and begun an initiative to automate the warehouse’s logistics line.
This initiative will design the optimal combination of material handling equipment for the logistics line, streamlining the work that was previously done by people in traditional warehouses, and automating the logistics line, without the need for the construction of a multi-story warehouse or center, which would require a huge investment in capital.
As professionals in labor-saving and efficiency, we will support the automation of existing warehouses.
Challenges in Traditional Warehouses
In conventional warehouse logistics lines, picking and transporting items required a lot of work from employees.
Picking is said to account for about 50% of warehouse operating costs. Employees move around the warehouse many times looking for products while looking at a list, so improving picking work is a very important issue in improving productivity.
In addition, in many sites, goods are transported by people using hand lifts, and there are cases where goods are dropped from the hand lift, causing problems.
Furthermore, in many packaging sites, workers are in charge of attaching labels and assembling cardboard boxes.
This resulted in the following issues:
- Speed varies depending on the person
- Misplaced products and forgotten items are being packed
- Increased training costs for packing procedures due to aging workers

Industry Alpha tackled the issues of transportation and picking, while Taiyo Shigyo tackled the issues of packaging.
The two companies designed solutions to these issues in order to optimize the overall operations of the business.
Industry Alpha’s problem solving
We will transform existing warehouses into smart warehouses by digitizing picking and transportation, which were issues in conventional warehouses, to create synergy with each process, and realize a manufacturing logistics line that enables significant labor cost reduction and productivity improvement.
First, we developed a picking-assist AGV that can pick and transport at the same time. This is a cutting-edge AGV with a shelf on the top of the vehicle on which the luggage is placed during picking. The worker picks the luggage and places it on the AGV, and the AGV automatically completes the transportation. This AGV makes it possible to reduce the number of people in the picking area.
In addition, we developed a system that automatically calculates the optimal route for multiple AGVs by combining a sequence optimization module that rearranges the WMS picking list in the optimal order taking into account the route with a picking-assist AGV.
As a result, the only work done by humans is to go to the AGV and pick and inspect the items.
Furthermore, by introducing automatic label application machines and automatic box-making machines, it is possible to realize a smart warehouse that drastically reduces the amount of manual work required in the entire process from receiving to retrieving, to just loading and unloading, picking, and loading.
Specific work efficiency benchmarks are as follows.
We will first achieve these benchmarks, and then implement various innovations in the future, aiming to further reduce the time per picking item.
Before
・Picking time by hand only: 50 seconds/pick
・Packing time by hand only: 60 seconds/item
After
・Human + robot picking time: 30 seconds/pick
・Human + automated line time: 30 seconds/item
Future outlook
This time, we will achieve ultimate labor savings and automation of logistics lines by smartifying existing warehouses, without introducing large-scale multi-story warehouses. Smartification makes it possible to accumulate data on warehouse operations, which is expected to optimize warehousing and receiving by analyzing data on shipping and shipping frequencies.
In addition, by combining robotic arms and AMRs, we will automate the loading and unloading, picking, and loading that are currently done by humans in this initiative, creating an unmanned warehouse.
Furthermore, by performing location management, we will be able to calculate the layout that will improve picking efficiency at the time of shipment, thereby achieving further labor savings and smartification.