The new simulation software from system integrator Klinkhammer Intralogistics analyses critical performance limits or the influence of modified storage and retrieval strategies. It is currently still an internal tool for shortening installation times, testing optimum material flows and verifying programming. In the future, the modern Klinkhammer simulation tool is to be further expanded so that the entire system can be simulated and optimised under new conditions as early as the planning phase or when intervening in existing systems.
Easy-to-use web application
Klinkhammer has developed the new generation of its simulation software as a cloud-compatible web application. Web applications are easy to use, only require any browser, are independent of the operating system and run reliably on all end devices. Visual views and a new graphical interface make it easier to understand complex process sequences. The simulation is independent of the warehouse management system, but can also be used as a virtual system in conjunction with the KlinkWARE warehouse management system. This allows not only the productivity of intralogistics to be checked, but also the warehouse management system to be verified and programming quality to be increased. Another advantage of the new simulation software is that it provides a virtual image of the control technology and simulates the sensor and actuator level of the logistics system in order to test it in advance and shorten the implementation time of the system.
Simulation of various scenarios
In addition to technical and conceptual aspects, intralogistics system integrator Klinkhammer can also use its simulation software to test processes from goods receipt to storage and transport through to goods dispatch. Before a warehouse is implemented, the material flows of a system are analysed to identify potential improvements and bottlenecks. Not only the integration of logistics systems is simulated, but also, for example, the fluctuating performance of picking and packing employees at the workplace. In addition to performance optimisation, the aims of a simulation are to shorten project times, improve system quality and identify fluctuations in the system's behaviour in response to changing influencing factors such as the number, mix and composition of orders or picking performance. To do this, the number of orders is varied, the structure and positions of the orders are changed, regularly occurring peak values are assumed and the resulting behaviours are displayed. Scenarios can be tested during sequencing in order to bring customer orders to the packing stations faster in a specific order and to fill cartons more quickly without losing time. The simulation can check individual sorting specifications, for example by placing heavy items in the shipping carton first and then packing delicate products on top. In this way, specific sorting requirements can be checked for the food trade, for example, in order to pack certain product groups such as meat and vegetables separately or to be able to adhere to routing sequences.
Thanks to flexibly adjustable parameters, future processes can be predicted and important decisions can be made in advance. The basis for this is a precise definition of objectives in advance and the determination of actual and target scenarios. The new simulation software from Klinkhammer Intralogistics provides comprehensive support for implementation, optimises the processes of a system at all levels and ensures that its capacity can be fully exploited.
