After announcing their partnership just last week, Hy-Tek Intralogistics and Hai Robotics are already taking the wraps of their first joint project. This companies have developed an automated storage and retrieval system, or ASRS, for a manufacturing and engineering company in Ohio for a GTP buffer system application.
The facility had previously used a carousel to manage much of the raw good storage, however, the system was becoming costly to maintain and frequently broke down, reducing workflow efficiency and operational stability.
Hai Robotics simplifies the movement of items
The companies said their system delivers a single dual-purpose workstation and conveying systems - all unified with Hy-Tek’s IntraOne software.
The new system uses Hai Roboticis’ autonomous case-handiling robots, which are compact, tall, tote retrieval robots that navigate a storage grid and can extend upward to manage the storage of goods 32+ feet high. 3 unique features about this solution include 3 varied heights of the racking, 2 different size totes within the single system, and double deep tote storage.
The ASRS will automatically store drill bits, machining parts, and raw and work-in-progress goods while also acting as the facility’s tool crib to consolidate several areas of storage around the facility.
The facility has variable celling heights and other obstacles like pipes, lights, and sprinklers, that created inconsistent vertical clearance.
The Hai Robotics/ Hy-Tek solution has 3 racking heights, 22 feet, 20.5 feet, and 17.5 feet. Other ASRS typically require a uniform height, requiring the max height of storage to meet the lowest clearance opportunity – losing out on vertical storage.
ASRS can be used to handle totes of multiple sizes
This flexibility of the ACR driven ASRS allows the system to maximize every inch of vertical storage space permitting 3,904 storage locations, according to Hai Robotics.
The length and width of each tote is the same but have variable heights based off the products that are to be stored within them. This flexibility creates an appropriately sized system that consolidates much of the facility’s storage needs, according to the companies.
If the system only had the large totes, the system would be undersized and storage locations lost, or only the smaller totes would exclude some of the products. The ability for an ASRS to manage such a wide variety of material sizes proves the facility with substantial operational advantages with the added benefit of more open space through the facility.
“Creativity is key component of the solution that Hy-Tek provided,” said Kyle Detwiler, technical sales manager at Hai Robotics. “The Hy-Tek team is able to leverage Hai Robotics as a tool to unlock greater efficiency, density, and flexibility for the customers' operation. The pairing of Hai’s ASRS with the IntraOne Platform creates a modern foundation for a system that meets current demand while laying the groundwork for simple expansion and future growth.”
“Pairing Hai Robotics’ system with our IntraOne software allows for an incredibly flexible solution to be implemented for our client, said Matt Bommer, general manager for Cleveland Operations for Hy-Tek Intralogistics. “Few robotic solutions allow for multiple totes sizes and heights in the same system. Hai Robotics with their flexibility and market entry point was a natural fit to provide the best outcome not only today, but as the client continues to grow in the future.