Industrial robot maker Geekplus is delivering four types of autonomous mobile robots to Siemens Switchgear’s warehouse in Shanghai to create an end-to-end automated system. The new robots will power Siemens Switchgear’s Plan For Every Part (PFEP) logistics model designed to fully automate both picking and production line distribution.

The deliveries mark an expansion of collaboration between the two companies, and is the second phase of a smart manufacturing automation project. The expansion introduces more of Geekplus’s goods-to-person picking and materials handling robots to the multi-robot configuration and opens up a further 3000 square metres (32,300 square feet) of automated warehousing space. The system achieved a delivery accuracy rate of 100%, with materials accuracy of over 99.98% in the production line.

Siemens Switchgear Ltd., Shanghai first joined forces with Geekplus in 2019 and successfully built a full-process flexible automated intelligent logistics factory using four types of Geekplus robots: P800R goods-to-person picking robots, MP1000R moving robots, RS2 tote-to-person robots, and X-series four-way shuttles for high-density storage. The entire manufacturing process is now automated with robots, from inbound receiving, to in-store stock management, outbound stock collection, and production line delivery.

With the growth of Siemens Switchgear’s business, new demands for storage capacity, material informatisation, distribution timeliness, and accuracy arose. The implementation of a Plan For Every Part (PFEP) logistics model is a response to this expanded demand. Geekplus has created a fully automated multi-robot system for Siemens in Shanghai.

In the second phase, Geekplus has added more MP1000R moving robots equipped with laser-guided simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) capabilities to the production line. Managed by Geekplus’s warehouse management system, these robots autonomously carry out on-time delivery of raw materials to where they are needed in the production line.

The Geekplus team has optimised the paths layout of the four-way shuttle storage system and the layout of the picking workstations. The outbound throughput rate has increased from 500 pallets per day to 1000 pallets per day. The team has also added a steel platform to create a second storage level operated by the original P800R fleet, with a new cluster of P800Rs equipped with square pallet docking with low-level hoists in the materials receiving area on the ground floor. These additions have freed up an additional 3000m2 of storage space.

Junzhe Yang, Vice President of China Region at Geekplus, said: “We are very proud of this end-to-end automation success with Siemens Switchgear Ltd., Shanghai. The company makes cutting-edge electronics technology, and Geekplus uses robotics technology to power their operations. The result is a beautiful example of how well smart intralogistics can function.”