Knapp provides intelligent pallet handling at the Cummins site in Lindesberg, Sweden.

At its location, Cummins manufactures front and rear axles for the truck industry on a 55,000-square-meter area. Due to the variety of products and the associated production processes, the company decided, according to the announcement, on site-specific automation of the goods flows.

Automated Warehousing Complements Mobile Transport

The new high-bay pallet warehouse is designed to be double-deep. Additionally, an automated small parts warehouse is utilized. Both storage areas are equipped with storage and retrieval machines for automatic storage and retrieval. The 15 autonomous mobile robots take over pallet transport within the facility. Their transport routes connect goods receipt, the high-bay pallet warehouses, the automated small parts warehouse, and order picking. Furthermore, the vehicles transport empty pallets back. The picking area consists of 190 pick stations. The mobile robots supply these stations with pallets as needed and provide the load carriers there at three ergonomic heights. Handover takes place on fixtures or floor spaces.

Integration without Structural Adjustments

According to Knapp, the autonomous mobile robots can be integrated into the existing infrastructure of the production site without structural changes. This allows Cummins to handle automated transport within existing building structures. The mobile vehicles take over part of the material flow between storage and picking.

Software Connects Warehouse and Fleet Management

For the digitization and management of warehouse logistics, Knapp uses the software platform “Kisoft One.” It covers warehouse management and control up to machine control. The processes are connected to the Manufacturing Execution System of the production site through an interface with the host system of Cummins.

The fleet control system “Kisoft FCS” coordinates the “Open Shuttle Fork.” The software manages and optimizes the transport orders and digitally represents the status of the vehicles. In the course of the project, Knapp developed additional functions for “Kisoft FCS” tailored to the requirements of the Lindesberg site.