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SF+AW 2024 / AI-powered logistics automation facilities leading digital transformation to be launched

AI-powered logistics automation facilities leading digital transformation to be launched

2,000 booths and 60,000 visitors 'the largest ever'

2024/04

Smart Factory+Automation World (SF+AW) 2024, Asia's largest exhibition specializing in the automation industry, was held at COEX from the 27th to the 29th of last month.

The exhibition was organized under the theme of 'Make Your Factory Sustainable', which means to implement autonomous manufacturing technology based on artificial intelligence in the manufacturing industry, and consisted of the International Factory Automation Exhibition (aimex), Smart Factory Expo, and Korean Vision Show.

The number of exhibitors increased by 10% year-on-year to 450 companies and 2,000 booths, and 60,917 visitors and buyers visited the exhibition.

At the exhibition, automation-related companies such as the latest manufacturing AI, big data, cloud computing, collaborative robots, digital twins, sensors, and machine vision, equipped with global innovative technologies and solutions, participated in the exhibition and presented the latest trends in future smart manufacturing technologies in the manufacturing industry.

In particular, at the Smart Logistics Pavilion in Hall D, representative domestic and foreign companies such as LG CNS, CJ Olive Networks, and POSCO DX introduced smart logistics solutions using AI such as autonomous mobile robots (AMR), automated guided vehicles (AGV), and logistics automation systems.

In addition, domestic and foreign industrial robot companies such as Universal Robot, the world's No. 1 collaborative robot company, Rainbow Robotics, a leading Korean industrial robot manufacturer, and Hanwha Robotics, which is actively targeting the global market with collaborative robots, also participated.

“This year's Smart Factory & Automation Industry Exhibition was a silent battlefield for leading domestic and foreign companies to preempt AI autonomous manufacturing technology,” said Lee Dong-ki, president of COEX. ”We hope that it was an opportunity to find new business breakthroughs at the largest exhibition in Korea where you can see innovative technologies for the future factory.”

Meanwhile, next year's Smart Factory & Automation Industry Exhibition 2025 will be held at COEX for three days from March 12 to March 14, 2025.

Interroll

High Performance Conveyor Platform(HPP)

Interroll has introduced the High Performance Conveyor Platform (HPP).

The HPP is designed to handle a wide range of packaging shapes, sizes and weights, making it ideal for logistics companies that need to handle a variety of parcel types, such as parcel delivery and express delivery, due to the rise of e-commerce.

The Modular Conveyor Platform (MCP), which has been Interroll's mainstay, is a conveyor that handles structured units such as boxes and totes, and has limitations for parcel delivery, which involves handling various sizes and weights and polybags.

In response, HPP made the entire conveyor belt without rollers to prevent jamming of polybags and other packaged goods, allowing it to handle a wide variety of packages. In addition, the maximum load per meter of conveyor was increased to 50 kilograms to handle heavy packages. Previously, the maximum load for parcels was often 30 kilograms in consideration of workers, but with the recent increase in the adoption of robots, the maximum load that can be handled has been increased in line with the trend.

The maximum transportation speed has been increased to 2.5 meters per second for faster handling of packages, and it can handle up to 10,000 packages per hour.

The HPP's most distinctive feature is its Multi Belt Switch (MBS) module, which enhances sorting capabilities. The MBS module is composed of thin belts that can be switched in different directions, allowing for free directional switching, such as straight, diagonal, left and right.

As a result, goods can be transferred not only to straight conveyors but also to conveyors installed in both directions without the need for a wheel sorter, and can be sorted at 90 degrees, which doubles as a sorting function. It can also be reoriented in an X-shape. By innovating in the way it combines conveying and sorting functions, the MBS supports a wide variety of product sorting methods.

Flexible Layout Configurations The HPP consists of a wide range of standardized straight and curved modules, which can be freely combined with inclined modules to suit the logistics site and customer requirements.

Meanwhile, Interroll is now able to attach a QR code to every part it produces, enabling product traceability. By scanning the QR code through the Interroll app, users can check the factory, year of production, part specifications, and product performance. You can also download the manuals and drawings of the equipment built at the logistics site, so you don't have to search for them.

When ordering parts for maintenance, you can simply scan a QR code and send the serial number to Interroll, or even mark the part on the drawing, which is very convenient.

NFC tags are optional. Even if the QR code is not visible when parts are joined, it can still be scanned from a certain distance, so there is no need to disassemble the parts.

CJ Olive Networks

AI-based robotics and logistics automation solutions

CJ Olive Networks showcased the latest manufacturing and logistics technologies and AI services for customer DX innovation through four main zones: Smart Factory, Smart Logistics and Automation, AI-based smart manufacturing and logistics services, and customer DX innovation cases and partners.

