Automated small parts warehouse for University Hospital Zurich
Sant’Antonino, Switzerland, June 28, 2018. The Swiss system integrator Ansorix has produced an automated small parts warehouse for the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. The warehouse’s zero-pressure accumulation roller conveyors are based on Interroll’s Modular Conveyor Platform (MCP).
The small parts warehouse, which was planned, designed and implemented by Ansorix, is the beating heart of the new logistics and service center commissioned by the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) in Schlieren, near Zurich. It supplies the USZ with goods and logistics services.
The USZ offers medically comprehensive, individual care across all disciplines. The ultramodern health care facility houses 44 different clinics and institutes. Every year, around 41,000 inpatient treatments are administered there. Furthermore, the clinic association registers in excess of 500,000 outpatient visitors each year.
To ensure the hospital is ready to face future demands, it needed a new storage system — a streamlined solution that is tailored to the hospital’s requirements and reduces operating costs. It was also important that the new logistics infrastructure should have the flexibility to expand with minimum disruption and expense.
Ansorix opted for a storage technology solution from Kaufmann Systems AG, a company based in Hitzkirch, near Lucerne, Switzerland. The skills profiles of the two companies, both of which are partners of the Interroll Group’s global Rolling On Interroll program, are perfectly matched.
“As with previous projects, the collaboration with Kaufmann Systems ran completely smoothly. In projects such as this, it is essential to have experienced partners on whom you can fully depend. And with Kaufmann Systems, that is guaranteed,” explains Vera de Vries, Sales and Marketing Manager at Ansorix Systems AG.
The new warehouse has a capacity of 3,024 trays per storage/retrieval machine. Its MCP with integrated 24V RollerDrive means that trays of varying sizes can be conveyed without any pressure accumulating. The trays are taken from the freestanding storage racks and delivered to the four picking stations. In addition to delivery of product trays from storage, each of these stations diverts empty and filled trays. Two additional conveyors carry empty trays to the picking stations for filling.
The MCP by Interroll — the vital link between the small parts warehouse and the picking stations in the USZ project — is essentially a plug-and-play system of modules that makes it easy to create highly sophisticated and flexible material flow solutions that can expand with ease. The integrated 24V RollerDrive guarantees a controlled and exceptionally energy-efficient flow of goods that can be adapted to suit current requirements.
