Simplifying ASRS and AGV movement patterns

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Andre N asked Aug 25, '17 Joerg Vogel commented Aug 26, '17

Simplifying ASRS and AGV movement patterns

Hi I'd like to ask a question to the FlexSim Community;

I'm interested in the pallet flow between multiple systems that include an ASRS and AGV. When the pallets are delivered to the ASRS or AGV they are taken by the ASRS or AGV and stored on a series of racks. The racks are long enough that the travel times to store the pallets are significant and each pallet needs to go to a specific location.

I would like to avoid coding the put-away logic for the ASRS and AGV if I can since each pallet needs to go to a specific destination.

Can I simplify the system by removing the ASRS and AGV in the model and treat the location where the pallet is handed off to the ASRS/AGV as a pallet source and sink?

Thank you

Software Version:

FlexSim 17.1.4

agv source asrs pallet sink

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Joerg Vogel commented · Aug 25, 2017 at 05:22 PM

@Andre N Have you considered to switch off the option Use Transport.

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Answer 1 · 2017-08-25T18:00:45Z

Joerg Vogel answered Aug 25, '17

I am a bit confused. Do you want to place a sink at the location where the item is delivered to instead of the rack cell. Yes, that is possible. You have to change the location of the sink by code or picklist option template. But I think the functions Place in Bay and Place in Level in the Rack properties are doing the same. You can add labels to the item, in which cell the item has to be placed. You read these labels in the Place in Bay and Level functions and use them as the return value.

Answer 2 · 2017-08-25T18:34:02Z

Andre N answered Aug 25, '17 Joerg Vogel commented Aug 26, '17

Thank you for your reply, I did look at the Place in Bay and Place in Level function and that is something I am keeping under consideration and I do currently use labels on my pallets.

I currently have an ASRS system paired with a rack. If I remove both the ASRS & rack and replace it with a simple source and sink, I would effectively be treating the storage and retrieval process like a black box. I wasn't sure if that is good/common practice because in reality the ASRS has built-in logic to store and retrieve from a preexisting populated rack/inventory system.

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Joerg Vogel commented · Aug 26, 2017 at 12:24 AM

The ASRS vehicle has only the ability to travel in x and z direction simultaneously and extend in y direction while loading and unloading. This taskexecuter behaves similar to a transporter without rotating. I don't see any direct methods linked especially to a rack. The vehicle translates only the offset travel to load or unload items.

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Answer 3 · 2017-08-25T17:29:52Z

Andre N answered Aug 25, '17

Thank you for your reply, I'm not sure if turning off "Use Transport" would help because I believe the pallet travel time to the rack location will be instantaneous and it won't capture the crane's travel time.

I just thought the ASRS and rack object pairing must be a common occurance so I assumed that perhaps other individuals have come across the same problem.

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