Automated sheet metal storage system

Spiroflex company from Mielec specializes in metal processing and mainly in the production of chimney systems, ventilation and linear drainage systems. Spiroflex also provides services in the field of precise laser cutting, punching, water jet cutting, bending on press brakes and bending machines, welding and powder painting. In the production processes mainly metal sheets of different grades with dimensions of 3 m x 1.5 m are used.

Due to the increase in production and the need to optimise the storage process and the flow of metal sheets, Spiroflex looked for a comprehensive solution which would allow to plan production and significantly improve the flow of materials from the metal sheet storage system to the machines processing metal sheets. The system should enable the management of orders coming from planners and the creation of a system capable of storing several hundred tons of many assortments of metal sheets in a small area and enabling the delivery of sheets to individual production machines in a short time without the need to use a forklift. A key element was the implementation of software for warehouse operation control along with material flow control.

In 2018, Spiroflex decided to implement an automated MultiTower sheet metal storage and transport system using a stacker crane. The storage system is located in the central area of the production hall, close to 3 laser cutting machines, a hammer punching machine and several presses. The storage system provides storage for 146 movable trays with a total capacity of over 440 tons, in sheets with dimensions of 3 m x 1.5 m and a single package weight of max 3 tons.
The system has 6 moveable unloading stations which are responsible for transporting the materials inside the hall to the individual production machines. Trays with sheets are collected by individual stations from the MultiTower system and delivered to selected production machines, where, among others, by means of a crane and a vacuum suction cups, individual sheets are transferred to laser cutting tables.

Delivered control software Smart WMS Production from Baumalog is integrated with Comarch XL (ERP) and Cadman (CAM) systems, enabling efficient planning and optimization of the production process. Production orders are downloaded from the ERP system (it is known what is to be produced) and information from the CAM system provides, among others, what raw material is required for production and what machine is necessary to perform a given production operation.
On the basis of the created queue of orders and generated report of the demand for materials, the purchasing department makes purchases of particular assortments with delivery on particular days, ensuring the availability of materials described by many features, such as: index, grade, melting, batch number, certificate number etc.

The production scheduling wizard with order queue optimisation enables the production schedule to be planned for individual shifts several weeks in advance. Planning is carried out using a catalog of available materials, including utilisable waste, machines with their individual characteristics and limitations as well as a division into in-house and service production, e.g. using material provided by the customer.
On the basis of known capacity of cutting e.g. laser cutters planner is able to set up realistic and feasible production plan with information about the degree of utilization of machines, which prevents “overloading” of production system and on the other hand obtaining high degree of utilization of machines.
Delivered by Baumalog MultiTower storage system together with Smart WMS Production control software fully meets the slogan of Industry 4.0. Implementation of the system allowed to automate the process of material flow, minimize the storage area and ensure production planning taking into account many parameters, which ensuring continuity of production and achieving high efficiency.