Hörmann is one of the market leaders for various doors and gates for use in private and commercial properties. The company operates a plant with ten warehouses and production halls for garage doors and sectional doors in Ichtershausen, Thuringia. The Hamburg-based logistics system provider Still was on board from the very beginning for the intralogistics. Around 30 different Still industrial trucks are now in operation at the Hörmann plant in Thuringia. Hörmann considered using automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to supply materials to the production areas.

Smooth, slower travel significantly reduces maintenance and repair costs compared to manually operated forklifts

In test operation at the end of 2015, Still was able to demonstrate with an automated pallet truck how conventional forklift transport of standard load carriers can be carried out with a high level of safety. The test convinced Hörmann - and the decision to use AGVs followed in August 2016. The aim was to commission the system after a five-month project planning and implementation period.

Every day, Hörmann unloads an average of 30 trucks between 6.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. using still stackers. Goods are booked into the SAP system and labeled with a warehouse code when they arrive. Standard pallets or pallet cages are then transported to the buffer area for production supply. The automated supply process for the production areas begins with the transfer of the palletized goods from the buffer area to an automatically operating chain conveyor using an FM-X 14 reach truck. The warehouse label is scanned on the way to the chain conveyor. The data is then sent to the SAP control system, which generates the transport order for the AGV based on an EXP 20 high-lift truck. This moves with the forks into the load handling device to pick up the goods from the chain conveyor.

Automation has reorganized the transport processes, for example with a one-way system. It offers the best safety conditions due to the heavy mixed traffic. The EXP 20 finds its way to the respective staging area for production using guidance control via magnetic points embedded in the floor. It has also been equipped with various safety modules. These include Sick scanners, which stop the AGV if a person or object is in the vicinity. Two additional scanners installed at the top act like a safety curtain: hazards in the upper area are reliably detected.

The EXP 20 currently travels to a total of twelve destinations over a total distance of 600 meters in two halls. After setting down the goods, it takes the empty pallets provided on the return route and places them in the incoming goods area. Hörmann also wants to incorporate the waste containers from production into the AGV cycle. The automated transport process runs around the clock - without errors. The regular process means that fewer kilometers are driven on the route and valuable time is freed up for productive activities. For example, forklift trucks no longer have to make search trips to collect the pallets and waste bins that have been set down. pb