Horizontal Carousel
The
Horizontal Carousel has reliability unsurpassed
by any competitor. Moving parts and
sensors are kept to a minimum, and
maintenance accessibility is as easy as any
machine in the industry.
This is the same concept as you see in many dry cleaners, but the industrial systems are far larger and heavier duty. Several models are available, varying by weight capacity. The heaviest duty model can handle up to around 2500 lb per wire bin. Common installations of industrial models are 6 to 12 ft high, 6 ft wide, and up to 90 ft long.
The bins can vary from 12 to 32 inches wide, from 12 to 22 inches deep, and from 5 ft to 12 ft high. As shown at right, shelves can be set on each horizontal wire on the wire bin, allowing down to 2.5 inch adjustability. Wires can be set at greater increments if desired.
The horizontal carousel is best used when the customer has low ceilings, light parts, or a distribution operation. When multiple machines are placed in a single group to be operated by one individual, that individual can pick from those machines with very little walking. In a group of 4 machines, there is only 12 ft between the pick faces of all 4 machines (as shown at below).
With the simplicity of the horizontal carousel, prices are significantly lower than other machine types.
The major advantages of Horizontal Carousels are:
Ability to be installed under low ceilings
Uses between 40 and 60% of the floor space required by a
static shelving system
Simplicity (high reliability, low requirement for
electronic coordination of moving parts)
High speed in picking multiple parts (machine presents
all parts in all order requests in one
High weight capacity - up to around 2500 lb per wire bin
Flexibility using different configurations of additional
shelves in each bin
Ergonomics (using software "Golden Zones" the
faster moving parts are presented at waist level,
With the basic carousel electronics (ie, without any optional software), the operator can enter a bin number, and the carousel will turn either way at 18 inches per second to bring the correct bin to the operator's position by the shortest possible route.
To further enhance the picking operation, pick light trees can be opted for so that when a part is requested, the light which is directly beside the shelf containing that part location will light when that shelf is presented. In addition, since shelves can be divided front to rear and side to side, allowing locations from front to back as well as from side to side on a shelf, a section and depth light display is included to show the particular location of the part requested and the quantity to be picked.
Using one of the separate software packages (those that require a separate computer), as shown in the Software section of this website, requests for parts can be downloaded automatically from other computer systems. Besides parts requests, the software can download entire orders or kits or multiple orders and/or kits consisting of many part numbers and multiple quantities of each part and can then pick all orders and/or kits at the same time. The software packages can handle multiple computers or can be set up as servers to handle multiple groups of machines, each with its own computer.
In addition, an order table can be positioned across from the machines with its own set of lights so that the picker can pick using the lights on the machines and distribute the picked parts to the correct orders using the "put" lights in front of the order containers. This system is called "pick-to-light/put-to-light", and it allows the picker to pick parts without having to know what is contained in the orders or to know what the parts look like, although the picker can be part of the picking accuracy control by comparing the picked part with either the part number and nomenclature shown on the carousel controller screen or a picture which can be stored in the software package.
By using a separate computer, a bar code system can be incorporated, allowing the customer to input part numbers by bar code gun and/or printing bar code labels.
The separate software can be used with multiple machines as previously mentioned, and as shown in other sections of this website, and it can be used in systems with different kinds of machines in the same system. In addition, inventory in other locations than the automated system can be controlled, for example, inventory on shelving, flow rack, test stations, or even the trunk of a salesman's car. In addition, machine inventory records and reports can be accessed from remote locations like the inventory control manager's desktop computer.
If the ceiling height allows, the horizontal carousels can be stacked to allow either multiple picking operations, picking from a single workstation by use of a lift table, or a completely automatic operation where an automated extractor can pick full cases from a shelf and place that case on a outbound conveyor. This system restocks by operating in reverse order to the picking operation.
Vertical Lift Vertical Carousels HD Files Spacesaver Mobile Pallet Rack Vertical Carousel Software