Dematic has installed a customized automated guided vehicle (AGV) system at
Vorarlberg Milch eGen. Four AGVs now perform all transport activities between
ripening rooms and the treating machines and are controlled by integrated navigation
software from Dematic. (Photo: Vorarlberg Milch eGen)
a mobile scanner. The information can
then be easily transferred to the control
system control software E'tricc.
“This is where all the information
technology threads come together so
that every function can be performed
as required,” explains Wehinger. This
is because the software not only controls
the vehicles, but also manages the
storage locations in the eight ripening
rooms as well as the local processes.
E'tricc also handles recipe management.
This requires importing the
individual cheese recipes to the software.
They consist of several predefined
treatments that must be applied
during cheese production. Whether it
is the duration of the ripening phases
or treating measures such as brushing,
board turning or cheese turning,
they must all be defined. As soon as a
cheese rack is stored in one of the ripening
rooms, the software triggers the
necessary transport activities between
the ripening rooms and the treating
machines. Once a treatment has been
completed, it ensures that an AGV
transports the products to the target
destination as defined in the recipe.
In addition to operating the refrigerated
and ripening storage areas, the
automated vehicles also manage the
supply and removal of the ripening
racks at the cheese treating machines.
Depending on what is required, an
AGV transports the cheese from the
ripening rooms to the cheese treat-
Technology/IT ¦ IDM
Dematic’s E'tricc can visualize
the entire warehouse, including
the conveyor technology,
ripening and treatment systems
(Photo: Vorarlberg Milch eGen)
ment area. It also destacks the cheese
onto the conveyor system installed
nearby and restacks the racks on top
of each other after the treatment. “A
Dematic AGV ensures that the respective
processes are followed to the last
detail, allowing us to handle 50 loads
per hour,” says Wehinger. The system
is in operation seven days a week in
3-shift days.
End-to-end traceability
of the production processes
In addition, E'tricc can visualize the
entire warehouse, including the conveyor
technology, ripening and treatment
systems. An operator is shown
the time for the next processing
stored in the product’s recipe. A set
of colors indicate to the operator the
batch status or whether the treating
machine is occupied and active. Both
the racks and the vehicle status are
also dynamically visualized. “This has
meant a huge simplification in terms
of the exact traceability of every vehicle
as well as the cheese from storage
to retrieval,” says Wehinger.
Dematic E'nsor navigation software
steers the AGVs via a preconfigured
layout. The integrated software
uses sensors as well as a positioning
module to guide the vehicles through
the route. To this end, every driving
route is stored in the AGV so that it
can transport loads and carry out actions
fully automatically. “The Dematic
vehicles are not limited to a single
lane and can travel using a number of
routes and storage locations depending
on the order. Deviations from the
defined routes are essentially impossible,”
Wehinger explains. And E'tricc
can update routes. The software also
ensures an optimized material flow by
determining which vehicle handles a
particular order and then calculates
the fastest route. The Dematic solution
is also linked to Vorarlberg Milch’s
in-house software via an interface.
Seamless commissioning
Vorarlberg Milch selected Dematic
based on its proven track record of
providing intralogistics solutions. Its
high level of customer orientation
was another strong factor in its decision.
“In the automation of cheese
production, Dematic is clearly one of
the pioneers and has demonstrated a
high level of expertise over the past
decades,” notes Wehinger. During
the project phase, they exchanged
intensive information about the characteristics
of an optimal solution for
Vorarlberg Milch. The vehicle commissioning
and the software installation
went off without a hitch. “Since then,
we have been much more efficient in
how we work,” Wehinger concludes.
January/February 2021 ¦ international-dairy.com · 23
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