Using Automation to Create a Sustainable Warehouse

It is well known that investing in automation enhances productivity, efficiency, and profit.  Optimizing an operation helps to decrease job difficulty, handle labor shortages, meet tight deadlines, and reduce complexity, addressing many of the most difficult challenges faced in the warehouse environment.  Warehouse automation does more than just streamline operations, it also enhances sustainability, tackling some of the critical social challenges that we face as a society.

Automation helps achieve this in several ways, notably by optimizing resource allocation and reducing waste. It can also help lessen environmental impact through energy efficiency, space utilization, fuel reduction, and improved inventory management.

In this post, we'll discuss the relationship between automation and sustainability and how Daifuku Intralogistics America Corporation, a world leader in automated material handling solutions, can help take your facility to new heights.  Read on to learn more or contact us today.

How Warehouse Automation Supports Sustainability

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Energy efficiency

Many automated material handling systems are designed to consume minimal amounts of power during operation. This helps conserve energy and reduces utility bills. Sensors and monitors on automated systems are dual purpose.  They help gauge and control energy usage while also identifying any issues that need to be addressed before they become significant and disruptive.  This technology reduces maintenance costs, prevents expensive unplanned downtime, keeps products from getting damaged, and keeps power consumption down.

Space optimization

Space is often at a premium within the warehouse, especially during certain periods when there is high demand. Automated solutions like automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) help store products vertically to make more efficient use of your entire warehouse. This can help reduce storage needs and overall energy requirements for the warehouse, lowering heating, cooling, and electrical costs.

Adopting a lean mindset

Utilizing automation is a foundation for creating a lean operation.  Committing to this mindset leads to elimination of non-value-added work and activities, reducing material handling and associated costs, and cutting down on waste.  Warehouse jobs are made to be less physically demanding, safer, and more pleasant.  Less manually operated equipment such as forklifts and pallet runners are needed.  Corrugate and dunnage usage go down, producing less waste to eventually be dealt with in landfills.  This also allows for more product to be transported using less space, further dampening impact on the environment.

Reduced carbon footprint

Finally, introducing automation into your warehouse can help meet your sustainability benchmarks by having a direct impact on your facility's carbon footprint. Automated solutions can help reduce energy consumption, fuel consumption and emissions, and more to directly impact your carbon footprint and keep you on track with future sustainability goals.

Promote Sustainability with Daifuku's Automated Solutions

At Daifuku, we evaluate all our solutions based on criteria beyond productivity, including environmental and social value as well. We conduct a lifecycle assessment on our solutions, evaluating them based on a variety of criteria, assessing how they help add value through resource reduction, ease of maintenance, long equipment lifespan, and more.  Here are just a few examples of our automation solutions that you can rely on to support your sustainability goals for the future.

Cross-belt sorter

This system utilizes small belts configured in a sortation loop to sort items either to small chutes for packing or directly into order cartons.  It is often utilized in e-commerce environments when large volumes of items must be sorted quickly into small orders. Compared to conventional sorters, this model reduces energy consumption by 3.5 percent and carbon emissions by more than 8 percent.

Shuttle rack

This high-capacity automated warehouse AS/RS system stores and transports goods at the case or tote level while maximizing usage of the vertical space in a warehouse.   This is a very versatile solution that can be used in a variety of business models to store inventory and pick orders in small spaces to allow for more efficient and high-density storage.  Our shuttle rack system can operate in very cold temperatures, eliminating uncomfortable work in refrigerated environments.  Goods to person stations coupled with this technology replace the need for workers to walk or drive to their picks to fill orders. Compared to conventional racking, Daifuku's solution helps reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by more than 50 percent. Its space-saving design also means that it takes up less space on your warehouse floor.

Unit Load AS/RS

These pallet level storage and retrieval systems are an important part of promoting sustainability in the warehouse, largely due to their optimization of vertical space and ability to reduce a facility's reliance on fuel-powered equipment for transportation of pallets.  Daifuku’s unit load system can be built up to 120 feet tall, drastically reducing the footprint of warehouse operations.  The ability to fulfill business needs using less land undeniably decreases environmental impact.  A segment of our ASRS business includes high-bay cold storage and this type of storage offers significant energy savings when compared to conventional buildings. All our ASRS systems serve to enhance inventory accuracy, leading to less wasted product and allowing for reduction in safety stock levels.  

Contact Daifuku Today

As you can see, warehouse automation solutions help provide a holistic approach to sustainability — and Daifuku Intralogistics America Corporation has the solutions to help take your operations to greener and more productive heights. Since our founding in 1937, we've aimed to develop "automation that inspires" and helps promote a value transformation that allows our partners to create new competitive advantages while also addressing some of society's more pressing challenges. Part of this evolution is the planned direction of our business to develop next-generation solutions to provide added value to our customers.

For more information about how our industry-leading automated material handling solutions help promote a sustainable warehouse, contact us today.

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