The future of logistics centers

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Published on: September 16, 2020 / update from: October 1, 2020 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Europe in transition: The future of logistics centers

Logistics centers are not a key industry, but they are part of our most important key infrastructure in our expanding business location, despite the Corona pandemic .

FALC / Fully Automated Logistics Center – Image: @shutterstock|Chesky

Despite some difficulties at the beginning of the corona pandemic, logistics has so far coped with the crisis well. What she didn't have to master: Rapidly increasing transport volumes via e-commerce, as if it were just before Christmas. Absorbing delays in just-in-time production, i.e. demand-synchronous production, as well as absorbing supply chain slumps and coordinating them as best as possible.

So it's not just the manufacturing industry that determines the future of logistics centers, but also e-commerce, which presents logisticians with new challenges with its split case picking system. Namely, mastering the various picking requirements from automated individual item picking to full pallet picking.

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Another challenge is urbanization and at the same time ensuring basic services in rural regions . The Japanese are a bit ahead of us in that they rely on, among other things, a local, decentralized hub system (see also hub and spoke, local and decentralized). Away from static processes, via flexible and intelligent automation to AI-controlled full automation.

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And then there is the Green Deal, the EU's plan to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

Being a logistician is not easy at the moment. It's a mammoth task to overcome all these challenges. It should be clear to everyone that this cannot be planned and solved in such a short time. What is particularly needed here are intralogistics experts who can deliver a comprehensive concept and not just represent a part of the intralogistics. Logistics software (WMS), picking methods and storage systems that cover all the requirements for a digital transformation towards Industry 4.0 must be mastered by the intralogistics experts who have the know-how and the portfolio. Those who work together in networks and can solve various challenges individually and, above all, globally.

Like Amazon does

If you take a closer look, one thing in particular stands out: Amazon. Amazon has managed to advance intelligent automation and implement the various picking requirements. Amazon has more than 175 fulfillment centers around the world. This enables quick shipping to its customers. There are 40 logistics centers in Europe alone, 12 of which are currently in Germany. Amazon employs over 250,000 people worldwide, around 13,000 of whom are permanent employees in Germany.

Long before the Green Deal, Amazon was relying on autonomous power supply. Not only is Amazon the leader in research spending, it is also investing in expanding its robotics. And yet, even though Amazon's revenue has also increased more than tenfold since 2009, that wasn't enough to offset the increase in logistics costs. In 2009, shipping and fulfillment costs amounted to 15.6 percent of net sales. By 2019, this share had risen to 27.9 percent. Without the measures taken by Amazon, the costs would be much higher!

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Let's summarize what will ensure the future of logistics centers:

Single item and full pallet picking must complement each other in order to accommodate B2B and e-commerce at the same time.
Expanding automation to same-day delivery customer requirements.
The autonomous power supply not only promotes the energy balance in the long term, it also significantly reduces costs.

Individual measures not effective

When optimizing and designing logistics buildings and facilities, it is not enough to just improve individual components. Even if logistics halls are built according to current energy efficiency standards, their inner workings must be included in the energy planning. However, the weighting is done in different ways: The final report of the Chair of Material Handling, Material Flow, Logistics and the Chair of Building Climatics and Building Technology at the Technical University of Munich comes to the conclusion that three types must be distinguished in which the weighting of savings potential differs.

The manually operated logistics hall can best reduce its overall energy requirements through measures on the building.
In a semi-autonomous warehouse, the influence of intralogistics already increases to 70%,
As a result, a fully automated logistics center is 85% dependent on energy-efficient intralogistics.

The importance of scalable, performance-efficient and energy-saving intralogistics is therefore a crucial point when planning an autonomous logistics warehouse.

Energy-efficient components in intralogistics

The trend in the next few years is clear. DAIFUKU is far ahead when it comes to green and efficient logistics. DAIFUKU has focused on energy-efficient intralogistics systems for decades . This is due, on the one hand, to the rising costs of energy and, on the other hand, to political influences.

When investing in new intralogistics, performance criteria such as throughput or dynamics are no longer the sole deciding factor; the energy consumption of the systems is also becoming increasingly important in the context of tenders. The consumption depends largely on the masses to be moved. In recent years, DAIFUKU therefore drastically reduced the weight of storage and retrieval machines. This made it possible to minimize the drive power of the motors used and thus the energy consumption with the same or better dynamic values.

A concrete example is provided by the H-class pallet stacker cranes, which are built up to a height of 40 meters - here 25% of the mass was saved. This was achieved, among other things, through a completely revised mast design. This solution consists of a combination of lattice mast and tubular steel profiles. These design measures are complemented by sophisticated control concepts that, for example, actively counteract mast vibrations during acceleration and deceleration.

Image: H-class pallet stacker crane ©Daifuku

DAIFUKU 's STV (Sorting Transportation Vehicle) forms an integrated transport system with high performance. A frame structure with fewer control boxes results in a 9% lower weight, the use of high-efficiency motors reduces power consumption by 10%, and CO2 emissions and energy consumption also fall by 10% compared to previous models.

Image: STV – Sorting Transportation Vehicle ©Daifuku

DAIFUKU developed the Shuttle Rack M. In addition to the increased throughput compared to a conventional automatic small parts warehouse (AKL), this system reduces power consumption because the ratio of shuttle weight to payload is particularly advantageous.

Image: Shuttle Rack M ©Daifuku

Smart intralogistics

Optimization in material handling promotes a sustainable energy balance and is a performance-efficient and green footprint through intelligent intralogistics.

Environmentally friendly and resource-saving intralogistics requires highly efficient and well-thought-out material handling systems. This not only means the energy consumption of systems, but also the efficiency of individual components of a logistics center.

Renewable energy is autonomous power supply

For planning security and cost reduction:

Since 2010, legislation has stipulated that logistics buildings must ensure low-CO2 operations. This means that a large proportion of energy consumption must largely come from renewable sources.
By 2020, the federal government has set itself the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 1990.
Germany is expected to become almost greenhouse gas neutral by 2050.

Not only politics, but also rising energy costs and customer requirements are putting pressure on a better energy balance. A study conducted by PwC on sustainability in the transport and logistics industry comes to the conclusion that customer requirements are the strongest determining factor for sustainability regulations.

More and more companies are therefore committed to an environmentally friendly supply chain - and not just for reasons of reputation.

DAIFUKU Environmental Vision 2020 since 2011 , with which it stands for a sustainable environment. Every business activity takes place against the background of environmentally conscious actions. This particularly includes the development and provision of material flow systems with low environmental impact.

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What will be crucial for the future will be how we secure the infrastructure of our key industries!

Three areas are of particular importance here:

Digital Intelligence (Digital Transformation, Internet Access, Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things)
Autonomous power supply (CO2 neutrality, planning security, safety for the environment)
Intralogistics/logistics (full automation, mobility of goods and people)

Xpert.Digital delivers you here from the Smart AUDA series

Autonomization of energy supply
urbanization
Digital transformation
Automation of processes

always new information that is updated regularly.