Managers at high-volume warehouses and distribution centers are constantly looking for ways to make their processes run more smoothly and efficiently—and for many, the secret to success lies in improving the way they sort the many boxes, bags, mailers, and pouches that wend their way through facilities each day.
“We do most of our business in middle-mile [and] last-mile applications,” says Tim Kraus, product manager at conveyance and parcel automation solutions company Intralox, which serves customers in the logistics, food, and consumer packaged goods industries, among others. “[Customers are] always looking for package mix—what can and can’t they sort on [a] machine. They’re always looking for throughput—what’s the maximum throughput they can get. And they want to know the number of destinations and the footprint it will take up in a building. And price.”
Kraus says solving for those variables can lead to a more efficient operation—especially if you put the latest in automated sortation solutions to the test.
There was no shortage of new products and services designed to boost efficiency at the recent Modex 2024 show in Atlanta, a biennial event that showcases the latest material handling and technology solutions for warehousing, distribution, and supply chain operations. Here’s a look at three examples from the show floor that illustrate how sorters are getting smarter, faster, and more accurate thanks to high-tech innovations.
ADVANCED CONTROLS UNLOCK FLEXIBILITY
Sorter controls can help companies make the most of their automation investments. Intralox highlighted the availability of prepackaged advanced sorter controls for its Activated Roller Belt (ARB) Sorter S7000, a feature that provides customers with an “out of the box” solution for improving the sorting process. As Kraus explains, the company has “productized” sorter controls by offering a ready-made solution that works with a wide range of applications. The solution, which includes package-tracking and divert actuation logic, saves on installation time and increases sort accuracy and reliability.
Here's how it works: The advanced sorter controls allow customers to sort more precisely to a destination—a conveyor, bin, gaylord, or the like—by accurately controlling where products exit the sorter. This can lead to greater flexibility. Depending on the application, customers can configure sort destinations closer together or add destinations in the same amount of space, creating more destinations per footprint. This can help condense the overall footprint of the conveying and sorting solution to save money.
“The openings for the destinations can be shorter and closer together if you’re more precise, which means you can have more destinations in a compact footprint,” Kraus explains. “And that would also reduce the investment; if the sorter gets smaller, it’s usually a lower capital investment.”
Better controls can also help keep the conveying and sorting process running smoothly. For example, the system’s “SmartFill” chute logic spreads out packages that are destined for a single location, helping prevent backups. As Kraus explains, the control logic determines where to have packages exit the sorter so that the sorter can fit more items into the space—avoiding situations in which a few large boxes can effectively block other items from being sorted to the destination.
“In a normal application, any particular destination may become full after just a few large boxes,” he says. “The next package intended for that destination can’t be sorted to the ‘full’ destination and must be reprocessed or [it] might shut the system down.”
By spreading the packages out, the control logic also enables the system to run for longer intervals without having an employee step in to empty the receiving container, reducing the number of people needed to staff those sorting destinations.
“This helps middle- and last-mile operations run efficiently during both peak and nonpeak seasons,” Kraus notes.
And it’s all made possible by the out-of-the-box controls that make setup simple. What used to require customized work can now be accomplished with the touch of a few screens. And that makes the process easy to replicate, which is a boon to companies seeking to automate their last-mile operations, in particular.
“If you’re automating the last mile, it’s likely you’re not just doing that in one place. You’re probably using similar technology [in multiple locations],” Kraus explains, emphasizing the ability to get systems up and running quickly across an entire last-mile network. “If it’s all ‘plug and play,’ there are benefits for the customer who has to maintain the system as well. They can be trained once, and everything will be the same in all facilities—maintenance, diagnostics, data reporting; it’s all the same.”
AI ENHANCES ACCURACY
Sorters are also getting smarter thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)—features that can help keep warehousing and DC operations humming along, unimpeded. Leaders at warehouse automation specialist Trew LLC touted the addition of AI to the company’s TrewSort sliding-shoe sorter as an example of how intelligent sorter design is making it easier for retail, e-commerce, and other high-throughput operations to sort cartons, parcels, totes, and poly bags, day in and day out.
Sliding-shoe sorters are among the most common types of high-speed sorter technology used in warehousing and distribution operations. The basic design consists of a conveying platform that connects to a main in-feed conveyor line. As cartons reach their sort destination, small blocks, known as shoes, slide across the conveying surface to gently push items down the next path on their journey. Trew’s “AI inside” feature incorporates self-learning actuators with mechanical and control design elements that effectively allow the sorter to “learn on the job.”
“The AI uses machine learning built into the divert actuator, allowing the sorter to maintain accuracy by self-identifying issues before they become problems,” says Andrew Herchenbach, a product manager for Trew LLC. “There is deep thinking in every detail of the sorter.”
Herchenbach offers an example to illustrate the point: “A great analogy would be high-performance cruise control in a high-performance car. The AI monitors and learns [about] the car’s performance and figures out how to feed the engine fuel to maintain constant high performance as the flow of traffic and road conditions change. For the sorter, the goal is to handle products of a wide range of sizes and weights and maintain the highest levels of divert accuracy as operations change through the life of the sorter.”
The system is designed for heavy use in facilities running three shifts per day and can flex with a company’s growth plans: Features include adjustable divert switch locations, modular machine sections, an expandable electrical design, and adjustable after-sort lane connections.
iBOTS ENABLE ONE-TOUCH SOLUTION
The application of robotics has fundamentally changed the way many warehouses and DCs operate, a trend that was underscored by the equipment on display at Opex Corp.’s booth in Atlanta. The warehouse automation equipment company showcased the newest version of its automated sortation and order retrieval system—the SureSort X with Opex Xtract—which is designed for high-speed operations in retail, e-commerce, and even returns processing. The automated put-wall system has been around since 2017, but Opex has revamped it and added the Xtract feature in response to customer feedback, creating a system that can handle a wider range of items (it can process items 60% smaller, nearly 20% larger, and up to 300% heavier than the previous version) and that automates the retrieval and transfer of orders into shipping containers.
At the heart of the system are the company’s “iBOT” sorting robots—compact, multidirectional vehicles that sort inventory in the system’s grid, traveling horizontally and vertically throughout the system. The iBOTs can also be programmed to leave the storage grid for delivery and pack out.
In a nutshell, the system works like this: Items are inducted via a drop-conveyor and are run through a scan tunnel that analyzes and determines where to send them within the system’s aisles. Then the sortation iBOTs take over, sorting items to delivery bins, totes, or boxes. The iBOTs maneuver throughout the system and are able to change their destination while in transit, if needed. With Xtract, the iBOTs are programmed to retrieve prepared orders and deliver them to a packing station. Customers can also choose to automate the packing process by using specially designed Xtract totes; these feature a “split tray” or “bomb bay” design that enables them to drop the sorted items into the final shipping box or container when opened.
The system answers customers’ calls for a single integrated solution for sorting, retrieving, and automatically getting product into its final container—another example of how sorting technology can help streamline operations and address persistent labor challenges in the warehouse.
“Labor is one of the biggest problems for many companies out there; they just don’t have enough people,” explains Monty McVaugh, head of product management, warehouse automation at Opex. “[Xtract] automates the order takeaway, which allows companies to repurpose people to other work.”
These are just a few of the many examples of advanced sorter technology on display at Modex this year. For more information, check out our Modex 2024 coverage at www.dcvelocity.com.
