A self-learning truck control system has been launched by the Hamburg based forklift truck manufacturer and provider of intralogistic systems Still. It is a part of the new modular software package for material flow management (MMS). With the new version of the MMS, Still provides numerous modules to operate warehouses efficiently and to optimise the internal transportation of goods The functions and features of the system go far beyond what traditional systems available on the market provide. The main components of the Still STILL MMS are the warehouse administration system (LVS), the transport and truck control system (TLS) including order picking functions and the information system.

Transparent moves of material in the warehouse

The warehouse administration system (LVS) allows individual control and execution of every movement in the warehouse starting with the goods received, including order picking, providing goods for loading lorries in despatch. To co-ordinate all the respective movements the system considers every information linked to the load carriage or the product such as batch number, best before date and various storing strategies for different storage requirements. This ensures that all goods are provided on time according to the demand while making optimum use of the available space in the warehouse. On top of this the system permits optimum use of empties and supports annual and continuous stocktaking. The transport and truck control system (TLS) controls the movements of the fleet of trucks in the warehouse optimizing the movements in accordance with various criteria. Criteria for optimisation are, amongst others, shortest distance to the next job, priority of jobs, types of jobs, truck functions, towing capacities for trailers, types of load carriers, types of trucks and shift models. Complex strategies such as multi-level or internal transports with trailers can also be implemented using STILL MMS TLS.

Self-learning procedure to calculate distances and optimise travel routes

The system “fine tunes” by the operator individually setting the priorities to optimise by time and distance travelled. The speciality here is that the system permanently records the actual travel times needed for all transportation of goods from source to destination. The data collected this way is then used to optimise future transport movements. If the processes and locations in the warehouse change, the system will adapt automatically and consider the new layout of the warehouse to optimise the transport routes accordingly In addition to the transports jobs sent to the trucks via the interfaces, transport jobs and other tasks can be entered into the system manually (via stationary or mobile terminals). This is done using an log-in with an intuitive design (web-interface) to feed the transport requirements into the system. The respective entries are either made via the central control stand (stationary) e.g. for rush movements to provide material to the production or to collect produced goods, or via the on-board terminal of the truck (mobile) or other mobile terminals, e.g. to generate transport jobs to collect empties. The entry fields can be individually adapted and allow quick handling of transport requirements.

The Still transport and truck control system increases the efficiency of all internal transports by reducing empty journeys, optimising routes, reducing errors, making type dependant use of trucks and actively managing resources. Features that record and evaluate tasks (auxiliary tasks of the truck drivers) allow user-based allocation of costs.

Integrated system interfaces

Besides the optimised control of the warehouse and transport of goods, a respective information system provides an overview of all relevant data such as the status of current and planned orders right down to every individual position. A multitude of logistic index figures can be prepared quickly and easily either for presentation within the system or for exporting.

The intelligent architecture of the system allows the Still MMS to be linked easily to existing sub- or super-ordinate systems of the customer (e.g. SAP). The system is provided with the respective interfaces for different hardware components such as terminals, scanners or mobile printers, moving racks and conveyor systems, Still hardware and Still driver assistance systems like OptiSpeed 4.0, just to mention a few. The modular design of the system allows integrating the transport control system, for example into existing warehouse administration systems, production planning and production control systems of the customer.

The Still MMS now comes with new Still 8.4 and 12.1 inch touch screen terminals. These terminals have been designed for the tough environment in industrial applications and are user friendly with their large, high contrast displays suitable for viewing complex data, e.g. when picking complex orders. In addition a vibration resistant memory, aerials integrated into the casing and IP 65 protection ensure high availability of the terminal in arduous working environments.