Rail automation location Braunschweig changes from AKL to AutoStore
Siemens Mobility will be using an AutoStore from AM Logistic Solutions for logistics in production supply and shipping at its location in Braunschweig. With the system, the largest production site of the Siemens rail automation division replaces an existing automatic small parts warehouse, for whose components the supply of spare parts is being phased out.
– With the commissioning of its new AutoStore small parts warehouse, Siemens Mobility completes another part of the warehouse modernization in Braunschweig. The production site was planning to renew its warehouse technology because the spare parts supply for several components of the previously used automatic small parts warehouse (AKL) ran out. Siemens Mobility runs the company’s largest rail automation site in Braunschweig. Assemblies and individual components are stored there for products from the area of train protection and warning systems, such as on-board units or the ETCS train control system. For this modernization, the company carefully examined which technological innovations offer the best solutions for the existing requirements of the location. During the research, the AutoStore system was particularly convincing, the properties of which matched the requirements of the Braunschweig company exactly. Thanks to the compact technology, Siemens Mobility can now store 30 percent more articles in the Braunschweig plant and also increase throughput by around 30. With an area of around 1,000 square meters, the location of the warehouse has thus gained significant growth reserves. In addition, the system was designed to be ESD-protected for the sensitive electronic components so that none of the components can be damaged by electrostatic discharge.
AutoStore is technically and economically convincing
In addition to its compact design, the AutoStore is particularly suitable for use in the production warehouse thanks to its technical properties: Because AutoStore does not have a single point of failure, the reliability of the new system is significantly higher than that of the previous small parts warehouse. The AutoStore systems used around the world have an average reliability of 99.6 percent. Storage and retrieval are still possible even if a robot fails. On the other hand, the failure of a storage and retrieval machine in the previous small parts warehouse from Siemens Mobility in Braunschweig temporarily blocked the entire affected aisle. Advantages that were decisive for the AutoStore for project manager Kai-Christian Greve.
“We can implement the new AutoStore system more cost-effectively than a retrofit project for our old warehouse technology. In addition, the operating costs of the new system are lower, ”he reports. “After the employee training, we start with the relocation, then we benefit from efficient picking.”
The AutoStore warehouse from Siemens Mobility Braunschweig at a glance
- 31,700 containers
- 16 robots
- 7 conveyor ports
- approx. 300 container deliveries per hour
