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From cartons to crates, from
plastic totes to wooden boxes:
The new Automated Case
System (ACS) allows its users
to react to retail challenges. A
central element of the solution
is the Automated Case Stacker
(ACS Stacker) that is able to
quickly stack a wide variety of
different load carrier types in a
store-friendly manner to create
mixed-SKU stable handling units.
It is particularly suited to the
fresh food / fruit and vegetable
sector. The tote stack height
is individually adapted to the
respective customer order.
The ACS stacker is characterized
by high flexibility. It not only stacks
single-item or mixed load carriers
of different materials with standard
sizes 600 x 400mm or 300 x
400mm, but also load carriers
that deviate from the standard
sizes in defined tolerance ranges.
As an example, the ACS Stacker
can handle the frequently used
so-called ‘banana boxes’ in the
fruit & vegetable area that do not
correspond to standard sizes. The
ACS Stacker is able to stack these
boxes with other totes in a flexible
manner. For this reason, particular
focus was put on development.
The required minimum height of
the load carriers amounts to only
60mm. Dimension tolerances will
thereby be compensated by the
clamping unit. The order picking
clamp of the ACS lifts a net load
of up to 30kg, which enables not
only the clamping of individual
elements, but also the parallel
“stacking” of crate stacks as well
as of two smaller units (e.g. 400
x 300mm totes) with only one
stacking movement. Depending
on the order configuration and
the material loaded, the stacking
performance amounts to 800 -
1,200 stacking movements per
hour. With regards to availability,
the ACS is designed for a
permanent operation of seven
days a week / 24 hours a day.
Take it to the
next level
Efficient material flow
The new ACS element allows
food retailers and operators of
fresh food branches to store
and pick nearly their entire
product range in temperature-
controlled areas without any
problem in a cost-efficient
manner - without the use of
personnel, error-free, and
ergonomic.
The ACS Stacker, developed
by Witron and produced at its
subsidiary FAS, is the central
element in an efficient material
flow. The received single-
item pallets with fresh food
are first stored in a high bay
warehouse. Witron’s warehouse
management system controls
the demand-related automated
outbound, foil removal,
depalletizing, separation, as
well as the placement onto
the plastic trays that will then
be buffered in an automated
tray AS/RS. Depending on
the size and height of the load
carrier, the tray can carry up
to four units - also in the form
of a stack. Once the trays are
ready for picking, they are
provided to the ACS Stacker
in a predefined sequence. The
stacker lifts the load carriers
from the tray in a product-
gentle manner and places them
piece by piece onto a lifting
device, which compensates the
height independently. The tray
itself is returned to the logistics
loop. The completed stacks
are placed onto the pallet in a
mechanized manner, stretch-
wrapped, and provided to the
dispatch area.
A large variety of different
carton, tote, and wooden box
formats will be stacked by the
ACS system, creating stable
handling units - error-free and
in a store-friendly manner.
58
Logistics Business Magazine | November 2015
Systems Technology