Sustainable logistics

Published on: October 28, 2015 / Update from: November 26, 2018 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Shutterstock/vipman

Save energy and costs at the same time in the warehouse

Headlines about climate change, sea level rise and global warming can be found in the media every day. No wonder, as sustainability to protect the environment concerns many people. The topic is also present in intralogistics, and so reducing CO ₂ emissions and increasing energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important. In addition to social reasons, this also has financial reasons, as low energy consumption and an improved CO ₂ balance lead directly to cost reductions and an increase in profitability.

In addition to the transport sector, intralogistics in particular can contribute to the design of sustainable logistics systems and thus green logistics. When it comes to designing the warehouse in an environmentally friendly manner, the focus is on energy-efficient lighting, heating and ventilation technology as well as the use of renewable energies, including effective thermal insulation. Furthermore, the approaches are aimed at more efficient conveyor technology, powerful software systems, modern storage devices and the avoidance of idle times.

Energy efficiency in the warehouse

Sustainable warehouse management has the task of operating areas such as storage, picking, packaging and shipping as CO2 _and energy-saving as possible. According to a 2009 study by the World Economic Forum, warehouse buildings are responsible for an estimated 13 percent of the freight sector's CO ₂ emissions. In a study by the logistics provider Vanderlande, it was found that 24 percent of the energy costs of a supply chain are attributable to intralogistics, which makes it a significant cost factor for logistics service providers.

For logistics companies, efficient use of energy in warehouses not only reduces costs, but also improves the CO ₂ balance. Not unimportant given the Federal Government's ambitious goals for reducing CO ₂ emissions. Within intralogistics, the area of ​​conveyor, storage and order picking technology accounts for the largest share of energy costs at 48 percent. It is followed by heating and ventilation technology with 35 percent. Another 15 percent goes to lighting technology.

Increased efficiency through innovative lighting technology

By using modern lighting technology, consumption can be reduced by up to 90 percent. The choice of suitable lighting is primarily responsible for the desired energy savings. LED lamps are currently the best choice here due to their comparatively low consumption, longer durability and significantly higher efficiency compared to conventional light bulbs.

But the most effective energy savers are of little use if they run continuously and thus increase consumption unnecessarily. In many places in the warehouse, motion detectors have therefore been used, which enable selective lighting as required. Storage areas for B and C items usually require a large area and are visited less often. Instead of constantly illuminating the entire area, a lot of energy can be saved through intelligent lighting control. An effective system only illuminates the warehouse aisles when an order picker visits them. The light sources are no longer randomly distributed throughout the entire warehouse area, but are only used where they are needed: in the aisles between the shelves, the picking stations and access routes for the delivery and removal of goods. Such measures alone can save up to 40 percent of the previous energy requirement for lighting.

Energy-saving storage systems

Modern storage systems offer great savings potential, allowing energy consumption to be reduced by up to 40 percent compared to conventional shelf storage solutions. This is ensured in particular by:

Lightweight design of the devices:
Less weight in the parts to be moved means lower consumption.

Compact design:
Due to their design, the devices allow highly compacted storage, which leads to significant savings in space requirements with the same storage volume. As a result, smaller warehouse properties can be realized.

Energy-efficient drive technologies with powerful motors:
Due to the efficient interaction of electric motors, high-efficiency gearboxes and optimally coordinated control software, the storage systems run more resource-efficiently and faster.

Intelligent unload monitoring:
Too high an unload leads to overloading of motors and thus to high energy consumption. The lower the unload, the less stress is placed on the motor and mechanics and the less energy is required. Modern unload monitoring helps to distribute the weight to be moved more evenly. This protects the engine and mechanics and reduces the energy requirement.

Setting up standby mode:
When not in use, even for a short period of time, the devices automatically switch to standby mode. All electrical consumers are put into a kind of sleep state, thereby saving energy.

Path optimization:
The transport devices always choose the shortest travel path for storage and retrieval. This saves unnecessary travel, time and ultimately energy.

Software-controlled storage and picking strategies:
Modern warehouse management software combines several orders into a batch. This means that a stored item that is required for several orders is only accessed once. In addition, the system allows faster and more precise picks, minimizing additional actions caused by errors.

Automatic lighting:
The lighting is only switched on when a tray with the goods to be picked is ready in the operating opening.

Energy-saving heating and cooling systems in the warehouse

Depending on their geographical location, logistics facilities often need to be heated or cooled. On the one hand, so that the stored goods do not spoil or become damaged, but on the other hand, so that the employees have reasonable working conditions. In addition to comprehensive thermal insulation of the property, the operator can reduce consumption and thus save costs by using a modern heating or cooling system.

Things get a little more complicated for cold storage operators, because the appropriate temperature control of the goods, which can range from -10°C for frozen meat to 20°C for consumer goods, contributes significantly to the energy consumption of a warehouse. The installation of a modern cooling or heating system offers a good opportunity to improve energy efficiency in warehousing. Of course, good insulation is also required here.

Another approach is to increase automation in this area. In this way, consumption can be reduced through lighting and opening and closing gates. It also prevents employees from working in this climatically questionable area. On the other hand, the automation of cold storage facilities results in additional energy consumption due to the installed drives.

Some warehouse operators rely on the spatial separation of the climate zones in the form of air walls, so-called air gates . These allow barrier-free separation of different climate zones in the warehouse and can in turn contribute to greater energy efficiency in the warehouse.

Elimination of lighting and heating with automation

Another development in intralogistics may soon make the described requirements regarding optimal lighting and air conditioning for warehouse employees obsolete: advancing automation.

In more and more facilities, goods are accessed and made available under software control; The individual items are collected by transport robots that dart autonomously through the aisles and taken to fully automated picking, from where they are sent via a conveyor belt directly to assembly lines or trucks waiting in front of the halls. In this deserted intralogistics system, lamps are no longer needed, as the robots navigate to their destination via GPS or induction rail and peck the objects with the help of infrared sensors or integrated RFID chips. The devices also do not require heating or air conditioning as they cannot sweat or catch cold. And within the generally relatively wide range of their recommended operating temperatures, far more generous temperatures can be achieved in the warehouse. However, whether the warehouse, which operates without any human labor, can be described as operating sustainably and ecologically is a completely different question.