ZENON AUTOMATION SAICT, a member of Theodorou Group, known for its expertise in the design and implementation of robotics, handling and automation solutions for packaging and the supply chain, implemented a solution adapted to the needs of APOSTOLOS PAPANIKOLOPOULOS SA, which integrates the old system of the company in a new, modern, independent and unified system of fully automatic execution of orders.
This involves 3 distinct stages:
- the automatic collection of orders in boxes using robotic systems
- the automatic handling of boxes within the company
- the automatic invoicing, packing and sorting of orders by route, ready for distribution by the company’s vehicles
In the first stage, there are provisions that manage the empty plastic boxes, small or large, used to prepare the new orders. Then these boxes pass through two modern and fully automatic A-Frame type medicine collection machines of the well-known Austrian company SSI Schaefer, which were supplied and installed by ZENON AUTOMATION SAICT. These machines undertake the collection of the high-speed codes (A) of the individual orders.
In the second stage, after the fast-moving products have already been collected, the boxes are automatically moved from the mezzanine to the ground floor, where the old automatic arrangement, now integrated into the new system, is used to introduce the slower-moving and special products. It is essentially an old-style A-Frame and three manned manual picking stations using portable terminals and inserting the products into the respective boxes.
In the third and final stage the boxes are automatically guided to two automatic printing stations, where the invoice is printed and inserted inside the box, before it is also automatically closed with a lid and sealed with a plastic ring.
The boxes are then sticker-coded with order and customer information and automatically sorted into 16 aisles, depending on which car will pick them up to deliver the orders to customers.
The system also undertakes the automatic handling of the empty boxes returning from the circuit, so that they can be taken to the devices of the first stage and re-supply the system.
The above procedure is carried out 2 or 3 times a day, with speed, correctness in the execution of orders and avoiding delays, which could put the car routes out of schedule.
It was particularly important to implement the project in parallel with the work of the warehouse, so that its operation would not be disturbed at all and the service of its customers would continue uninterrupted.
Thanks to proper preparation and thorough planning by ZENON executives, the individual subsystems that had been tested individually were installed in parts, allowing their completion and transition from the old system to the new in just one weekend without any interruption to the warehouse operation.
The perfect collaboration with EPSILON CSA, which supplied APOSTOLOS PAPANIKOLOPOULOS SA with the line’s ERP & WMS software, played a catalytic role in the implementation.
