Automation design starts with Data Analysis, find it here

Design Philosophy

Deliverable: Three Automation Concepts

After we have agreed to the results of the data analysis and design-year hourly system rates, we begin concepting the automation design. Our team will usually produce three concepts based on the analysis and your company's appetite for capital projects, automation, and other things communicated. Finally, each concept we present will have its strengths, and include rough order of magnitude return on investment figures for decision making - non-contractual at this point in the process.

ROI Tension 

When designing a concept, the trick is to find the right balance between these three aspects of a system design:

1. Capital Equipment Cost: 

Generally speaking, the more capital investment you make in equipment, the lower the labor cost and the smaller the footprint of the building should be. When we use capital equipment (ASRS, for example) to get product off of the floor and use the cubic space in a building, we can both reduce the travel distances and reduce the footprint.

1. Labor (FTEs):

The number of people it takes to operate a facility is inversely proportional to the amount of automation used in the building to automate processes people must do to get orders out the door. The more manual the processes, the more people you will need to operate your facility, and the more labor cost you will incur. Labor is also proportional to the footprint of the building; the larger the footprint, the longer are the travel distances for people, transport (conveyors) and forklifts. In a manual distribution center, 50-70% of a picker’s time (4-5.6 hours per 8-hour shift!) is spent traveling to a pick location. The longer these distances are, the more people you will need, and the higher will be your labor burden.

1. Footprint (sqft )

Every SKU does not have to have its own location on the floor, because many SKUs in some operations do not get touched every day. If we use automation to put these products in the air until they are needed, we can make drastic reductions in building footprint. People forget that building footprint turns into hundreds of cubic yards of concrete that must be poured, roof that must be purchased, walls that must be closed in and HVAC costs for the enclosed space. The cost for 100,000 ft2 is about $6,000,000. This amount of money can purchase lot of material handling equipment.

Three different concepts of various levels of automation can all have the same ROI; just different quantities of labor, capital equipment and floor space that must be poured. We provide several options on the automation spectrum to help you find the balance of each of these three aspects that makes sense for your company.

Using Labor to Flex

Automation should never be applied without a deep understanding our your unique operation. The big automation manufactures are in the game of selling technology, they win when they build the church for Easter Sunday. Unfortunately, when you over-automate,you end up up constrained by automation at peak season, with the inability to add seasonal throughput. Don’t let anyone build you into a corner. Use labor in the design to flex your operation for peak season, this is especially important if you are a retailer. Our concepts work within your  restraints to get you the best ROI/IRR without building a wall of automation around your operation.

After you choose which level of automation you want, we...

Present Final Concept & Proposal

The operation has been analyzed, and the system designed to fit, the next step is to present a final concept, ROI/IRR Analysis, and proposal. If you agree everything is satisfactory, then our work is done.

Start the process by submitting your contact details on the Inquire Page, we will call you on the date you choose.