Mobile robot usage has increased worldwide in a variety of industries during the past year. Automated systems are rapidly providing solutions for labor shortages, the continued rise of e-commerce, customer delivery expectations and the overall uncertainty of the supply chain.

You read the term Shelf-to-Person in our social media posts every day. It's printed on banners at trade shows and featured in webinars.

2023 was the year the Shelf-to-Person solutions made waves. And this way of automating warehouses will become increasingly more common through 2024 and beyond.

But what exactly is a Shelf-to-Person solution and how does it differ from other solutions?

At Geekplus, our foundational mobile robot offering is the Shelf-To-Person solution. During operation, a picking robot carries shelves to a workstation, allowing workers to complete tasks such as putaway, replenishment, and picking-and-inventory auditing at the workstation. This is all coordinated by the Geekplus Robot Management System, which works with the customer’s existing WMS.

Our Shelf-to-Person solution is comprised of:

Picking robots

Depending on the customer's load requirements, warehouse capacity, and product offerings, different types of robots can be selected:

• • • P500 (600kg payload, 2.4m height)
    • P800 (1,000kg, 2.8m)
    • P1200 (1,200 kg, 2.8m)
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Shelves

Numerous types and sizes of shelves can be used with the system. These include pallet shelves, laminate shelves, hollow sheet shelves, carton shelves, and hanging shelves. Customization is also available based on customer requirements. Te maximum height of the shelves is 2.8 meters.

Workstations

The workstation is divided into a putaway workstation and picking workstations. It is used for putting away, replenishment, picking, and inventory auditing.

The Geekplus workstation is modular, configured with modules based on efficiency, accuracy, and safety requirements.

A standard configuration includes gantry, computer bracket, climbing ladder, and barcode scanner. Optional modules offered are projector, wearable scanning device, overhead scanning device, intelligent safety module, anti-fatigue mat, etc.

Let's explore these items in a little more detail:

• Projector: The projection light indicates the picking location and item quantity; this human-machine interaction reduces the need to search for slots and remember quantities, improving picking efficiency and accuracy.

• Overhead scanning device: This device replaces handheld scanners, freeing up both hands to enable relaxed and quick scanning during the delivery process.

• Wearable scanning device: Worn on the wrist, this device replaces handheld scanners, freeing up both hands.

• Intelligent safety module: The ISM includes a modular system emergency stop and safety light curtain for employees that accidentally enter the robot operating area. Robots are triggered to stop immediately. 

• Anti-fatigue mat: Laid on the workstation floor, the mat reduces fatigue and improves employee comfort.

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• Put Walls

• Put walls, divided into manual put walls and vertical sorting walls, are used for storing order boxes after picking is completed. They can be flexibly selected based on different efficiency requirements, product types, and sizes.

• Manual Sorting Wall: After manually picking items, workers deliver them to the corresponding slot according to the electronic label's indication of the delivery slot and item quantity, ensuring a delivery accuracy rate of 99.99.

• Vertical Sorting Wall: Workers do not need to walk and search for slots; they simply place the picked items on the conveyor belt, and the equipment automatically delivers them to the corresponding slot, increasing picking efficiency by 37-60%.

• Our Client UPS Supply Chain uses a Shelf-to-Person System for Order Fulfillment

   

Safety modules

The system’s safety solution ensures personnel safety in the human-machine interaction interface. Safety solutions of PLb and PLd levels are provided based on different customer requirements.

Module composition: Safety fence, safety door, workstation safety component, maintenance area safety component, safety PLC control cabinet.

In the robot working area, a safety fence forms a physical isolation zone, creating a robot-restricted area.

Putaway and picking areas: Safety light curtains are used to detect personnel intrusion. When abnormal intrusion is detected, local or overall robot operation automatically stops to prevent accidents.

Independent maintenance area: Robots enter the maintenance area through a dedicated channel inaccessible to employees. After the robot stops moving, employees enter the maintenance area for repairs.

