JP7444497B2 - Order picking and packing system at online supermarket distribution center - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an order picking and packing system in an online supermarket distribution center, and more specifically, it eliminates tasks such as walking, searching, and judging, which are the biggest problems in order picking and packing operations in an online supermarket distribution center, and allows anyone to use the order picking and packing system. , relates to an order picking and packing system at an online supermarket distribution center that employs a mechanism that allows easy and quick picking and packing.

In the ever-expanding online logistics business, the next customer need is to purchase food and other items online that they normally go to the supermarket for.

In other words, the increase in the number of customers who are said to be shopping refugees, due to the inconvenience of frequently going to stores to shop, the distance from stores, or the inability to go to stores, is leading to an increase in online purchases.

However, in the online logistics business, food logistics requires advanced logistics technology such as maintaining freshness and temperature range management. Additionally, the unit price of products at online supermarkets is low at around 200 yen per item, making it difficult to secure profits unless a highly productive, low-cost logistics system is built.

Most online logistics orders are for individual items. The most important part of bulk logistics is order picking, which is the most costly process.
In a typical distribution system, products are replenished on storage shelves, and each order is picked by walking between the shelves. The work at this time involves a lot of walking, searching, and judgment, and productivity is low. As a result, the picker picks about 100 to 150 pieces per hour.

Batch picking and sorter sorting systems, which are commonly seen, are methods to improve the productivity of the order-by-order picking method described above. This is a method in which multiple orders are placed at once and sorted automatically using a sorter device. If you pick 20 or 30 orders at once, picking productivity will increase.

Then, a high-speed sorter with a sorting capacity of about 5,000 items per hour is used to sort the items by order. Storing products in automated warehouses and picking them from containers taken out from there eliminates walking and is more efficient.

However, in such a method, touching occurs even when the products are touched during picking and transferred to the sorter, and after being sorted by order in the shooter, a packing operation is required to put the products into plastic bags or containers.

These methods require high investment in equipment such as automated warehouses and high-speed sorters, and productivity is limited to 300 pieces per hour, which is twice as much as order-based picking.

In the online logistics business, the challenge with mechanization is that in the case of food products, there are many products such as perishables and bottled products that cannot be passed through high-speed sorters.
In addition, when batch picking from containers from automated warehouses, which involves a large number of product touches, unnecessary touch work such as placing perishables and bottled items in small trays and hanging them with bands to prevent them from shifting is required. is necessary,

After that, the items must be fed into a high-speed sorter, and after being sorted, they must be packed into boxes.
As described above, there are many touch operations before orders are packed together, and the problem is that these operations cannot improve productivity.

Regarding the above-mentioned distribution system on the Internet, "Work instruction device and collection and sorting method" (Patent Document 1) according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-145302 is disclosed.

In other words, we aim to provide a new work instruction device and a new collection and sorting method that can efficiently collect and sort ordered products even if there is not enough work space. This is a collection and sorting device for online supermarkets that collects products and sorts them by orderer.

First, the ordered products are picked from the store in the order of the number of customers ordering them and placed in the sorting space. Next, the picked items are sorted on a priority basis for the orderer who has all the ordered items from the picked items.

As a result, even in stores with limited work space, shipping containers containing all the ordered products can be created one after another from the small amount of ordered products picked.

On the other hand, Patent Document 2 relates to a "picking and cargo matching system" invented by the inventor of the present application.

Patent Document 2 discloses a storage shelf in which a plurality of rows of shelves for storing trays containing products are provided, and a plurality of shelves in which the trays stored in predetermined shelves are arranged in a vertical direction. a shuttle that is movable in the horizontal direction along the storage shelf, and a loop conveyor that transports the trays received by the shuttle; There is a picking type lane for transporting the trays placed on the loop conveyor to either robot picking or operator picking, and a comb-shaped a comb-blade arm continuous vertical conveyor or vertical lifter that receives the products with an arm and conveys them in a vertical direction; A picking and combining system is disclosed that includes a picking station for picking items, and a sorter for combining the items picked at the picking station.

