TWI820684B - Open warehousing production system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

An open warehousing production system is to plan several virtual predetermined spaces on the floor of the warehousing area. The warehousing data center instructs the production equipment to produce products. After the stacking equipment stacks the products on the pallets to form a storage unit, the control The forklift transports the storage unit to the storage area, and places or stacks the storage unit in the designated predetermined space in the storage data center. Since there are no shelves during storage, and the planned predetermined space is virtual and can be used at will. The size, quantity and location can be adjusted, and storage units can be stacked in each predetermined slot to expand the storage quantity, so that warehousing and shipping planning can be flexibly coordinated with the production schedule.

Description

Open warehousing production system and method

The invention relates to a shelf-less storage system; in particular, it relates to an open storage production system and method.

The existing warehousing method is to set up shelves and aisles between two adjacent shelves in the warehouse. When the unmanned truck stores the products produced by the production equipment or the goods to be stored in the warehouse, it is based on the position and location of the empty spaces on the shelves. Size, store matching products or merchandise in a specific location.

In the above-mentioned warehousing structure, since the shelves are fixed, the size and location of the vacancies that can be used for storage are also fixed and cannot be changed at will. Therefore, the flexibility of warehousing is very low. When more large storage locations are needed, only the existing larger ones can be used. When there are empty spaces to store products, or when a large number of small products need to be stored, a larger space needs to be wasted to place small products. The fixed design of the above-mentioned storage shelves allows large and small goods to be placed in fixed positions only, and the use of space is limited, resulting in storage Waste of space.

In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an open warehousing production system and method, which can plan virtual predetermined spaces on the open floor, and use the warehousing data center to plan and control the operation of the warehousing system, so that the warehousing system can Not limited to fixed shelves, can It can store products according to different production schedules, making warehousing flexible and maximizing the use of floor space.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an open warehousing production system, which includes a warehousing data center, more than one production equipment, and more than one stacker. The storage data center plans several virtual predetermined spaces on the floor of a warehouse area, and plans at least one predetermined aisle on the floor adjacent to the predetermined spaces. A conveyor section is provided at the end of the production equipment. The conveyor section is provided with a stacking equipment. The production equipment receives instructions from the warehousing data center to produce products. The stacking equipment stacks the products produced by the production equipment on a pallet to form a product. The stack of the pallet and the product it carries is called a storage unit.

The forklift has a terminal for wireless communication to receive instructions from the warehousing data center. The forklift goes to the conveyor section to pick up the storage unit according to the instruction, and then carries the storage unit to the warehouse according to the instruction. area, move along the predetermined aisle or on the predetermined slot where no storage unit has been placed, and place or stack the storage unit in one of the predetermined slots designated by the warehousing data center.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an open warehousing production method. The steps of the method include: planning and instructing production schedule: planning and instructing production equipment to produce products, and the products produced by the production equipment are stacked in a stack in the form of product stacks. The board becomes a storage unit. Planning virtual pre-slots: planning several virtual pre-slots on the floor of a warehouse area and the storage units scheduled to be placed in these pre-slots after the production equipment is produced. The storage units placed in the same pre-slot are determined by Stack from bottom to top, and plan at least one predetermined aisle on the floor adjacent to the predetermined spaces. Warehousing products on the open floor: Instruct the forklift to go to the production equipment to pick up the storage unit and go to the warehouse area. The forklift moves along the predetermined aisle or in a predetermined space where no storage unit has been placed. The unit is placed in a designated pre-slot or stacked on top of an existing storage unit in that pre-slot.

The effect of the present invention is that by planning the virtual predetermined grids and predetermined aisles on the floor of the warehouse area, the predetermined grids can be adjusted to appropriate sizes and quantities according to the product stacks of different areas produced by the production equipment. , making good use of the floor space is not limited to the existing brackets, and different storage units can be stacked in the same predetermined space during warehousing. In addition to making good use of the three-dimensional space in the warehouse area, it can also coordinate with different batches of production. The product re-plans the way the product matches the predetermined slots on the floor, allowing for flexible storage planning and optimization of storage space utilization.

