CeMAT 2016 puts spotlight on digitization and automation

• World’s leading tradeshow for intralogistics and supply chain management expected to attract more than 1,000 exhibitors from around the globe

Numerous individual elements come together in logistics to make a functioning whole, as increasingly dynamic production and logistics processes become ever more closely intertwined. Anyone who wants to compete successfully in the logistics growth market needs to consistently update their own holistic concepts and systems for optimized material and information flows – with an emphasis on solutions. In response to this, reports Wolfgang Pech, Senior Vice President at Deutsche Messe: “The second ever special ‘Innovative Logistics Solutions’ display being offered at CeMAT 2016 will demonstrate how innovative, complex logistics processes function in a production environment.”

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The key attraction at the special display involves companies taking part in a joint exhibit (in Hall 27) representing a prototypical logistics chain, with real-world demonstrations of the latest technological advances. By allowing each exhibitor to contribute its own expertise and products, participating companies benefit from the practical presentation of their products within a process environment. “In contrast to a static tradeshow booth, the visitor does not need to imagine how a particular product works, but can see it live, in action,” explains Dr. Jochen Schneider, Deputy Director of the Dortmund Institute for Distribution and Trade Logistics (IDH), who designed this year’s special display. He continues: “Daily tours will provide interested visitor groups with the overall context, which can be supplemented by individual talks with exhibitors after the tour.”

Numerous CeMAT exhibitors signed up for the special display

Some 30 different companies will be part of the logistics chain at the special display, demonstrating ways of streamlining processes and making them more efficient. The demo process chain begins with a prototypical seaport featuring semi-automatic container offloading. Parallel to this, the display will demonstrate the semi-automatic unloading and palletizing of packages taken from a trailer. After being identified, the pallets are then transported to a depalletizing robot from Yaskawa Electric. There the packages are individually offloaded and placed on a continuous handling system. CeMAT exhibitors like Copal Handling, Fraunhofer IFF, the Cabka Group, AMI Förder- und Lagertechnik and Moderne Verpackung Hoffmann will all be showcasing their solutions here.

Innovative industrial trucks and sensors for driverless transport systems will also be highlighted along the logistics chain, including a display by Pepperl & Fuchs focusing on the issue of stacker safety: After automatic storage of the packages in a package warehouse, they are then conveyed to an automatic package opener – the technical solutions for this will be showcased by Hoffschmidt Engineering and Heinz Mayer. An operator then removes the products from the open packages, identifies them using smart glasses from Ubimax, and places them in a container from Georg Utz. A tool from Fraunhofer IFF then electronically checks and records the correct placement of the goods.

Afterwards the products are loaded into a Hänel storage lift, where the products are picked by Viastore on the basis of a fictitious order and then packed inside Easypack folding boxes of varying sizes before being placed on an AMI continuous handling system and strapped using a solution from Mosca. Parallel to this, SMI Handling will demonstrate the efficient handling of particularly heavy items. A VHF/barcode combination label from Bluhm is then affixed to the respective heavy object and the package is volume-registered. The packages are then sorted and identified at two so-called “transport stations” using an application from Pepperl & Fuchs. A robot then takes over the task of automatic palletizing on pallets equipped with transponder technology. At this stage of the logistics chain, the load carriers from Epal, Georg Utz, Bito and Cabka come into play. The finished loading unit is secured using Combipack film and transported to the shipping area. Here the special display will feature a block storage area from SEP Logistik and pallet racking from SSI Schäfer. Finally, this special display at CeMAT will demonstrate the right cargo securing techniques. The Icon and Spanset companies will feature practical solutions for cargo securing in containers, while again Spanset, along with the Schmitz Cargobull company, will demonstrate the right cargo securing methods for semitrailers.