Implementing an Automated Sorting System
Fluke, Joshua (2015)
Saimaan ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 1.0 Finland
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201504244931
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201504244931
Tiivistelmä
The study was commissioned by Timo Eloranta, Faculty at Saimaa University of Applied Sciences. The thesis was approved by the programme manager Jukka Nisonen. The purpose of this project was to create a simulated and theoretical automated process to sort product coming out of the distribution centre. The pro-cess designed represented a realistic simulation of the manufacturing facility Nestle/Purina, located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
The original method of sorting the product consisted of manually driven forklifts that took the product from the distribution station to the storage location within the warehouse. The system that has been designed is connected to a program-ming logic controller. When implemented it is designed to work seamlessly with the distribution center, automatically transporting the different products to their designated location within the warehouse.
Based on the findings from this thesis, it is shown to be possible to eliminate most of the manual labor. Replacing the manual sorting method with this modernized system showed an increase in efficiency by 70%. The company that this has been designed for would also save money over the course of time. Although the initial investment of this project is quite high the overall effect on efficiency and mone-tary savings would be gigantic, projected to be around 63%.
The original method of sorting the product consisted of manually driven forklifts that took the product from the distribution station to the storage location within the warehouse. The system that has been designed is connected to a program-ming logic controller. When implemented it is designed to work seamlessly with the distribution center, automatically transporting the different products to their designated location within the warehouse.
Based on the findings from this thesis, it is shown to be possible to eliminate most of the manual labor. Replacing the manual sorting method with this modernized system showed an increase in efficiency by 70%. The company that this has been designed for would also save money over the course of time. Although the initial investment of this project is quite high the overall effect on efficiency and mone-tary savings would be gigantic, projected to be around 63%.