Is Your Warehouse Floor Ready For Robotics And Automation

It is becoming increasingly popular as a phrase meaning the 4th Industrial revolution, concentrating on smart digitisation of manufacturing, and now extended across the entire supply chain including logistics and warehouse operations.

The CoGri Group are at the forefront of design and testing services for warehouses floors, providing the perfect platform for your automated systems.

When robotics and automation are used in warehouses, technology alone cannot create the perfect operation unless the environment in which it performs is fully able to support it. Floors are frequently overlooked when planning automated warehouses but, as the working platform of the operation, the flatness of the floor is essential for its efficiency and therefore, productivity.

Kevin Dare, Group Managing Director of The CoGri Group says “When designing an automated warehouse, we would recommend that one of your first priorities is the floor. Without a flat floor, your goods to person (G2P) robotics will not function as quickly as they should, and more damage to your equipment may occur, both of which result in lower efficiency, higher costs, and reduced productivity” He continues “Different methods of automation require different floor designs. When planning to use AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) considerations such as joint design and load transfer must be accounted for.

AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots) can create their own travel path and reroute to avoid obstacles. Finished floor surface characteristics such as surface gloss, friction, abrasion resistance, and micro-roughness are, therefore, crucial for successful operations. For ASRS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems) heavy and dynamic loadings must be given priority consideration.

The Design team at Face Consultants Ltd have many years’ experience in creating the perfect floor to suit any automated system, including warehouses where a mixture of automated systems is used.”

However, Face Consultants don’t just design floors for ‘smart warehouses’, they also provide floor testing for existing warehouses where automation is already in place or is to be introduced. Robotics manufacturers dictate the criteria floors must meet, including surface regularity (flatness, levelness, curvature, and step transitions), as well as the surface characteristics touched on earlier.

“Whether testing for AMR or ASRS, Face Consultants’ testing team will look at the manufacturers’ requirements and ensure that the floor is fit for purpose. We use the latest floor testing equipment, designed, developed, and manufactured in the UK headquarters by CoGri Engineering, including the Robotics Laser-guided Profileograph which checks the floor’s surface regularity against 6 properties of floor flatness.” Kevin advises. “As technology adapts and changes, so too does the equipment we use. We have now also introduced 3D laser scanning to support the fantastic work the Face team do with the Profileographs.

Such flatness analysis is really still in its infancy, with some technical difficulties limiting the accuracy unless backed up by our floor flatness testing instruments. I feel excited to be in the position where we can develop such testing and we are working on taking it to the next stage.”

Find out more about Face Consultants floor design, testing and 3D scanning services at https://face-consultants.com/flooring-services-g2p-automation/