[Invention]

100:Open warehousing production system

10: Warehousing data center

12: Warehouse area

121:Floor

122:Wireless base station

123:Light signal

13: Shipping area

14: Reserve a seat

15:Checkpoint

151:Visual inspection equipment

16: Book an aisle

18:RFID positioning system

181:RFID tag

20:Production equipment

22: Conveying section

221: Photoelectric sensor

24:Stacking equipment

30:stacker

32:Terminal

321:Visual sensor

322:Object sensor

A:Storage unit

A1: Pallet

A2: Product stack

S01 to S04: Steps

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of stacking storage units in predetermined positions according to the above-mentioned preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart of the method steps of the above-mentioned preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In order to illustrate the present invention more clearly, the preferred embodiments are described in detail below along with the drawings. Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 2 , which is an open warehousing production system 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It includes a warehousing data center 10 and more than one production equipment 20 operated under the instructions of the warehousing data center 10 and More than one forklift 30.

The warehousing data center 10 plans several virtual predetermined spaces 14 on the floor 121 of a warehouse area 12, and plans at least one predetermined aisle 16 on the floor 121 adjacent to the predetermined spaces 14. The predetermined aisle 16 is A virtual planned path can be used for the forklift 30 to move when the predetermined space 14 is open space. However, in order to avoid that the subsequent predetermined space 14 can no longer provide for the forklift 30 to move, it is planned and reserved on the floor 121 of the warehouse area 12 Aisle 16, as floor 121 On the path reserved for the forklift 30 to move, with different sizes and position planning of the predetermined compartments 14, predetermined walkways 16 extending in different directions will be generated.

A conveyor section 22 is provided at the end of the production equipment 20 . The conveyor section 22 is provided with a stacking equipment 24 . The production equipment 20 receives instructions from the warehousing data center 10 to produce products. The stacking equipment 24 stacks the products produced by the production equipment 20 A product stack A2 is formed on a pallet A1, and the pallet A1 and the product stack A2 carried thereon are collectively referred to as a storage unit A.

The stacker 30 has a terminal 32 for wireless communication transmission or receiving instructions from the storage data center 10. The stacker 30 goes to the conveyor section 22 to pick up the storage unit A according to the instructions, and then follows the instructions. Transport the storage unit A to the warehouse area 12, move along the predetermined aisle 16 or on the open space 14 of the predetermined space where no storage unit A has been placed, and place the storage unit A in the designated area of the warehousing data center 10 One of the predetermined compartments 14; when the predetermined compartment 14 where the storage unit A is to be placed already has the storage unit A, the storage unit A is stacked in a bottom-up manner, and in some cases In the embodiment, the area of the product stack A2 of the lower storage unit A is greater than or equal to the area of the product stack A2 of the upper storage unit A.

To further describe the content of the above preferred embodiment, the system is provided with several production equipment 20 and several stackers 30. The production equipment 20 is respectively used to produce carton products. The stacker 30 can be an automated stacker. The forklift 30 may also be a manned forklift 30. In this preferred embodiment, the warehousing data center 10 arranges production planning based on manual input or data from an ERP (enterprise resource planning system). The data includes but is not limited to order numbers, product (carton) specifications, and the number of sheets in a bundle. , total production quantity, total stacking quantity, stacking graphics. Thereby, the warehousing data center 10 plans the size and production sequence of the products produced by each production equipment 20, the size and position of the virtual predetermined slots 14 and the predetermined aisles 16 on the floor 121, and the products instructed by the warehousing data center 10. The stacker 30 stacks the storage unit A in the designated predetermined slot 14. The sequence, the moving route of the stacker 30 for storage or picking up goods, and the sequence of instructing the stacker 30 to ship the storage unit A from the warehouse area 12 .

After the warehousing data center 10 completes the production planning, it instructs the production equipment 20 to produce products. Each production equipment 20 is equipped with a smart typesetting system to receive instructions from the warehousing data center 10 and control the production equipment 20 and its stacking. Operation of device 24. The stacking equipment 24 stacks the products produced in each batch of the production equipment 20 on the pallet A1 to form a storage unit A. Whenever the production equipment 20 completes the production of a storage unit A, the smart typesetting system will Production data, such as stacking graphics and stacking dimensions (length, width and height), are reported to the warehousing data center 10 to confirm whether they are correct.

The production equipment 20 is respectively provided with a photoelectric sensor 221 in the conveying section 22. The photoelectric sensor 221 senses the direction of the storage unit A and will sense whether the storage unit A has been taken away. Transmit to the warehousing data center 10. When the stacker 30 takes away the storage unit A from the conveyor section 22, the terminal 32 of the stacker 30 transmits a pickup completion message to the warehousing data center 10. At this time, the warehousing data center 10 transmits the photoelectric The sensing result of the sensor 221 is compared with the message that the pickup is completed. If the comparison result is inconsistent, a sound or light warning is issued, and the error is noted on the control interface of the warehousing data center 10 .

