JP2005089067A - Picking article piling instruction system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an instruction system capable of efficiently piling up picked article in a case on a pallet and facilitating conveying work after that. <P>SOLUTION: This instruction system 1 is constructed to give instruction to pick article W in a case unit and to pile the same up on a pallet P. The instruction system 1 is provided with a grouping means 23, a layered-piling instruction means 24, and a stacking instruction means 25. The grouping means 23 groups the article W of the same case shape fractional to be palletized out of a group of the articles W instructed to be shipped. The layered-piling instruction means 24 gives instruction to pile up the article on the pallet P to form an article layer R which is a layer having the article W in the group arranged in a plane. This instruction is, for example, an instruction of items and number of articles W picked per pallet, and information that the articles W of the item and the number form an article layer R. The stacking instruction means 25 instructs to stack pallets with the articles W not reaching a predetermined height. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a picking article stacking instruction system for giving instructions when picking cased articles containing canned drinks, bottled drinks, and other various articles in a box-shaped case and stacking them on a pallet. .

In a factory distribution center or other distribution centers, for example, when canned beverages, bottled beverages, and the like are stored, a plurality of bottles are stored in a box-shaped case such as a plastic case or a cardboard box. In this case, articles of the same item may be stored in units of pallets by stacking cases on pallets, or stored in units of cases for small-lot shipment.
At the time of shipment, when goods stored in the warehouse are transported to a truck berth for truck transportation, the quantity of goods that can be handled in units of pallets is handled on a pallet basis for the items and quantities that are instructed to be shipped for each destination. Remove from the storage location and transport by unit. The fractional items are picked on a case-by-case basis, and the picked items are palletized.

  The work of palletizing picked items is done so that the number of pallets is as small as possible, depending on the experience and intuition of the operator. However, the shape and size of the case vary depending on the article, and it may not be possible to efficiently pile up the maximum allowable stacking height on the pallet. For this reason, the number of pallets increases, the efficiency of truck transportation decreases, and it is necessary to reload the pallets.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a picking article stacking instruction system capable of efficiently stacking picked cased articles on a pallet and easily performing a subsequent transport operation.

  The configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 corresponding to the embodiment. This picking article stacking instruction system (1) is an instruction system for giving instructions when picking articles (W) in cases and picking them up on a pallet (P) in units of cases, and includes a grouping means (23) and , A laminar stacking instruction means (24) and a stacking instruction means (25). The grouping means (23) is a means for grouping the articles (W) that are fractions of the pallet unit of the group of articles (W) instructed for shipment into those of the same case shape. The layered stacking instruction means (24) applies the article layer (R) to the pallet (P) so that the article layer (R), which is a planar array of the articles (W), is formed for the articles (W) in the group. It is means for instructing the loading of the article (W). This instruction includes, for example, an instruction of the item and number of articles (W) to be picked for each pallet (P), and output of information that the items and the number of articles (W) form an article layer (R). It is said. The stacking instruction means (25) is a means for instructing stacking pallets that are less than a predetermined height on which articles (W) are stacked. The same case shape referred to here is a concept including that the shape including dimensions is completely the same and that the shape is approximated to the extent that it does not hinder the formation of the article layer.

  According to this configuration, the articles (W) having the same case shape are grouped, and the articles (W) on the pallet (P) are formed so that a planar article layer (R) is formed for the articles (W) in the group. Instructing the loading of For this reason, workers and the like are allowed in transportation, handling, storage, etc. of the pallet (P) so as to obtain a stable packing form in which the planar article layer (R) is stacked on the pallet (P). Articles (W) can be stacked up to the maximum height. Therefore, it is possible to improve the loading efficiency with respect to the loading platform area of the truck and the like, and the operator can simply carry out the work according to the instructions and can easily perform the work. Further, since the stacking instruction means (25) instructs the stacking of the pallet stacks that are less than the predetermined height on which the articles (W) are stacked, Even when the layer (R) is formed, the pallet stacks can be stacked on the pallet (P) on which the fractioned article (W) is placed, and the pallet stacks can be conveyed in the same manner as a single pallet stack. . Therefore, the loading efficiency can be further improved.

