Clontibret, Co. Monaghan, Ireland: Food and pharmaceutical businesses are big cold chain operators and both have strict guidelines and regulations around the timing of deliveries and the importance that zero contamination occurs.
Contamination and spoilage provide substantial challenges to the cold storage supply chain. With an automated storage and retrieval system in cold storage, there is no need for human interaction inside the cold storage.
This means no individual will have physical access to a pallet without placing an order within the warehouse WCS or the WMS. This means companies can assure 100% traceability of each pallet within the warehouse and ensure that no tampering with the pallet has taken place. By eliminating the human interaction within the cold store, not only are you eliminating the risk of spoilage or contamination, but also you are creating a safer environment for your employees, not being exposed to the harsh temperatures of the cold store, Moffat says.
Outbound shipment accuracy is increased through automation. Humans are not; even the most careful workers occasionally make mistakes. Automation will always and without fail complete their tasks accurately, ensuring that only pallets ordered will be outbounded for each particular load.
Orders can be prepared in-rack outside of operating hours, to ensure the fast and accurate staging of loads from the warehouse. Every load is fully customisable and schedulable with the capabilities for the automated system to operate 24/7 without the need for any personnel in the warehouse. Within Moffett Automated Storage, this is known as outbound buffering of pallets.
Reducing Energy costs on a per-pallet basis
With automated storage and retrieval systems the increase in storage density in comparison with traditional storage solutions is huge. Storing significantly more pallets in the exact same space can lead to significant energy cost savings for companies on a per-pallet basis.
This also helps the company become more sustainable, with less energy needed to cool each pallet. Also, by eliminating the constant flow of large vehicles driving in and out of the cold store, the heat loss during transferring is also significantly less. Rapid envelope doors, or interlock doors, that are only the size of the largest pallet, can be implemented into cold stores to ensure that the heat loss is minimised. Again, this can lead to savings in energy costs.
Additionally, because automated equipment reduces the need for human employees, energy savings could happen due to the reduced dependence on lights throughout the cold store.
The Moffett AS/R System and its 4D Taxis have significantly contributed to the rise of automation and automated storage and retrieval systems seen in cold storage. System can operate from +50 degrees Celsius to -28 degrees Celsius. They also see an increase in storage density of around 65% compared with traditional storage solutions and are tailor-designed around all requirements of the warehouse.