When the stacker 30 is an automated stacker 30, a visual sensor 321 and an object sensor 322 electrically connected to the terminal 32 are provided in front of the stacker 30. The visual sensor 321 is used to identify whether the storage unit A is already stored in the predetermined compartment 14 and/or the number of the storage units A stacked on the predetermined compartment 14, and to assist the stacker 30 in stacking on the predetermined compartment 14. The storage unit A. When the object sensor 322 senses that there is an object in front of the forklift 30, such as the storage unit A on the predetermined slot 14, it commands the forklift 30 to operate at a reduced slow speed to take out Or place the storage unit A, and the terminal 32 wirelessly transmits the identification result of the visual sensor 321 to the storage data center 10 for comparison with the data. When the pile should be high The machine 30 is a manned stacker 30, and the terminal 32 is a tablet computer and receives the driver's input as to whether the predetermined slot 14 already has storage unit A and/or the number of storage units A stacked, and the terminal 32 will The aforementioned result of the driving input received by the terminal 32 is wirelessly transmitted to the storage data center 10 for comparison with the data.

In this preferred embodiment, multiple WIFI wireless base stations 122 are further installed in the warehouse area 12, and an RFID positioning system 18 is constructed in the warehouse area 12, which can calibrate different coordinate positions corresponding to the predetermined slots 14. . Cooperating with the RFID positioning system 18, the production equipment 20 sets an RFID tag 181 on each storage unit A during production. When the storage unit A is moved by the stacker 30 to the designated predetermined slot 14 in the warehouse area 12 , the RFID positioning system 18 will sense the location and identification code of the RFID tag 181 of the storage unit A, and transmit it to the storage data center 10 for comparison with its data to confirm whether the storage unit A is moved according to the plan. Place it in the correct pre-slot 14.

Directly above the predetermined slots 14 that are virtually planned on the floor 121, a light signal 123 is provided on the ceiling of the warehouse area 12. The 123 is electrically connected to the storage data center 10 and is controlled by the storage data center 10. , when the warehousing data center 10 receives the data returned by the forklift driver, the automated forklift 30 or the RFID positioning system 18, it compares the data of the stacked storage unit A on each predetermined grid 14 with the warehousing data center 10 The data matches and confirms that the storage unit A stacked on the predetermined slot 14 is correct, the storage data center 10 controls the light 123 to light up to provide driving identification of the surrounding stacker 30 or the storage within sight distance. Personnel identification in data center 10.

The warehousing data center 10 plans a shipping area 13 on one side of the warehouse area 12, and plans several predetermined slots 14 for shipping in the shipping area 13. At least one predetermined slot 14 in the warehouse area 12 There are more than one storage unit A stacked on it. The stacker 30 receives the instruction from the storage data center 10 according to the terminal 32 and goes to the predetermined space 14 to get the specified instruction. The storage unit A is transported from the predetermined compartment 14 to the shipping area 13 for placement. When planning the production of the storage unit A and the distribution of the predetermined slots 14 in the warehouse area 12, the warehousing data center 10 can divide the storage units A according to the number of days adjacent to the shipment, for example, the warehouse area 12 The floor 121 is divided into two areas. The area close to the shipping area 13 is shipped within 1 to 3 days, and the other area farther away from the shipping area 13 is shipped within 3 to 7 days. The farther away the partition is from the shipping area 13, plan several predetermined slots 14 in each area, and plan and store each storage unit A corresponding to the shipping date to the shipping area 13 in the corresponding shipping days area. The storage unit A shipped on the same day is placed in the shipping area 13, and the storage unit A in the shipping area 13 is transported to the customer by a truck parked in the shipping area 13.

Or when planning the production of storage unit A and the distribution of the predetermined slots 14 in the warehouse area 12, the warehousing data center 10 can perform partition planning of the virtual predetermined slots 14 according to the products of different customers. For example, the warehouse area The floor 121 in 12 is divided into four areas, and the predetermined spaces 14 in each area are used to place multiple storage units A produced for the same customer. When shipping, the warehousing data center 10 instructs at least one forklift 30 to transport the storage unit A in the same area to the shipping area 13, and the truck parked in the shipping area 13 will transport the same customer's storage unit A in the shipping area 13. Storage unit A is shipped out to the customer.

