Case study Logistics Distribution Centre

VOW distribution centre

VOW Europe Ltd is one of the
UK and Ireland’s leading
wholesalers of business and officesupply products. Following thecentralisation of their Sales andService Centre VOW recently
opened its third large-scale, hightech distribution centre inNormanton, England.
Leading 4th party integrator
Logistex was selected by VOW tosupply the integrated storage andmaterials handling systems. These
included an extensive range of
conveyor equipment
manufactured by leading OEM
Conveyor Units.
The system is built around asophisticated one-kilometre carton
conveyor powered by low-energy
24v motorised rollers from Itoh
Denki. Totes and cartons arerouted around a zoned system forpicking before being checked andscanned and finally routed
through a sorter at up to 2,850
items per hour.

Challenge

SystemSolution

Wide variety of carton sizes andweights

250 24v motorised rollers
manufactured by Itoh Denki

Energy efficient, run-on-demand
low voltage motorised rollers

Medium-to-high transport
speedsZero Pressure Accumulating
logic controls with built-in
communication links

Self-managing accumulation
logic maintains productseparation

Adjustable speed and transportconfigurations, up to 70m/min

Dynamic product buffering,transfer and sortation

Smooth, low noise transport ofgoods on precision bearing
rollers

Convenient and simple
integration with PLC and WMS.

High throughput, two-shiftoperation
Maximum noise @ 1m: 64dBA

Case study Logistics Distribution Centre

Integration of the Power Moller®
drives with Logistex’s LWS
automation software was madeeasy with Itoh Denki’s sophisticated
HB510 zone control board.

The HB510 incorporates control
logic and zone-to-zone
communications that facilitate
valuable product buffering andseparation throughout the conveyor
system. The HB510 is also
configurable to allow adjustment ofroller speed, transfer configuration,and zone release modes. This
made it ideally suited to the various
control requirements of the project
and was used extensively
throughout.
The combination of HB510 andPower Moller® 24v motorised drives
provided the ideal solution to thehigh speed sortation conveyor
installed in the despatch area.

HB510P

Zero Pressure Accumulation

Built-in logic control provides
automatic flow management
Singulation or block releasefor higher throughput
Energy-efficient run-ondemand operation
Dynamically adjustablespeed control: zone or group
Optional PLC connections for
RUN, DIRECTION, SPEED,SENSOR STATUS & ERRORPOWER MOLLER®
24v DC motorised drive rollers
Switch sorter

The solultion features an extensive
carton conveyor comprising of belt
conveyor and 50mm diameter
motorised roller conveyor. A fullcase-pick line operating at up to
2,000 containers per hour
supplements the pick casefunction.

Belt conveyors
70 m/min

50 m/min

50 m/min/mm
70

70m/m

in

70 m/minin

70 m/min

50m/m

in/minEach consignment is checked andscanned, then routed through asorter at up to 2,850 items perhour. Logistex supplied its own
LWS warehouse control software,
designed to fully integrate with theclient’s Manhattan WMS.

50 m

Logistex provided a fullconsultation and design service toassist VOW throughout theplanning stage. The company used
its Situational Analysis procedureand the client’s historical data,
resulting in a proposal toconsolidate several warehouse
operations into a single distribution
centre in Normanton, SouthYorkshire.

Switch sorter

PLC 24 VDC

Gravity lanes to despatch

50 m/minFrom an early stage Itoh Denki’sTechnical Sales Engineers worked
closely with Conveyor Units andLogistex to provide the best
conveyor solutions andspecifications to meet the systemchallenges. The installation has
been designed to handle thediverse range of order size, volume
and changes in demand. Totes can
carry up to 25kg and cartons as
slim as 50mm can be conveyed
directly to dispatch to keep spaceand shipping costs to a minimum.