how automated material handling systems help loading efficiency

Money invested in our ATLSs is money well spent. Investing in one rewards you with:

●    time savings resulting from a faster trailer turnaround;
●    cost reduction through savings on manual labour;
●    higher efficiency: only one person is necessary to operate the system and conduct the loading or unloading, freeing up workers for other tasks;
●    enhanced safety: using an ATLS reduces the risk of safety;
●    consistency: the ATLS loads the same load the same way every time;
●    reduced damage to products and machinery by forklifts.

Our Automated Trailer Loading Systems offer a host of benefits. You can read more about them in our dedicated article.

One of the problems businesses encounter when loading and unloading trailers with goods is damage caused during loading, especially when using forklifts. Sometimes, personnel don’t align the forklift prongs correctly with the goods, causing them to pierce the goods themselves and damage them. Other times, they may overload the forklift, causing the goods to slip off the forks.

Our ATLSs minimise product damage during loading. Forklifts or other handling equipment place the goods onto the system, and the system loads everything in one shot. This reduces the amount of handling necessary. The forklifts don’t have to enter the cargo space and manoeuvre around it, sparing them journeys and the potential to damage loads in the process.

Another part of the higher level of efficiency AMHSs offer is the fact they can operate around the clock. They never grow tired, never need to rest and never take holidays; however, constant operation of them means you should take care to keep them in good condition. This 24-hour operation allows businesses to increase their productivity, including their throughput.

Greater precision and quality control

Businesses who implement automated material handling systems enjoy greater precision and quality better. Operators can program the systems to perform tasks with high levels of precision. This creates consistent product quality and reduces errors so that the manufacturer isn’t forced to rework products as much, which increases efficiency and productivity.

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs)

AGVs are mobile robots that follow set paths to move materials from one place to another in a facility.

Conveyors

Conveyors move materials or other goods along a fixed path. Often, they transport goods over short or medium distances. They’re common in manufacturing and packaging industries.

Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs)

These robots are a lot like AGVs. Industry insiders consider them the next generation of AGVs. These robots are well integrated with built-in software that can predict future moves and transportation processes.

Warehousing

It’s a rare warehouse today where you won’t see some kind of material handling automation in use. Warehouses make frequent use of this technology to store, retrieve and move goods around the facility. Automation helps them process orders faster and minimise the need for a larger warehouse.

Ecommerce

Over the past decade, Ecommerce warehouses have massively increased automation in their warehouses to fulfil orders. Automated material handling systems have helped them to handle higher volumes of orders fast and accurately, which has increased customer satisfaction.

When it comes to handling materials, there are three ways to do so: manual handling, mechanical handling and automated handling. Choosing the right system comes down to several different factors.

The size and type of materials

Depending on the material size and type, some handling methods are better than others. For smaller, lightweight items, you may prefer manual handling, whereas bulkier items may call for mechanical handling or automated handling.

The facility layout

Your warehouse’s design and layout can impact the effectiveness of your handling methods. If your warehouse has a complex layout, an AMR might be more in order. If it’s long and straight, a conveyor might be more suitable.

Trailerskate

The Trailerskate is a powerful automated loading system that can load up to 32 euro pallets, 26 pallets or a mix of both within four minutes. The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), food and beverage and packaging industries are some of the main industries that use this system which uses long skates to perform the loading and unloading.

The Slipchain features a heavy-duty pneumatic rise-and-fall chain and a rollerskate track to transport palletised goods. The system’s modular design makes it easy to integrate into any facility or trailer, and existing structures will need only minimal modifications.

Like the Moving Floor Conveyor, the Slipchain is compatible with production line conveyors or operators can place the goods on the system with forklifts for loading into trailers.

The LoadMatic Lite is an entry-level automated loading system for operators wishing to increase their daily load beyond the capabilities of loading with forklifts. Often, these businesses deliver directly to warehouses or factories.

The LoadMatic Lite is specially designed to boost the speed and efficiency of loading in manufacturing plants and distribution centres to meet higher throughput demands.

LoadBuffering is a pioneering Actiw software that executes loading processes automatically, load by load. This highly integrative software takes production load units and prepares optimal truck loads automatically. By working with your warehouse and our loading equipment, the system increases your outbound capacity.

Before bringing an ATLS into your operations, consider your existing workflow and where the automation will be most beneficial. Think of the different stakeholders and how it will help them, and of your current timelines and how it will benefit them.

When deciding how best to support your operations with one of our ATLS, we’ll assess your facility and requirements to decide which system would be best. Bear in mind that you may need to prepare your facility for an ATLS and get it into the right condition to accommodate one. Often, though, our systems require minimal modifications to existing structures.

Don’t worry too heavily about downtime when we install the system. Our expert engineers can install systems quickly and safely so that you can get operating again in no time at all.

As a business making an investment, it’s important to be able to track what is happening before you make the investment and what happens after it. When looking to invest in an ATLS, decide which metrics to monitor, how to do this and whether the new system makes this possible.

Our systems will mark a distinct before and after in the efficiency of your loading and unloading. This is something you’ll see when we produce our first draft of how the system will look in your facility.

It’s important to weigh up the costs in terms of the upfront investment and whether the system will lower costs in the long term. Error reduction, increased productivity, lesser damage to goods and operational costs are all areas to consider when deciding whether an ATLS will reward you with long-term savings.

Safety

Safety is crucial in any manufacturing or logistics environment. Before investing, consider how the ATLS will affect current safety levels and how to address the risks. Emergency stop buttons, sensors and barriers are all possible safety measures you could implement.

Adapting a system and integrating it to suit your business needs can increase the cost; however, it can spare you a lot of expense further down the line.

Return on Investment With Our Scalable Automated Loading Systems

One of our big focuses when assessing your facility, requirements and deciding which system will be best is return on investment (ROI). The increased productivity, and significant reduction in manual labour, in product damage and in resources necessary for loading, which will generate long-term savings, mean you’ll see a considerable ROI within two years of implementing our ATLSs.

Often, you don’t have to wait as long as two years before the ROI emerges. On average, you’ll start to see it 12 to 18 months after implementing one of our systems. If we think it will take longer than two years for the ROI to materialise, we’ll meet with you to discuss alternatives.

Our expert team will conduct a lot of the analysis around suitability, benefits, installation and more so you get the best out of your system. We’ll install the system for you safely so you can start enjoying the benefits of it as soon as possible.

Although we offer ‘off-the-shelf' type loading solutions, we also provide a design service to tailor your loading system to your business’s needs. We welcome your input so we can incorporate any of your ideas or suggestions into the design and provide the loading system tailored perfectly to your operations.

Step 4: Learn from initial KPIs

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are important metrics that establish a benchmark to compare performance against. If you’re not meeting your KPIs, you could be forming a business case for investing in an ATLS as soon as possible. If you invest in an ATLS and start exceeding your KPIs, you’re making a case for further investment to grow the business.

Around the world, we’re known as the number one; the global leader in loading and unloading solutions. This is not only because we are the largest but also the first too; we've been pioneering loading solutions since 1962.