In the process of the stacker 30 moving the storage unit A from the production equipment 20 to the warehouse area 12 to the predetermined space 14 virtually planned on the floor 121, or when the stacker 30 moves the storage unit A in the warehouse area 12 During the movement of A to the predetermined compartment 14 of the shipping area 13, in order to confirm that the storage unit A that the forklift 30 moves into or out of the warehouse area 12 is the correct storage unit in the planning of the storage data center 10 A. An inspection station 15 is set up between the warehouse area 12 and the production equipment 20 , and a visual inspection device 151 is set up at the inspection station 15 .

Before the stacker 30 transports the storage unit A from the production equipment 20 to the warehouse area 12, or moves the storage unit A from the warehouse area 12 to the shipping area 13, the storage data The center 10 instructs the forklift 30 to go to the inspection station 15, or requires the driver to drive the forklift 30 into the inspection station 15, and uses the visual inspection equipment 151 to measure the products of the storage unit A transported by the forklift 30. The length, width and height dimensions of the stack A2 are measured, and the measured data are transmitted to the warehousing data center 10 for comparison with the planned data. After the comparison confirms that the storage unit A being transported by the stacker 30 is the correct storage unit A, the stacker is allowed to continue transporting the correct storage unit A to the warehouse area 12 for stacking, or the correct storage unit A is allowed to be stacked. The storage unit A continues to move to the shipping area 13 for placement.

The above-mentioned open warehousing production system 100 executes an open warehousing production method, and the steps of the method include:

(S01) Planning and instruction production schedule: The planning instructs the production equipment 20 to produce products. The products produced by the production equipment 20 are stacked on a pallet A2 in the form of product stack A2 to become a storage unit A. The stacker 30 can The storage unit A is moved and stacked at a specific position on the floor 121 .

(S02) Planning virtual pre-slots: plan several virtual pre-slots 14 on the floor 121 of a warehouse area 12 and the storage units A scheduled to be placed in these pre-slots 14 after production by the production equipment 20, and place them in The storage units A of the same predetermined compartment 14 are stacked from bottom to top, and in some embodiments, the area of the product stack A2 of the lower storage unit A is greater than or equal to the area of the product stack A2 of the upper storage unit A. In stacking manner, at least one predetermined aisle 16 is planned on the floor 121 adjacent to the predetermined compartments 14 .

(S03) Warehousing products on the open floor: instruct the forklift 30 to go to the production equipment 20 to pick up the storage unit A and go to the warehouse area 12. The forklift 30 is along the predetermined aisle 16 or the predetermined slot where no storage unit has been placed. Move to the open area of space 14, and place the storage unit A in the designated predetermined space 14 or stack it on the existing storage unit A in the predetermined space 14.

When the stored products need to be shipped, the step of performing a warehouse shipment (S04) is to plan a shipping area 13 on one side of the warehouse area 12 and instruct the forklift 30 to go to the warehouse. A designated storage unit A is taken from one of the predetermined slots 14 in the area 12, and the storage unit A is transported to the shipping area 13 for placement.

The above are only the best possible embodiments of the present invention. Any equivalent changes made by applying the description and patent scope of the present invention should be included in the patent scope of the present invention.

100:Open warehousing production system

10: Warehousing data center

12: Warehouse area

121:Floor

122:Wireless base station

13: Shipping area

14: Reserve a seat

15:Checkpoint

151:Visual inspection equipment

16: Book an aisle

18:RFID positioning system

181:RFID tag

20:Production equipment

22: Conveying section

221: Photoelectric sensor

24:Stacking equipment

30:stacker

32:Terminal

A:Storage unit

A1: Pallet

A2: Product stack

Claims (9)