  The picking article stacking instruction system according to the present invention includes a grouping means for grouping, in a group of articles ordered for shipment, articles that are fractions for conveyance in units of pallets into those of the same case shape, and articles in the group A stacking instruction means for instructing the stacking of articles on the pallet so that an article layer is formed, and a stacking instruction for instructing to stack pallets that are less than a predetermined height on which the articles are stacked Therefore, the picked articles in the case can be efficiently stacked on the pallet by forming the article layer, and the subsequent transport operation can be easily performed.

  FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a conceptual configuration in the warehouse 3 of the distribution center to which the picking article stacking instruction system 1 is applied. A palletized article storage area 4 and a picking article storage area 5 are provided in the warehouse 3. In the palletized article storage area 4, articles W are stored in units of pallets in a plurality of storage locations 6. In the picking article storage area 5, articles W are stored in case units in a plurality of storage locations 7 provided. The article W is, for example, a bottled drink, a canned drink, a plastic bottled drink, or the like, and a plurality of articles W are accommodated in a box-shaped case such as a plastic case or a cardboard box. The lowest handling unit of the article W in the distribution center is a case unit, and the article W is illustrated as a case in each figure. These articles W are stored in the storage locations 6 and 7 without being mixed. In the case of pallet unit storage, it may be mixed.

  The article W is transported in the warehouse 3 on a pallet P using a transport vehicle 8 such as a forklift. The conveyance vehicle 8 may be capable of simultaneously conveying a plurality of pallets (for example, two sheets). Receipt / shipment of articles W to / from the storage location 6 in the palletized article storage area 4 is performed in units of pallets. For the storage location 7 in the picking article storage area 5, the goods W are received and shipped in units of cases.

  When shipping an article W in case units, an empty pallet P is placed on the transport vehicle 8 and the article W picked from an arbitrary storage location 7 is placed on the pallet P. An empty pallet P is borrowed from the empty pallet storage 11. The pallet P loaded with a desired amount of picking articles W is transported and temporarily placed in the temporary placement area 9 by the transport vehicle 8, and is shipped from the temporary placement area 9 by the transport vehicle 8 when a subsequent truck loading instruction is given. Of the pallets P on which the picking articles W are placed, those having a low loading height are stacked in the stacking area 10 and, if possible, stacking a plurality of pallets.

  The operator 12 performs the picking operation and the operation of the transport vehicle 8. The worker 12 has a picking list 13 and a portable wireless terminal 14 and performs work according to instructions from the picking list 13 and the terminal 14. The terminal 14 is a terminal of the center management system 2. The in-center management system 2 is a computer system that performs overall management in the distribution center, and the picking article stacking instruction system 1 of this embodiment is provided as a part of the in-center management system 2. The instruction output of the picking article stacking instruction system 1 is performed as the contents of the picking list 13 and the output of the terminal 14.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a conceptual configuration of the picking article stacking instruction system 1 and a schematic diagram of a handling concept of the article W calculated by the picking article stacking instruction system 1.
The picking article stacking instruction system 1 is an instruction system for instructing picking articles W in a case and picking them up on a pallet P. The grouping means 23, the layered stacking instruction means 24, And a stacking instruction means 25. The grouping means 23 is a means for grouping the articles W that are fractions of the pallet unit of the group of articles W instructed for shipment into those of the same case shape. The layered stacking instruction means 24 is a means for instructing the stacking of the articles W on the pallet P so as to form the article layers, which are layers arranged in a plane, for the articles W in the group. . The stacking instruction unit 25 is a unit that instructs to stack pallets that are less than the predetermined height on which the articles W are stacked. The layer stacking instruction unit 24 and the stacking instruction unit 25 have the following units 26 to 28 and 29 to 31, respectively, and perform the processes described later.

  The picking article stacking instruction system 1 further includes a shipping instruction means 21, a pallet unit disassembling means 22, and an instruction output means 32, and article / location management provided in or outside this instruction system 1. Means 35 is used to generate the instruction output.

The configuration and processing flow of each means in the picking article stacking instruction system 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The shipping instruction means 21 in FIG. 1 is a means for instructing one unit of shipment, and for example, issues a shipping instruction for one destination. This shipping instruction includes the item W and the quantity for each item. The quantity is expressed as the number of cases.
When the shipping instruction unit 21 issues a shipping instruction for one shipping unit for each destination (step S1 in FIG. 5), the pallet unit disassembling unit 22 in FIG. 1 converts the article W included in the one shipping unit into the pallet. Disassembled into units, and the remaining articles W are fractional articles handled in case units (step S2 in FIG. 5). FIG. 1B shows an example of the total number of articles W as one shipping unit. In the example of FIG. 1B, the article W is divided into three pallets of articles W and the remaining fraction articles W.

