Automated storage and retrieval systems for improved reliability

This new upgrade completes a series of performance improvements to the cranes and how they transmit and receive data from Brammer Buck & Hickman’s warehouse management system. The upgrades also enable the system to self-diagnose problems and resolve them automatically ahead of a fully automatic restart.

The upgrade project will now move into its final phase to replace most of the crane’s major mechanical (gearboxes and motors) and electrical control systems.

By using the latest components available, any future breakdowns will be resolved quickly and enable to change failed programmable logic controllers and other control modules much faster. This will help to reduce downtime and make them more resilient.

Matt Luke, Head of Logistics at Brammer Buck & Hickman, commented: “The real benefit for us and ultimately our customers is that we have dramatically reduced the risk of service failure following a breakdown. The Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems now operate with modern communication protocols, new operating programs and the latest Programmable Logic Controller. This means that along with boosting our productivity, we’re still able to keep up the high-quality service that we champion.”

These improvements mean that Brammer Buck & Hickman’s support partner ELSE now has full remote access capability and can dial-in to the control systems from Sweden, 24 hours a day. Brammer Buck & Hickman has also updated the programming, and this helps the automation run much more efficiently and smoothly, reducing wear and tear and speeding up the overall performance.