Page 19 - Linkline Summer 2017

Eiratech Visit – Eastern Section
As part of European Supply Chain Day on Thursday, 27th April, CILT’s Eastern Section was hosted by Eiratech Robotics in their premises at Blanchardstown. Eiratech is a new dynamic company creating mobile robotic solutions for material handling challenges.
Group photo of CILT members and Eiratech sta
In a recent technology survey by MHI and Deloitte in the US, automation and robotics are more likely to increase competitive advantage in business. These findings made this visit particularly interesting as it addressed some of the cutting edge technology relevant to the transport
and logistics industries.
On arrival the guests were greeted by staff followed by a presentation by Frank Deasy outlining the dramatic rise of the company from beginnings in June 2014 to now. He outlined the philosophy of Eiratech, which is about making technology available to companies that can benefit from it rather than those that can solely afford to buy it. Eiratech have created solutions for a number of sectors including the ecommerce fulfilment market, spare parts, general storage solutions, kitting for manufacturing applications and vending solutions for warehouse and retail environments.
After the presentation it was time to see the systems in action. Walking into what looked like a standard 1000m2 warehouse the group were exposed to over 250 shuttle (shelving) racks in a 500m2 space. We watched as simulated orders were passed from the Warehouse Management System, through to the Robotic Management System.
These racks were retrieved and brought back to one of a number of ‘picking stations’ where the items were picked via pick by light. The robots then proceeded on to the next task. The picked items were placed on a put wall and completed orders were packed with the system automatically printing the relevant delivery dockets on completion. The efficiency of the system eliminates 60-70% of time warehouse pickers spend walking and searching for items.
The second system on view was a spare parts solution which could easily be adapted to manufacturing and general
warehousing applications. Here a touch screen managed the flow of items and orders and showed the flexibility of the solution and how accessible this technology can be for all sorts of material handling challenges.
After seeing the solution there were some interesting questions from the attendees, before Richard Butler Chairman of the Eastern Section presented Alexey Tabolkin, CEO of Eiratech, with a gift on behalf of CILT.
CILT would very much like to thank, Alexey Tabolkin and his team at Eiratech for organising and hosting this event.
Further information on Eiratech can be found at: http://www.eiratech.com/
Demonstration of system
The CharTered InsTITuTe of LogIsTICs & TransporT 19
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