The Smart Factory business is striving to advance AI, big data, digital twins, and robotics technologies that can realize autonomous control processes and logistics centers. In particular, it has selected AI as a core technology and is applying AI technology in various industrial sites.

In the Smart Manufacturing Business Zone, CJ Olive Networks introduced its total smart factory services, including EPC, consulting, and IT services, based on its proven capabilities in the F&B sector, including CJ CheilJedang, Hwayo, HY, and Obi Beer.

In the Smart Logistics and Automated Facilities Zone, CJ Olive Networks introduced its capabilities in all areas of SCM, and also provides consulting on IT systems and automated logistics facilities optimized for customers using data science-based logistics data. CJ Olive Networks' order management system, warehouse management system, transportation management system, logistics control system, and other systems that can make customer sites more intelligent were also showcased.

At the AI-based smart manufacturing logistics service zone, AI services that are being applied in the field were unveiled. It introduced AI services that can be introduced in manufacturing and logistics sites, such as the F&B-specific One-Recipe system for consistent quality production in the manufacturing process, the Fool-Proof design system for quality safety, and multi-center integrated management.

In particular, CJ Olive Networks introduced Adverb Technology's robot-based logistics automation solution.

Adverb provides AI-based logistics automation solutions specialized in the e-commerce, distribution, and manufacturing industries, and has built a diverse lineup of logistics automation equipment such as shuttle ASRS, AGV, AMR, sorting robots, and pallet carts. In particular, the software technology that controls multiple logistics facilities is so excellent that some customers purchase only the software. In addition, it is possible to flexibly build logistics facilities according to the changing volume of goods.

CJ Olive Networks has entered into a strategic partnership with Adverb, and plans to integrate CJ Olive Networks' software technology and system construction know-how with Adverb hardware to provide optimal logistics solutions at all stages from design, construction, operation, and aftercare.

XYZ Robotics

Trailer loading and unloading system

XYZ Robotics exhibited a trailer loading and unloading system based on 3D vision.

XYZ Robotics is a Shanghai-based company that provides vision-guided robotics solutions, which means that it analyzes images captured by 3D cameras with AI to perform various complex scenarios.

The robotics solution is based on the mobile case handling robot 'RockyBot' and the robotics application 'Studio Max' software that synchronizes vision and motion.

Combining AMR and robotic arm, RockyBot consists of a 3D recognition module, a 6-axis robotic arm, a multi-modal intelligent gripper, and a SLAM module with an embedded control system. RockyBot can lift loads up to 25 kilograms and can perform 450 cycles per hour.

Studio Max supports simulation, layout planning, WMA/WCS interfaces, and system monitoring. It also monitors robotic operations with digital twin simulations to improve efficiency and accuracy while minimizing potential risks.

Studio Max consists of a vision algorithm, motion planning algorithm, and pallet planning algorithm. The vision algorithm processes imaging data from 3D cameras to identify and locate items such as carton boxes inside containers or on pallets, enabling the robot to operate accurately and flexibly. Motion planning algorithms automatically calculate obstacle avoidance and fast robot trajectories. The pallet planning algorithm automatically generates palletizing strategies based on box information to ensure stable and high-density box loading.

XYZ Robotics also produces its own grippers, which can reliably pick up goods with different physical properties.

Trailer loading and unloading systems utilize palletizing and depalletizing technology to unload boxes on trailers or load and unload items on pallets. Receiving volume information in advance improves the loading rate.

In particular, RockyBot is a multimodal intelligent gripper that can lift two to three boxes at a time. It is also capable of stacking boxes of different sizes. It can perform 800 to 900 loading and unloading operations per hour, and can complete the loading and unloading of a 40-foot container in about two hours.

In addition, RockyBot's small size allows it to move and work freely in tight spaces.

XYZ Robotics first introduced the trailer loading and unloading system in October last year, and has since completed PoC with global logistics companies and entered the full-scale commercialization stage. Currently, there are many companies that are interested and inquiring, and the company expects the supply to spread this year.

Zebra Technologies

Fixed Industrial Scanning(FIS) and Machine Vision Solutions

Zebra Technologies has introduced the Packing Bench, Forklift Scanning, Dock Door Scan Portal, and Scan Tunnel, which are stationary industrial scanning (FIS) solutions specialized for logistics environments.

The packing bench helps speed up the packing process by up to 33%. In the process of packing goods into boxes, workers use handheld scanners to scan each item individually and match it with the system. A stationary scanner on the workbench can be installed to automatically scan the items, and the invoices that are printed out come with the stickers removed so they can be attached more quickly.

