Case Study: An Integrated Solution for T&年代黄铜

“Reliability Built In” is more than a tagline at T&S黄铜和青铜制品. 这是追求卓越和创新的公司文化不可或缺的一部分.

A leading manufacturer of commercial faucets, fittings and specialty plumbing products for restaurants, 医院, 教育机构, labs and entertainment venues, T&S推出了行业首创的预冲洗机组及脚踏阀等关键产品.

2005年和2015年获得南卡罗来纳州年度制造商奖，并两次获得《beta365》著名的北美最佳工厂奖, the 77-year-old company near downtown Travelers Rest, 南卡罗来纳, has perfected its manufacturing and assembly processes, and in 2018 began construction on a new 53,000-square-foot building to serve as a materials distribution center.

T&S卖出约10个,000 finished faucet models annually and houses more than 14,000个有效零件编号, including components and finished goods inventory. Annual growth over the past several years, 即使在Covid期间, 促使公司官员开始探索运营效率，以简化分销业务，以确保满足不断增加的订单.

在考虑如何装备公司的新大楼B时，首要目标是通过增加托盘位置和增长空间来最大化存储容量, 鲍勃·克莱门特说, T&S Manager of Production and Inventory Control.

Another goal was to improve pick times.

“我们大约85%的订单在客户要求的当天或五天内发货,克莱门特说. “Our goal was to get back to two days, 这是我们在过去几年全球供应链问题出现之前的情况吗. 我们在那里取得了良好的进展，我们希望通过这座建筑的好处来实现这一目标.”

这家公司在2023年的纪念活动中实现了500万个工作小时，没有任何事故导致时间损失, 安全和员工满意度始终是运营目标列表中的重要部分.

项目的第一阶段是由beta365工程师进行演练，以了解T&S processes and operational flow throughout the facility.

“By automating processes that were very manual, 我们可以把工人解放出来，让他们从事更有价值的工作，而不是把产品从大楼的一个地方搬到另一个地方,” said beta365 Senior Systems Engineer Bob Smith. “But we knew we needed an integrated solution. There was no stand-alone fix.”

空的53,000平方英尺的仓库, save a few pallets scattered about, 给了工程师们一张白纸来设计和建造一个集成系统, blending various automation technologies to address separate needs.

通过使用允许的天花板高度，在允许的区域安装28英尺高的7层beta365官网，实现了空间最大化的目标, compared with the facility’s previous 5-level racking.

beta365官网的安装采用了“非常窄的通道”概念，以提高空间效率&在其beta365车队中增加了VNA线导拣货机和摇摆车. The new racking system created 198 bays to accommodate 2,506个托盘位置, a nearly 50 percent increase in storage capacity.

下一步是安装两个拾取模块，以处理诸如水龙头之类的非托盘物品, 软管及其他产品. 在靠近制造和装配的仓库一侧建立了一个三层模块，以供应这些操作中使用的材料和部件. 另一个三层拾取模块安装在仓库对面靠近运输部门的位置, 使成品能够更快地拉出以完成订单.

而不是从分散在地面上的通道中挑选，这需要在整个大型设施中进行大量的步行, product is now contained within the multilevel pick modules, 采用动力螺旋旋转和电机驱动和重力滚筒输送机，从上到下输送货物，无需人工操作. The two modules have a total of 27 bays and 768 carton flow lanes.

安装的最后一个元素，也是第一个要建造的是三个模块化垂直提升模块(vlm)，用于存储和检索小部件. Each VLM houses 60 shelves with 11 totes on each shelf, 提供1个以上,900个取货点. 新的vlm取代了旧的垂直旋转木马在T&自20世纪90年代以来.

“The Modula VLMs have been a great add for us,克莱门特说. “They allow us to be so much more efficient in picking. 他们自动, 所以一个人可以从垂直升降模块中挑选，而垂直升降模块过去每天需要两到三个人, so we’re better able to keep up.”