  The fractional articles W are grouped by the grouping means 23 so as to form the same group for the same case shape (step S3 in FIG. 5). Even if the items of the article W are different, if the case shapes are the same, they are made the same group. The same case shape referred to here is a concept including that the shape including dimensions is completely the same and that the shape is approximated to the extent that it does not hinder the formation of the article layer. In FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, different hatching is applied to articles W of different items. In the example of FIG. 1B, eight types of articles W are grouped as the same case group A. Further, as another case group B, five types of articles W are grouped. The grouping means 23 registers a plurality of case groups, and handles unregistered articles W as case group unregistered articles.

For each grouped article W, the layered stacking instruction means 24 instructs the stacking of articles on the pallet P so that the article layer R, which is a planar array of the articles W, is formed. To do. Specifically, the stratified stacking instruction unit 24 includes a stratification calculation unit 26, a pallet stacking calculation unit 27, and a stratified stacking instruction generation unit 28. These units 26 to 28 perform the following processes. Do.
The stratification calculation unit 26 forms how many article layers R arranged in a plane on the pallet P for the articles W in the group, and how many articles W are a fraction of the formation of the article layer R. Such calculation, that is, layer unit calculation is performed (step S4 in FIG. 5). Even if the articles W are different items, the articles W in the same group are also used for forming the article layer R.

  Thereafter, the pallet stacking calculation unit 27 performs pallet stacking calculation for the articles W on which the article layer R can be formed (step S5 in FIG. 5). It is assumed that the pallet stacking calculation unit 27 may place an article W from another pallet group on top of an article W from another pallet group during pallet stacking. The loading priority between case groups is registered together with the type of case group. As for the stacking priority, the priority of the case shape group having a high flatness and the case shape group in which the packing form of the article layer R arranged in a plane on the pallet P as wide as possible is increased. It is preferable. In the example of FIG. 1B, the priority of the case group B in which the case shape is flat and the planar shape of the article layer R is wide is “1”, and the priority of the case group A having a tall case shape is “ 2 ”. In the pallet stacking calculation unit 27, the maximum value of the stacking height is registered, and the pallet stacking form is calculated so that the article layer R is formed as high as possible within the range not exceeding the maximum value. In the example in the figure, a total of three pallet stacks consisting of two pallet stacks (1) and (2) whose stacking height is almost the maximum value and a pallet stack (3) of one article layer R It has been calculated that the bodies (1), (2), (3) are produced by the formable article W of the article layer R.

  The layered stacking instruction generation unit 28 generates an instruction to stack the article W on the pallet P based on the calculation result. The contents of the instruction to be generated are information on how many items of articles W are picked for each pallet P, and information that the article layer R is formed by the picked articles W.

  Thereafter, each process by the stacking means 25 is performed in parallel with the process by the layer stacking instruction means 24. The stacking means 25 includes a stacking height calculation unit 29, a stacking calculation unit 30, and a stacking instruction generation unit 31. These units 29 to 31 perform the following processes.

The stacking height calculation unit 29 calculates the stacking height for the article W that is a fraction of the formation of the article layer R by the calculation by the stratification calculation unit 26 and the unregistered article W of the case group. (Step S6 in FIG. 5). These articles W have various shapes, and since it is not determined in what posture the operator puts them, the prediction is based on the following volume calculation. Here, (loading height h1) = (loading volume) / (pallet effective area)
(See FIG. 2).
The loading volume is the sum of the volumes of individual cased articles W (that is, the volume of the case) placed on one pallet P. The pallet effective area is an area obtained by subtracting a peripheral part as an unsuitable part from the upper surface of the pallet. This stacking height h1 may be calculated for a pallet P that has the lowest stacking height among the articles W that are a fraction of the calculation in layer units or are unregistered and handled as case units.