This picking and matching system is designed to take out trays containing products at a distribution center, pick designated products, and then sort and match the products.

However, even in the case of the picking and matching system of Patent Document 2, many touch operations are required before orders are packed together, and this includes the problem that productivity cannot be improved.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-145302 Patent No. 6600727

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is used in online supermarket distribution centers to eliminate the many product touching operations as described above and to simplify and speed up picking and packing operations. It provides an order picking and packing system.

The order picking and packing system in an online supermarket distribution center according to the present invention is a shuttle automated warehouse equipped with storage shelves provided with multiple rows of shelves for storing a large number of product storage boxes containing ordered products. , an incoming conveyor that transports a large number of product storage boxes containing the ordered products to the shuttle automated warehouse;
a picking /packing station provided at a separate location from the shuttle automated warehouse for picking and packing by workers ; a plurality of shuttles movable horizontally along the storage shelves of the shuttle automated warehouse; and the shuttle automated warehouse. A loop-shaped shipping conveyor that carries out the large number of product storage boxes received by the shuttle from the storage shelves in the warehouse and supplies them to a picking/packing station in multiple rows; ・Product storage containers, into which the workers at the packing station store the picked and packed ordered products from the product storage box , are provided in two rows on either side of the worker at the picking/packing station. At the product storage container supply conveyor and the picking/packing station , a worker picks and packs the ordered products from the product storage box and puts them into the picking /packing material and the product storage container. a completed product storage container shipping conveyor that ships the completed product storage container that has been picked and packed, and a completed product storage container that has been picked and packed; a shuttle automated warehouse return conveyor that returns empty product storage boxes to the shuttle automated warehouse; and a shuttle automated warehouse return conveyor that returns empty product storage boxes to the shuttle automated warehouse; The product storage container is received from the shelf by a shuttle and carried out from the shuttle automated warehouse, and is supplied to the picking/packing station via the shipping conveyor, and the product storage container is delivered to the picking/packing station via the product storage container supply conveyor. The worker at the picking/packing station picks and packs the ordered products to be stored in the product storage box, while picking and packing the products inside the picking/packing material attached to the product storage container and inside the product storage container. The product storage container that has been picked and packed is then shipped via the completed product storage container shipping conveyor as a completed product storage container , and is then picked and packed via the shuttle automated warehouse return conveyor. The main feature is that it is configured so that packed empty product storage boxes can be returned to the shuttle automated warehouse.

The present invention will be further explained.

In front of the picking/packing worker M, product storage boxes containing products to be ordered picked and packed are carried by two rows of shipping conveyors. The reason why there are two rows of product storage boxes from which product storage boxes flow is because when the picking of one product storage box is completed, the product storage boxes descend and return to the shuttle automated warehouse. With the box, picking and packing can be carried out with high productivity by performing picking alternately from left to right without waiting time. On either side of picking/packing worker M, there are product storage containers that are assembling completed product storage units with a capacity of, for example, 50 liters, 6 boxes in 2 rows of 3 boxes on the right side, and 2 rows of 3 boxes on the left side. 6 boxes, 12 boxes in total, are transported and set.

In the product storage container, three plastic bags R, which are picking and packing materials, are preliminarily hooked onto the hooks of the container.

The reason why three plastic bags R are set in a container in advance is that the product can be taken out of the container along with the plastic bags and handed to the customer at the time of home delivery, etc., and it is also easier to load onto a truck, which reduces packaging costs. This makes it possible to

There are 12 boxes on the left and right, with 3 orders per box, resulting in batch picking for a total of 36 orders.

In the foreground, product storage boxes, where ordered products are stored, flow from the shuttle automated warehouse.