When cleaning and maintenance personnel need to enter the robot operation area, they enter through a door interlock device controlled by a safety PLC. The corresponding area's robot stops working and resumes operation after the employees leave.

System Platform

The Geekplus intelligent warehouse system platform consists of a Warehouse Execution System, a Robot Management System, and an Intelligent Operation Platform.

WES: The WES uses intelligent algorithms to make coordinated decisions throughout the entire process, efficiently handling tasks such as warehousing, outbound, and inventory management.

RMS: This system is responsible for robot path planning, scheduling, task allocation, charging strategy, and operation monitoring, among other tasks, ensuring the robot cluster works in a coordinated and efficient manner.

IOP: The Intelligent Operation Platform provides real-time monitoring alerts, data analysis, and large-screen visualization for warehouse business operations.

What are the advantages of a Geekplus Shelf-to-Person solution?

There are many reasons to invest in a Geekplus Shelf-to-Person solution. It's stable, with a system availability that reaches 99.98%. It offers service recovery within 5 minutes, ensuring business continuity. Plus, the system's security reinforcement effectively reduces information security risks and protects core data assets.

The system is also incredibly efficient and easy to use. Our Robot Management System specializes in large fleet sync, allowing more than 2,000 AMRs of different types, to be scheduled at once. Our visualized operation system is designed for real-time analysis and dynamic decision-making, ensuring efficient production and easy operation. Our system supports white-box, black-box, and gray-box integration, as well as secondary development and is compatible with  100+ WMS/ERP systems.

And if those aren't reasons enough, here's more:

High efficiency, accuracy, flexibility

• -Picking efficiency is 2-3 times that of manual picking methods, with a picking accuracy rate of 99.99%. Robots transport shelves to workstations, increasing employee happiness and aiding worker retention.

-Ergonomic picking stations improve picking efficiency while prioritizing worker comfort. The system's guidance for various types of putaway, picking, and inventory management strategies ensures a high hit rate for each robot shelf transport.

• -Reduced labor intensity increases worker comfort. Employees also do not need to enter the warehouse area and keep walking for picking. Good human-machine interaction design at workstations reduces fatigue, improving labor retention.

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• -Labor savings: Customers can reduce their labor by 50%-70% at the same efficiency level.

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• -Flexibility: The solution layout can be adjusted at any time.

• -Flexible production capacity: Customers quickly adapt to business peaks. Geekplus offers maximum flexibility compared to rigid automation solutions.

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• How does Shelf-to-Person compare to traditional systems?

Short deployment cycle: Mobile shelves and AMR robots do not require fixed shelves to be built and attached to the ground, resulting in a shorter implementation cycle.

Flexible layout and solution adjustments: Mobile shelves and robots can be increased according to business needs, and the layout can also be adjusted. When business changes, shelf types can be adjusted according to product category changes, quickly adapting to new business requirements.

Adapts to various container types: Shelves, cardboard boxes, pallets, and hanging garments are no problem for the system.

High cost-performance ratio: Shelf-to-person has a lower initial investment and faster ROI.

Decoupled solution: Single point failures do not affect the overall system, resulting in lower operational risks.

Original box storage: Geekplus solutions are environmentally friendly, with an easy and fast putaway process

Shelf-to-person is perfect for a wide array of industries and applications

The Geekplus Shelf-to-Person solution is widely used by more than 1,000 manufacturers and 3PLs around the world in industries like apparel, retail, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing. Customers use shelf-to-person in B2B/B2C, piece-picking, and full-pallet picking scenarios.

Whether customers are looking to expand/adjust the picking area in their warehouse, need a fast ROI on fulfillment or are lease a warehouse and don't need large-scale, rigid equipment investments, our Shelf-to-Person solutions can be customized to fit customers needs.

Schedule a call with one of our automation experts now! We look forward to speaking with you.