After the stacking height calculation, a stacking calculation is performed by the stacking calculation unit 30 (step S7 in FIG. 5). This calculation is based on the lowest pallet stack (3) in the pallet stack (1), (2), (3) in Fig. 1 (C) Judgment is made by calculating whether or not the pallet stack (4) having the lowest loading height can be stacked.
Here, if the sum h2 (FIG. 3) of the pallet stacks (3) and (4) is lower than the set loading height maximum value H, it is determined that stacking is possible.

  The stacking instruction generation unit 31 outputs a determination result as to whether or not stacking is possible as instruction contents. FIG. 4 shows an example of the results of the above calculations.

  The instruction output means 32 in FIG. 1 gives the instruction content generated by the layered stacking instruction means 24 and the stacking means 25 as described above to the worker in a predetermined form as the contents of the shipping form instruction (FIG. 5). Step S7).

  The shipment form instruction is divided into an instruction output 33 for shipping in units of pallets and an instruction output 34 for performing picking shipment. The pallet unit instruction output 33 indicates the contents of the warehouse 3 (from which location 6 in FIG. 6) for each article W that can be disassembled into pallet units based on the result of disassembly by the pallet unit disassembly means 22. The instruction output 33 for shipping in units of pallets is displayed, for example, on the mobile terminal 14 (FIG. 6) The location 6 from which to ship is determined by the article / location management means 35. Article / location management The means 35 is a means for managing which quantity of articles W of which items are stored in which locations 6 and 7 of the warehouse 3, and in addition, various rules for shipping are defined. , Process according to the rules.

The picking shipment instruction output 23 is performed by the picking list 13 and the terminal output 36. The picking list 13 describes a list display of items of the article W to be picked, a quantity for each item, and a location number. The location number is an identification number of the storage location 7 in FIG.
As the terminal output 36, for each pallet P, picking instruction information such as quantity is displayed in the order of items to be picked, and information on whether or not stratification is possible is displayed together with the picking instruction. In addition, an instruction as to which pallet stack is stacked on which pallet stack is displayed when stacking is possible.

  An operator who performs picking sees the picking list 13 and the terminal output 36 as described above, and performs picking work according to the instruction content and stacking of the picked articles W on the pallet P. In this case, since the picking article W is displayed as the terminal output 36 by the mobile terminal 14 in the order of stacking and information on whether or not the article W becomes the article layer R is displayed, the picking article W can be easily used. Can be stacked in layers. In addition, since a stacking instruction is displayed when stacking is possible, stacking can be easily performed. In this manner, the picked cased articles W can be efficiently stacked on the pallet P, and the subsequent transport operation can be easily performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the picking shipment instruction output 34 to the worker is performed in combination with the picking list 13 and the terminal output 36. However, this instruction output 34 is output to the worker in various other forms. It may be something that informs.

(A) is a block diagram of a conceptual configuration of a picking article stacking instruction system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and (B) to (D) are explanatory diagrams showing a concept of article handling calculation by the system. It is explanatory drawing of the stacking height calculation of the non-stratified pallet pile by the instruction | indication system. It is explanatory drawing of the loading height calculation at the time of the stacking | stacking by the instruction | indication system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the concept of the calculation result of the instruction | indication system. It is a flowchart of a process of the instruction system. It is a top view which shows the conceptual structure of the warehouse which applies the instruction | indication system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Picking article accumulation instruction system 2 ... Center management system 3 ... Warehouse 4 ... Palletized article storage area 5 ... Picking article storage area 6, 7 ... Storage location 8 ... Conveyance vehicle 9 ... Temporary placement area 10 ... Stacking area 12 ... worker 13 ... picking list 14 ... terminal 22 ... pallet unit disassembling means 23 ... grouping means 24 ... layered stacking instruction means 25 ... stacking instruction means 32 ... instruction output means h1, h2 ... loading height H ... product Maximum value P ... Pallet R ... Article layer W ... Article

Claims (1)

  A picking article stacking instruction system for instructing picking of articles in a case unit and stacking them on a pallet, which is a part of a group of articles instructed to be shipped, which is a fraction of conveyance in pallet units And grouping means for grouping items of the same case shape, and for the articles in the group, instructing the stacking of the articles on the pallet so that an article layer that is a planar array of articles is formed. A picking article stacking instruction system comprising: a layered stacking instruction unit; and a stacking instruction unit that instructs to stack pallets that are less than a predetermined height on which articles are stacked.

Images