In addition, picking operations are performed according to the picking instructions displayed on the display in front of the Bitscar. For example, if the instruction is to put one item from the product storage box on the right into the fifth shopping bag R on the right, take one item and place it in the fifth plastic bag R in the middle of the second box on the right. This is the action of putting the product in. The fifth plastic bag R to be loaded is instructed to be loaded using a laser beam, and after the bag is loaded, a scale set at the bottom of the container checks its weight to ensure that the correct product has been loaded.
The empty product storage box that has been picked is automatically lowered and returned to the shuttle automated warehouse, where the next product storage box is automatically sent out.

According to the invention described in claim 1, it is possible to provide an order picking/packing system in an online supermarket distribution center that can eliminate many product touching operations and simplify and speed up picking and packing operations. can.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view and an elevation view showing the overall configuration of an order picking/packing system in an online supermarket distribution center according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the shuttle automated warehouse and the picking/packing station in the order picking/packing system in the online supermarket distribution center according to this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic elevational view showing the configuration of a part of the picking/packing station and automated warehouse in the order picking/packing system in the online supermarket distribution center according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged plan view of the picking/packing station in the order picking/packing system in the online supermarket distribution center according to this embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a control system in an order picking/packing system in an online supermarket distribution center according to this embodiment.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ordering and packing system for online supermarket distribution centers that eliminates the need to touch many products during picking and packing operations, and simplifies and speeds up the picking and packing operations. A shuttle automated warehouse is provided with storage shelves provided with multiple rows of shelves for storing a large number of product storage boxes containing products, and a large number of product storage boxes containing the products are stored in the shuttle automated warehouse. The receiving conveyor and the product storage box stored on a predetermined shelf of the shuttle automated warehouse are transferred by a transfer device having a lifting device that can move up and down a plurality of vertically continuous shelves. a plurality of shuttles movable horizontally along the storage shelves; a picking/packing station provided at a separate location from the shuttle automated warehouse for picking and packing by workers; A loop-shaped shipping conveyor carries out the large number of product storage boxes received by the shuttle from the storage shelves and supplies them to a picking/packing station in a plurality of rows; A completed product storage container supply conveyor that supplies completed product storage containers for storing products in two rows so as to sandwich both sides of a worker at a picking/packing station, and is interlocked with the completed product storage container supply conveyor; A completed product storage container shipping conveyor that ships completed product storage containers that have been filled with picking and packing materials and have been picked and packed at the picking and packing station, and a large number of products that have been picked and packed at the picking and packing station. It has an automated warehouse return conveyor that returns the storage boxes to the shuttle automated warehouse, and the picking/packing work of workers at the picking/packing station involves batch picking/packing of 3 orders per box, 12 boxes on the left and right, and a total of 36 orders. This was realized by the configuration.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An order picking and packing system in an online supermarket distribution center according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an order picking/packing system 1 in an online supermarket distribution center according to this embodiment includes a shelf for storing product storage boxes 3, which are a large number of product storage bodies containing ordered products. A shuttle automated warehouse 2 includes storage shelves 2a having multiple rows of storage shelves 2b, an incoming conveyor 11 that carries a large number of product storage boxes 3 containing the ordered products into the shuttle automated warehouse 2, and the storage shelves 2a. When a plurality of shuttles 21 that are horizontally movable along the shuttles 21 and the product storage boxes 3 stored on the shelves 2b of a predetermined stage of the shuttle automated warehouse 2 are moved along the storage shelves 2a via the shuttles 21, In both cases, the picking is carried out by a transfer device 13 having a lifting device 12 that allows lifting and lowering between multiple shelves 2b that are continuous in the vertical direction, and picking is carried out by a worker M installed at a separate location from the shuttle automated warehouse 2. - A picking/packing station 31 for packing and carrying out the large number of product storage boxes 3 received by the shuttle 21 from the storage shelves 2a of the shuttle automated warehouse 2 and supplying them to the picking/packing station 31 in a plurality of rows. It is equipped with a loop-shaped shipping conveyor 32 and a picking/packing material 42 such as a plastic bag R, and is used for storing ordered products picked and packed by the worker M at the picking/packing station 31 while inputting them. A product storage container supply conveyor 33 that supplies product storage containers 41, which are product storage bodies, in two rows so as to sandwich both sides of the worker M at the picking/packing station 31; A completed product storage container 41A that is linked to the conveyor 33 and has been picked and packed after the ordered products are put into the picking/packing material 42 and the product storage container 41 at the picking/packing station 31 and stored. A shuttle automated warehouse return conveyor 35 is provided for returning empty product storage boxes 3 that have been picked and packed at the picking/packing station 31 to the shuttle automated warehouse 2.

