Robot revolution

The Smart Factory logistic concept for production and assembly has been developed to make processes and operations more integrated, flexible, and efficient.

The aim is to intelligently link storage and retrieval as well as assembly and production in order to achieve an integrated and automated material flow between all production and assembly areas.

Dynamic storage units from Kardex Remstar and a transport system from Servus Intralogistics featuring autonomous transport robots are components which are efficiently linked to each other in the new solution. Depending on requirements, the parts needed for assembly are compactly stored in and retrieved from vertical storage lifts, vertical carousels, or container storage systems from Kardex Remstar which occupy the smallest floor space. The transport system from Servus automatically picks up the parts from the Kardex Remstar units and transports them to the assembly workstations with the help of the ARC3 autonomous transport robots. 

Depending on the process, the preassembled parts are then forwarded to the quality assurance area, the interim storage space, the finishing area, or the shipping department. The transport system from Servus is especially flexible. Its route can be freely configured within the production hall, thereby allowing it to perfectly adapt to the existing structure of the building. This state-of-the-art total solution eliminates waiting times, reduces stock levels, and cuts throughput times.

Kardex Remstar MD Jens Fankhänel says: “We are pooling our expertise to make the material flow in the production area leaner and more intelligent. With this pioneering concept, we are creating quality and cost benefits for our customers while continuing to pursue our strategic development towards being a supplier of simple and intelligent solutions.”

Servus Intralogistics MD Christian Beer added: “The automation of production logistics is increasingly proving to be a success factor. The collaboration between Kardex Remstar and Servus is unlocking completely new possibilities for the customers of both companies.”

As a further addition to the Smart Factory concept, Kardex Remstar presented the Crane Handling application in conjunction with the Shuttle XP 1000 at the recent CeMAT exhibition. The new storage lift facilitates the efficient storage and simple handling of heavy loads with the help of a factory-fitted overhead crane.

The Servus ARC3 is an autonomous and intelligent Transport Robot-System for intralogistics, assembly automation, warehouse logistics and order picking without central control. The new ARC 3 (Autonomous Robotic Carrier) generation is based on years of experience adapted from the Servus ARC2 technology.

Servus is the first intelligent and autonomous transport robot for Assembly Automation and Intralogistics. The application possibilities of Servus greatly exceed those which can be satisfied with traditional belt transfer systems. 

Servus runs on a track system. It transports work pieces and materials up to 50kg (standard version), as well as all associated data and operation instructions from goods-inwards, through the production, up to dispatch.