When Herma opens its new coating plant for adhesive materials in Filderstadt in fall 2019, there will be an industry-wide premiere in the internal material flow: special driverless trolleys designed for heavy loads will take over the automatic transport of raw materials such as paper and films, semi-finished products and finished coated adhesive material rolls.

"Automated guided vehicles, or AGVs for short, are already in use elsewhere," explains Frank Baude, Head of Logistics at Herma, "but there is probably no role model for the dimensions we need - in our industry. Because we are talking about transport trolleys that move rolls up to two meters wide and weighing up to 4.5 tons."

A transport trolley with a loaded roll thus reaches the dimensions of a sprinter, as known from logistics service providers. "We had to do a lot of research to find suppliers who were prepared to design something like this for such weight classes," says Baude. This is why Herma is now using a technology that is also used to move trains, wind turbine rotor blades or aircraft fuselages through assembly halls.

"The term jumbo roll, which we use for our largest rolls, takes on a whole new meaning," says the head of logistics with a grin. A total of ten of these large automated guided vehicles (AGVs) will move through the new coating plant. There are also four smaller vehicles which, with their lower, ergonomically favorable working height, are used where manual work has to be carried out on the rolls, for example when unpacking.

Without induction loops or magnets
The aisles in the new coating plant are designed so that two large AGVs can drive past each other. "In this way, we also create a redundant transport system: if an AGV breaks down, all production systems can still be reached." The trolleys are each equipped with four wheels that can swivel through 360 degrees; two of them are driven by a powerful electric motor.

The AGVs are controlled by several built-in scanners, which orient themselves at fixed points, so-called landmarks, in the factory. This means that no induction loops or magnets are required in the floor. The transport trolleys have to approach some defined positions on the coating machines with an accuracy of plus/minus two millimetres. "This is done using barcodes in the floor, from which the vehicle can virtually read its correct alignment," explains Baude.

All reel movements between the 35-metre-high new high-bay warehouse with its 13 levels, the two coating systems and the cutting machines are handled exclusively by AGVs. And for the first time, material movements at Herma are carried out completely without pallets or load carriers. This means that the rolls lie directly on the loading area of the transport trolleys, which correspond to a very flat "V". "In the past, we repeatedly had the issue of wood splinters coming loose from pallets. Not only did they cause unnecessary dirt, but they also irritated the sensors of our transport systems," says Baude.

The company will invest around 80 million euros in the new coating plant in Filderstadt by fall 2019. A further 20 million euros will also be invested in the new production facility for labeling machines, which will go into operation at the beginning of 2019. Herma currently still manufactures its machines in Deizisau. as