Sustained business growth makes an automated high-bay warehouse a "must-have"
Bull is a household name in China. Founded in 1995, Bull has always upheld the philosophy of "professional focus, going the long way, being number one," has taken "safe electricity use" to the extreme, and ranks first in the industry in both of its major categories: sockets and switches. According to 2022 data from Shangpu Consulting, "7 out of 10 Chinese households use Bull."
In 2016, Bull Group built an automated logistics distribution center for its wall-switch product business, which delivered excellent results in application. As its converter and LED businesses grew rapidly, in 2020 Bull began planning a new intelligent high-bay warehouse at its West District Base in Cixi, Ningbo, to achieve efficient storage of finished converters and LED products, comprehensively increase storage capacity and operating efficiency, and meet continuously growing business demand.
Bull's finished converters and LED products are packed in cases, with large shipping volumes and short inventory turnover, so the warehouse involves a great deal of split-case picking, handling and conveying work. Based on Bull's business characteristics and needs, ATOMIX provided its 3A smart logistics solution with the best return on investment (ROI). The entire solution uses smart logistics software to coordinate and schedule 15 AI stacker cranes, dozens of AMR robots (model T1000), and a number of pallet and case conveyors; through human-machine collaboration, it achieves highly efficient inbound and outbound operations.
Integrating robotics and AI, the intelligent storage and retrieval solution makes the high-bay warehouse more flexible and intelligent
The project is currently in trial operation. Compared with traditional operating models, the intelligent high-bay warehouse more than triples storage capacity on the same footprint; receiving and shipping is more efficient, handling 700-800 pallets in and out per hour; the AMR goods-to-person picking model reduces the time people spend searching for goods, and automated equipment relieves staff of heavy handling work. In addition, digital and visual management effectively prevents errors, improves operational accuracy, and supports continuous 7*24 production at the factory.
Especially noteworthy is that this project deploys AI stacker cranes. By adding machine vision recognition technology to the stacker cranes, abnormal conditions in the aisles can be detected in time, the stacker crane can be stopped promptly, and safety alarms are triggered, raising the safety level of the high-bay warehouse. At the same time, AI stacker cranes also support remote storage location stocktakes: goods do not need to be taken out of their locations, and machine vision can determine whether goods have changed or been damaged.
An ATOMIX executive said: "In 2016, I had the opportunity to take part in the construction of Bull's first automated high-bay warehouse for its wall-switch business. When planning the new intelligent high-bay warehouse at the West District Base in Cixi, the teams on both sides worked closely together. We drew on the successful experience of the wall-switch automated high-bay warehouse and further optimized and upgraded it. We added an AMR goods-to-person picking system to the automated storage and retrieval system and added AI machine vision recognition technology to the stacker cranes, improving the flexibility and intelligence of the entire solution."