FIG. 5 shows the control system of the order picking Pangam system 1 in the online supermarket distribution center according to this embodiment, and includes a program memory 50 that stores the overall operating program and a control system that operates based on the operating program. 51, a display 52 disposed in front of the picker in the picking/packing station 32 and displaying picking/packing instruction information for the worker M under the control of the control section 51; A laser light source 53 that irradiates a disposable plastic bag R with a laser beam to instruct it to be loaded with a laser beam, a conveyor drive unit 54 that drives each of the conveyors described above under the control of the control unit 51, and a buzzer 55. , is equipped with.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, a description will be given of the processing flow of the order picking Pangam system 1 in the online supermarket distribution center according to the present embodiment.

The flow of processing at this time is as follows.
(1) Picking and packing instructions are displayed on the display 52 in front of the picker of the picking and packing station 31.
(2) For example, instruct the user to put two ordered products from A's product storage box 3 into the shopping bag R on the right side of the product storage container 41.
(3) The location of the plastic bag R on the right side of the product storage container 41 is indicated by laser light from the laser light source 53.
If you put it in the wrong place at this time, a warning will be sounded with buzzer 55.
(4) After loading is complete, a weight check is performed using a scale on the side. (5) If the weight check is OK, the next picking/packing instruction display will be displayed. (6) The ordered product will be placed in a plastic bag R that corresponds to the picking/packing instruction display. Insert. (7) When picking for one plastic bag R is completed, a label is output from the printer 56.
(8) Close the plastic bag R and attach the label.
(9) When the picking and packing of the product storage box 3 of A is completed, the product storage box 3 of A is automatically lowered.
(10) Next, picking and packing of product storage box 3 of B is started, and picking and packing similar to that of product storage box 3 of A is completed.
(11) The picking and packing of the left and right product storage boxes 3 by the worker is completed, and the completed product storage containers 41 are transferred to the shipping line by the shipping conveyor 34 for conveyance.
(12) After the product picking, the empty product storage boxes 3 of A and B are automatically transported by the return conveyor 35 and returned to the shuttle automated warehouse 2.
After (13), picking and packing are repeated.

As explained above, according to the order picking and packing system 1 in the online supermarket distribution center of this embodiment, it is possible to eliminate many product touching operations and to simplify and speed up the picking and packing operations. becomes.
Note that the picking and packing operations described above involve picking and packing products into plastic bags R, but other ordered products are processed in the same way.

That is, at the picking/packing station 31, the worker M can perform batch picking and order-by-order packing of up to 36 orders at a time without walking around.

To date, most mechanized systems are a combination of batch picking and sorting. Therefore, the number of touches by workers is large, and productivity is limited.

In contrast, the picking and packing system of this embodiment can perform batch picking and packing at the same time, has a simple equipment configuration, and has high productivity.

In addition, for perishable products that are difficult to sort mechanically, such as eggs, tofu, alcohol, meat packs, fruits, and vegetables, special containers from producers are stored directly in the Shuttle Automated Warehouse 2 for picking and packing. It is only necessary to automatically convey the material in front of the user.

At this time, if you combine the logic of putting heavy items in the bag first, you can carefully and orderly put the items into the plastic bags handed to the customer.