Forklift scanning is when a scanner attached to a forklift reads a pallet of goods at once, eliminating the risk of scanning while the driver is on the forklift and reducing labor time.

Scan tunnels improve product sorting accuracy. It is important that the scan tunnel is multifaceted to recognize barcodes no matter which direction they are facing, so Zebra has installed cameras on up to six sides to automatically read the information on the boxes as they are transported on the conveyor. In particular, Zebra added a deep learning OCR feature to the scan tunnel that it developed this year to improve the accuracy of text and number reading.

The dock door scan portal can automate more than 97% of incoming and outgoing goods scanning by enabling cargo loaded on multiple pallets to be read at once as the pallets pass through the dock. This prevents costly misreads and missed shipments due to inaccurate data scanning.

Cardex

Kardex Shuttle: A Dynamic Storage and Retrieval System

Kardex has introduced the Kardex Shuttle, a dynamic storage and retrieval system.

Kardex Shuttle is a storage facility that moves trays in and out while the vertical lift module moves up and down, which is different from carousels that store and retrieve products while the trays themselves rotate vertically.

Inside the shuttle, trays are stored vertically in two rows at the front and back, with a hollow space in the middle where the lift moves up and down to automatically move the trays into and out of the extractor and to the gate.

The CARDEX Shuttle can store items of various sizes and weights, as the trays themselves are loaded and unloaded. This is different from carousels, which have a predetermined tray height. Optiflex technology measures the height of the goods stored in the trays and places them in the optimal storage position.

The Cardex Shuttle is made up of modular units, so it can be configured in a variety of ways, such as with gates in the front and back, or on the first and second floors.

In addition, the CARDEX Shuttle can be customized to the individual warehouse environment, including temperature control, clean rooms, and fire protection. In particular, it can be installed in refrigerated and frozen warehouses where cold goods are handled, as it can operate down to -35°C. For example, the entire chamber can be equipped with CARDEX Shuttle modules, allowing workers to move cold goods in and out of the chamber without entering the cold storage.

Tweeny

Nargo Factory, a low-floor autonomous robot

Tweeny exhibited Nargo Factory, a low-floor autonomous logistics transfer robot that can be customized for each work environment.

NARGO Factory is characterized by a design that makes it easy to change the upper module to suit the application, such as pickup, parts transfer and loading, and finished product delivery and delivery. It can be utilized in various forms such as robot arms, conveyor belts, roll containers, and lift attachments for various tasks in manufacturing plants and logistics companies.

It is equipped with 2D lidar sensors, Time of Flight (ToF) sensors, and depth cameras to quickly detect workers and obstacles, prevent collisions, and increase safety.

The Nargo Factory is capable of transporting up to 300 kilograms at speeds of up to 1.5 meters per second.

With the Nargo Factory, Twinni plans to aggressively target the factory automation market, and expects to improve productivity by eliminating labor issues and increasing work speed.

In the future, Twinni plans to expand its lineup to include machines that can move loads of various weights.

KEYENCE KOREA

Barcode Reader for Logistics 'SR-5000 Series'

The SR-5000 Series, a barcode reader for logistics, is characterized by its ultra-wide field of view (FOV), ultra-depth of field (DoF), and ultra-high speed (multi-core).

The SR-5000 Series reads barcodes in a wide and bright field of view, eliminating the need to install multiple cameras on a single side of a conveyor.

In addition, the newly designed super-focusing lens and HDR processing of the high-performance image processing CPU enable stable reading without the need to change the focus position even when the size of the cargo varies or the position of the barcode label is misaligned, and products with varying heights can be read.

It can also reliably read barcodes on high-speed lines of more than 150 meters per minute. This is due to the parallel processing of up to 13 core CPUs instead of conventional single and dual cores, which enables high-speed image transmission and significantly reduces decoding time.

In addition, a polarizing filter attachment has been added to dramatically improve the reflection from plastic packaging.

The camera is available in three types, 5 megapixel, 8.9 megapixel, and 16.8 megapixel, depending on the field of view, depth of field, and speed.

KEYENCE KOREA offers the SR Design Tool for logistics barcode design. This greatly reduces the labor for complex design work and enables quick design information check and report output by simply entering the required specifications such as conveyor, cargo size, and barcode information.

It also provides a monitoring tool, so you can analyze reading errors with the built-in tool without the need for additional software, and monitor from a remote location.

Setting up the SR-5000 Series is easy and simple with 3-STEP button auto-tuning, and KEYENCE KOREA's direct sales system bypasses distributors and provides on-site support by professional engineers.