An open warehousing production system includes: a warehousing data center, which plans several virtual predetermined compartments on the floor of a warehouse area, and plans at least one predetermined aisle on the floor adjacent to the predetermined compartments; a part For the above production equipment, a conveyor section is set up at the end of the production equipment, and a stacking equipment is set up in the conveyor section. The production equipment receives instructions from the warehousing data center to produce products, and the stacking equipment stacks the products produced by the production equipment in a stack. A product stack is formed on the board, and the stack of the pallet and the product it carries is called a storage unit; and more than one stacker, the stacker has a terminal for wireless communication reception of the warehousing data center According to the instruction, the forklift goes to the conveyor section to pick up the storage unit, and then carries the storage unit to the warehouse area according to the instruction, along the predetermined aisle or in a predetermined space where no storage unit has been placed. Move the storage unit on the position, place or stack the storage unit in one of the predetermined positions designated by the warehousing data center; wherein, an inspection station is set up between the warehouse area and the production equipment, and a visual inspection is set up at the inspection station Equipment, the forklift goes to the inspection station when transporting the storage unit, uses the visual inspection equipment to measure the length, width and height dimensions of the product stack in the storage unit, and transmits the measured data to the warehousing data center Compare with its data. The open warehousing production system as described in claim 1, wherein a visual sensor electrically connected to the terminal is provided in front of the stacker, and the visual sensor is used to identify whether there is a storage unit in the predetermined slot. and/or the number of stacked storage units, and assists the stacker to stack the storage units in the predetermined slot. The terminal wirelessly transmits the identification results of the visual sensor to the warehousing data center and compares the data with the right. The open warehousing production system as described in claim 1, wherein the forklift is a manned forklift, and the terminal is a tablet computer and receives the driver's input of whether the predetermined slot is Whether there is a storage unit and/or the number of stacked storage units, the terminal wirelessly transmits the result of the driver input received by the terminal to the warehousing data center for comparison with the data. The open warehousing production system as described in any one of requests 1 to 3, wherein when the stacker takes out the storage unit from the conveyor section, the terminal transmits a pickup completion message to the warehousing data center ; The conveyor section is equipped with a photoelectric sensor, which senses toward the direction of the storage unit, and transmits the sensing result to the storage data center, which is compared with the retrieval data received by the terminal in the storage data center. Comparison of information on completed goods. The open warehousing production system as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein multiple wireless base stations are set up in the warehouse area, and an RFID positioning system is constructed in the warehouse area to mark the corresponding predetermined slots. The coordinate position of the storage unit; there is an RFID tag in the storage unit. The RFID positioning system will sense the position of the storage unit obtained by the RFID tag and transmit it to the warehousing data center for comparison with its data to confirm whether the storage unit is Located in the correct predetermined position. The open warehousing production system as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which a light signal is provided on the ceiling of the warehouse area directly above the virtual reserved spaces, and the light signal is related to the warehousing information. The central electrical connection is controlled by it; when the storage data center compares the data and confirms that the storage unit stacked on the predetermined slot is correct, the storage data center controls the light to light up. The open warehousing production system as described in any one of requests 1 to 3, wherein the warehousing data center plans a shipping area on one side of the warehouse area, and more than one storage area is stacked on at least one predetermined slot. According to the instruction received from the warehousing data center by the terminal, the stacker goes to the predetermined space to pick up the storage unit, and transports the storage unit to the shipping area for placement. An open warehousing production method, the steps of which include: Planning and instructions for production schedule: A warehousing data center plans and instructs production equipment to produce products. The products produced by the production equipment are stacked on a pallet to form a storage unit; planning of virtual predetermined slots: the warehousing data center Plan several virtual predetermined compartments on the floor of a warehouse area and storage units scheduled to be placed in these predetermined compartments after production of production equipment. The storage units placed in the same predetermined compartment are stacked from bottom to top. At least one predetermined aisle is planned on the floor adjacent to the predetermined compartments; and for warehousing products on the open floor: an inspection station is set up between the warehouse area and the production equipment, and a visual inspection equipment is set up at the inspection station; the warehousing The data center instructs the forklift to go to the production equipment to pick up the storage unit and go to the warehouse area. When the forklift transports the storage unit, it goes to the inspection station and uses the visual inspection equipment to measure the stack of the product in the storage unit. The length, width and height dimensions are measured, and the measured data is transmitted to the storage data center for comparison with the data. Then the forklift moves along the predetermined aisle or in a predetermined space where no storage unit has been placed, and the storage unit is The unit is placed in a designated pre-slot or stacked on top of an existing storage unit in that pre-slot. The open warehousing production method described in claim 8 includes a warehousing and shipping step. The warehousing data center plans a shipping area on one side of the warehouse area and instructs the forklift to go to one of the warehouse areas. Take the designated storage unit at the predetermined location and transport the storage unit to the shipping area for placement.