The shuttle automated warehouse 2 can store milk, tofu, alcohol, etc. in dedicated containers. Producers can pack fruits and vegetables, attach barcode labels, and transport them to the distribution center in dedicated product storage boxes 3, allowing them to be quickly stored in the shuttle automated warehouse 2 without touching the products.

This is the completion of a unit load system that eliminates waste from production to sales. Since there are many product items and a considerable capacity is required for loading and unloading cases in batches, it is preferable to use a size-free shuttle-type automatic warehouse instead of a crane-type automatic warehouse.

In this way, the order picking/packing system 1 according to the present embodiment eliminates tasks such as walking, searching, and making judgments, which are the biggest problems in order picking/packing work, and allows anyone to easily and quickly It has the unique effect of being able to pick and pack.

Moreover, it is a revolutionary system that allows worker M to batch pick up to 36 orders at a time and pack each order without having to walk.

In addition, the productivity including picking and packing is estimated to be at least 600 pieces per hour, which is five times higher than order-specific picking and more than double the productivity of automated warehouse and sorter sorting systems. This contributes to reducing logistics costs.

In addition, refrigerated and frozen products can be picked and packed with high productivity using the same mechanism as described above.

The present invention can be used not only for so-called B-to-C online supermarket logistics, but also for B-to-B inter-store transportation logistics.

1. Order picking and packing system at online supermarket distribution center 2. Shuttle automated warehouse 2a. Storage shelf 2.b. Shelf 3. Product storage box
11 Arrival conveyor 12 Lifting device 13 Transfer device 21 Shuttle 31 Picking/packing station 32 Shipping conveyor 33 Product storage container supply conveyor 34 Completed product storage container shipping conveyor 35 Shuttle automated warehouse return conveyor 41 Product storage container 41A Completed product storage container 42 Picking・Packing material 50 Program memory 51 Control unit 52 Display 53 Laser light source 54 Conveyor drive unit 55 Buzzer 56 Printer M Operator R Plastic bag

Claims (1)

A shuttle automated warehouse equipped with storage shelves having multiple rows of shelves in multiple stages for storing a large number of product storage boxes containing ordered products;
an incoming conveyor that transports a large number of product storage boxes containing the ordered products to the shuttle automated warehouse;
a picking /packing station provided at a separate location from the shuttle automated warehouse for picking and packing by workers ;
a plurality of shuttles movable horizontally along storage shelves of the shuttle automated warehouse;
a loop-shaped shipping conveyor that carries out the plurality of product storage boxes received by the shuttle from the storage shelves of the shuttle automated warehouse and supplies them to a picking/packing station in a plurality of rows ;
A product storage container is provided with picking and packing materials and is used by workers at the picking and packing station to place and store the ordered products picked and packed from the product storage box.
a conveyor supplying product storage containers in two rows so as to sandwich both sides of the worker at the picking/packing station ;
At the picking and packing station, the worker picks and packs the ordered products from the product storage box ,
A completed product storage container shipping conveyor that stores the product storage container in the picking and packing material and in the product storage container, and ships the product storage container that has been picked and packed, and the completed product storage container that has been picked and packed. and,
a shuttle automated warehouse return conveyor for returning the picked and packed empty product storage boxes at the picking/packing station to the shuttle automated warehouse ;
The product storage boxes carried into the shuttle automated warehouse by the loading conveyor are received by the shuttle from the storage shelves of the shuttle automated warehouse and carried out from the shuttle automated warehouse, and transported to the picking/packing station via the shipping conveyor. and supplies the product storage container to a picking/packing station via a product storage container supply conveyor, and the worker at the picking/packing station picks up the ordered products to be stored in the product storage BOX. , inside the picking/packing material attached to the product storage container while being picked and packed , and a product storage container that has been picked and packed while being put into the product storage container and as a completed product storage container ; The completed product storage container is shipped via the shipping conveyor, and the empty product storage box that has been picked and packed can be returned to the shuttle automated warehouse via the shuttle automated warehouse return conveyor. Features an order picking and packing system at an online supermarket distribution center.

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