Invata Intralogistics

The tote (and team) that saved our customer $5 million:

It was supposed to be a fairly standard build out for a high density, narrow aisle storage racking system that would house some 370,000 totes and be accessed by Invata’s shelf-picking Miniload autonomous robots.

But when the fire suppression consultants came back with an estimate for a required 56,172 sprinkler heads to cover the space, the cost blossomed 10-fold. That’s one sprinkler head for every 6.5 totes. And that’s not to mention the larger capacity piping that would be required to accommodate all those sprinkler heads.

The problem from a fire suppression standpoint was that, were there to be a fire, closed-wall, open-top totes would retain most of the water pumped out of a sprinkler system. But from a material handling standpoint, a closed-wall, open-top tote capable of holding up to 70 lbs. of inventory was needed.

That’s when the tote that could double as a sprinkler head was conceived.

Since there were no alternative tote options on the market that could handle the storage requirements while also satisfying FM Global’s fire suppression code requirements, Invata engineers went to work on creating one. Working with a tote manufacturer, Invata engineers collaborated on the design of a closed-wall, open-top tote that could hold 70 pounds of inventory, while also allowing water to flow through it at a rate equivalent to a sprinkler head.

To achieve the required flow rate, the tote’s sidewalls were designed with vents across the bottom of all four walls that would collectively remove 32% of the sidewall material. Vent locations were strategically placed so that the positioning lasers of tote handling equipment would never pass through the vent hole and possibly impair operation, but rather always reflect back off the tote surface.

The new tote offered a flow rate that satisfied fire suppression codes enough to allow for half the sprinkler heads originally required.

But the team at Invata didn’t stop there.

Digging through the FM Global specifications for weeks, the Invata team found a way to design the storage area so that additional classifications could be applied that would further reduce the remaining requirements.

Eventually, between the tote redesign and the team becoming experts in fire suppression specifications, a cool $5,000,000 was shaved off our client’s bill.

Another example of Invata’s commitment to its customers.

Imagine spending your days being tasked with finding proverbial needles in stacks of high density small parts storage cabinets. (Picture ten banks of cabinets, comprised of ten cabinets each, with ten drawers to a cabinet, and partitions in each drawer dividing them into dozens of smaller storage spaces.)

And imagine fearlessly staring down endless aisles of open shelving crammed with odd sized parts, and like a librarian on a mission armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System, walking to the exact shelf you need and finding the right part.

This is a look inside the world of mechanical parts dealerships that rely on a manual fulfillment process for supplying parts to stores or walk-in and ecommerce customers. In this world, brave souls spend their days meticulously hunting down parts for those in need.

Now, imagine a scenario in which all those elusive parts are instead automatically (some would say magically) delivered to workers who are no longer hunter gatherers per se, but now pilots of their own towering, computerized monuments-to-storage-efficiency that reach clear up to the sky (or at least to those giant fans on the ceiling some 35-feet up — or more!).

At the heart of this scenario is the (VLM), a 30+ foot high automated vertical storage (and retrieval) system that deftly serves up large partitioned shelves of parts where workers can efficiently and ergonomically pick from them.

And even better, the VLM uses red and green laser lights to precisely point out the part(s) to be picked within the shelf, while using an alpha numeric LED light bar directly above the shelf to confirm the part number and name.

It’s a safe, secure, accurate, ergonomic, goods-to-person (i.e. parts-to-person) set-up that cuts parts-retrieval time by 90% when compared with static shelving.

And it’s making lives easier for a lot of workers.

We know, because we imagined (and built) such a scenario for one of our favorite parts dealer clients recently.

It has allowed them to reduce their warehouse footprint by 28% and increase their pick and replenishment rates by 25%, while providing their workers with better working conditions.

And with such high-density storage at their fingertips, they are now able to store more parts on-site — 96%, in fact, of the parts they distribute.

If you think your operation might benefit from vertical lift modules, let us know what hope to accomplish, and we'll tell you how you can.

When providers of describe the systems they design and build, they tend to talk a lot about things like throughput rates, units per minute, feet per second, and percentage increases or decreases.

But if you're a retailer looking to automate your fulfillment/distribution operation, you might want to ask your provider how the solution they're looking to sell you will provide your operation with the ability to adapt to unforeseen change.

If the last few years has taught us anything, it’s that change is inevitable.

This is especially true for retailers, which means that as a retailer your future success may likely be tied to your ability to adapt to things like:
Changes in merchandizing strategies, buying patterns, receipts handling, transfers and consolidations, outbound shipments
Fluctuations in order profiles (lines, units, SKUs, the number of orders)
Fluctuations in returns volumes and patterns
Rapid expansions in non-linear growth
Shifts in company business models
Global pandemics
So ask your provider how the system they’re designing will enable you to adapt to such things and what your limitations will be with the system they want to provide.

And if you don’t like the answer you get, then consider a provider that can provide you with the answers you need.

If you’re unsure how to find the right partner, the blog below provides a primer on what to look for in your quest.

Why the Status Quo Won’t Cut It in Today’s Fulfillment Market The pressure on retailers is palpable: Dramatically enhance your fulfillment capabilities or lose market share to those who already have. But how?