Siemens expands robotic activities with Geekplus
Geekplus, a manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots, has expanded its collaboration with electronic components manufacturer Siemens Switchgear Shanghai with the second phase of a smart manufacturing automation project.
The expansion introduces more of Geekplus’s goods-to-person picking and materials handling robots to the multi-robot configuration and opens up a further 3,000 sq m of automated warehousing space. The system achieved a delivery accuracy rate of 100 percent, with materials accuracy of over 99.98 percent in the production line.
Siemens Switchgear Shanghai first joined forces with Geekplus in 2019 and successfully built a full-process flexible automated intelligent logistics factory using four types of Geekplus robots: P800R goods-to-person picking robots, MP1000R moving robots, RS2 tote-to-person robots, and X-series four-way shuttles for high-density storage.
The entire manufacturing process is now automated with robots, from inbound receiving, to in-store stock management, outbound stock collection, and production line delivery.
Junzhe Yang, vice president of China region at Geekplus, says: “We are very proud of this end-to-end automation success with Siemens Switchgear Shanghai.
“The company makes cutting-edge electronics technology, and Geekplus uses robotics technology to power their operations. The result is a beautiful example of how well smart intralogistics can function.”
With the growth of Siemens Switchgear’s business, new demands for storage capacity, material informatization, distribution timeliness, and accuracy have arisen. The implementation of a “Plan For Every Part” logistics model is a key step for Siemens Switchgear Shanghai to react to this new reality.
Entrusting the running of the site to Geekplus’s smart technology and sophisticated software provides the 360-degree inventory oversight that this strategy requires. Geekplus has created a fully automated, flexible, multi-robot solution that represents a breathrough in intelligent manufacturing.
In this second phase of the project, Geekplus added more MP1000R moving robots equipped with laser-guided simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) capabilities to the production line without interrupting operations.
Managed by Geekplus’s warehouse management system, these robots autonomously carry out on-time delivery of raw materials to where they are needed in the production line.
This precise matching of required materials and delivery times reduces line side warehouse space requirements by half and yields a material handling accuracy rate of over 99.98 percent.
In realizing this expansion, Geekplus engineers listened to Siemens Switchgear’s experiences with the first-phase configuration. To better meet the client’s needs, the Geekplus team optimized the paths layout of the four-way shuttle storage system and the layout of the picking workstations.
The outbound throughput rate has increased from 500 pallets per day to 1,000 pallets per day. They also added a steel platform to create a second storage level operated by the original P800R fleet, with a new cluster of P800Rs equipped with square pallet docking with low-level hoists in the materials receiving area on the ground floor.
These additions, along with more MP1000R moving robots, have been seamlessly integrated into Siemens Switchgear’s fully automated facility and freed up an additional 3,000 sq m of storage space.
Geekplus and Siemens Switchgear Shanghai will further deepen their cooperation, expand application scenarios, explore innovative solutions, and continue to lead the intelligent transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry.