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MUSHINY / Maximizing space utilization with height-enabled smart sortation system '3DSorter'

Maximizing space utilization with height-enabled smart sortation system '3DSorter'

Scalability Easy customization based on the logistics robot platform

2024/06

Mushiny, a Chinese logistics robotics company, is strengthening its presence in the Korean market with its smart sorting system '3D Sorter'.

Founded in 2016, Mushiny is a company that supplies smart warehouse systems for logistics robots. At the time of its establishment, it started with WMS, but since 2018, it has expanded its business to logistics robots such as AGVs. As a result, it provides an open and scalable logistics robot platform that includes software and hardware based on logistics robots.

Mushiny is currently present in more than 20 regions and supplies products to more than 500 global customers. Overseas markets account for 50% of its business. Korea was the first country Mooshiny entered alongside the U.S., and since the Korean branch was established in 2020, the company has been conducting various PoCs, including supplying AGVs to Eland, Silicon2, and NAVI RMALO.

“The founder of Mushiny has been in charge of warehouse management at Amazon China and Coupang for more than 15 years, so he has a very good understanding of the Korean logistics market and fulfillment logistics,” said Taehyun Choi, head of Mushiny Korea. ”We chose Korea as our first overseas expansion country because we understand the local labor cost issues and logistics challenges.”

Freely interfacing between systems

Mushiny offers GTP (Goods-to-Person) and TTP (Tote-to-Person) solutions based on AGVs, smart sorting solutions based on sorting robots, and MIX solutions based on ACR (Autonomous Case Handling Robot).

In the Korean market, the company's main products are AGVs and 3D sorters, which were newly developed last year.

The biggest advantage of Mushiny is that it can be customized according to the customer's logistics site. Since its inception, Mushiny has maintained an open mindset to consider customer requests and customize as much as possible as long as there are no technical limitations.

This applies not only to hardware but also to software. Therefore, iRES, a smart robot management system developed in-house, is designed to allow free interfaces between other systems.

“Logistics robots can be manufactured in factories according to customer specifications, but software is a difficult problem because the basic algorithm needs to be changed to modify existing functions or add additional functions,” said Choi Tae-hyun. ”iRES supports easy modification and change.”

As a result, it is possible to freely interface with higher-level systems as well as integrate and manage heterogeneous robots. It is also easy to integrate with other logistics automation facilities.

In addition, iRES supports accurate and efficient decision-making through simulations, real-time dashboards, and multi-angle reports.

3D Sorter Footwall Designed to Customize Product Features

Mushiny's most focused equipment in the Korean market this year is the 3D sorter. The 3D sorter is a facility that sorts products into tote boxes located on the footwall while the internal sorting carrier moves rapidly up, down, left, right, and up and down.

While conventional sorters take up a large area and sort products in only one or two stages, 3D sorters are characterized by their height, which allows them to sort many products in a much smaller area. In other words, they can sort horizontally and vertically as well as in both directions. This saves more than 50% of space compared to cross-belt sorters.

The 3D Sorter is 2.7 meters high and can be installed up to 30 meters long and uses induction to scan the top of the product. However, the height, length, and induction scanning method can all be changed upon customer request.

“We have experience designing 3D sorters up to 4 meters high and 40 meters long, and we can also install induction up to six-sided scanning,” says Choi.

The maximum size of goods that can be handled is 400 (L) × 300 (W) × 200 (H), and the maximum load is 5 kilograms.

The spacing between sorting carriers is 0.5 meters, enabling ultra-high-density sorting, and the speed is 1 m/s, which can sort up to 14,400 SKUs per hour.

In particular, it is characterized by the ability to freely design the footwheel that comes out after the goods are sorted. The modular design allows for various configurations, such as tote boxes, trays, chute types, and combined types, depending on product characteristics.

“The type of footwall is determined according to the product handled, and the number of footwalls per batch is determined according to the daily throughput,” explains Choi Tae-hyun.

The 3D sorter can perform various tasks such as multi-order sorting, return order sorting, and store-specific sorting. Returns usually require a lot of manpower because there are a lot of tasks to check, but with the 3D sorter, you can quickly sort by SKU or location by simply placing it in the induction.

The 3D sorter is not only space-efficient, but it also requires less time to deploy.

“Since the specifications for the sorting carrier inside the 3D sorter are set, and only the external frame, such as the footwall, is produced according to customization, it takes only a month to a month and a half to complete the construction, from installation to testing,” says Choi.

ELAND-NAVI MRO AGVs improve picking accuracy

AGVs have been a steady supply since Mushiny entered the Korean market.

AGVs are composed of the QR code-based T series and SLAM-based M series. The Korean market is centered on the T series, which is stable and low-cost.

Representative examples of AGV deployments in Korea include Eland, Silicon2, and NAVI MRO.

In 2020, Eland introduced 93 AGVs in its 4,000㎡ Cheonan Logistics Center. The company uses AGVs to pick 100,000 SKUs of apparel and shoes and a peak inventory of 800,000 pieces. The company has adopted a variety of racks and bins, including lattice racks, hanging bins, and four-sided racks, to accommodate the size and weight of goods, and has increased rack utilization to over 60%.

With the introduction of AGVs, Eland has reduced the storage area for the same volume of goods from about 6,000 square meters to 4,000 square meters and reduced its labor force by about 40%, while improving inventory and picking accuracy.

NAVI MRO, which operates shopping malls exclusively for businesses, introduced more than 100 AGVs at the Osan warehouse last year. The warehouse handles 64,000 SKUs of office supplies, food, and other products, with an inventory of 800,000 items. As a result, the center needed a lot of storage space as well as workers for picking.

In response, Mushiny constructed a mezzanine to expand the loading space and designed an elevator to allow AGVs to move between floors. Workstations were installed on both the first and mezzanine floors to enable warehousing and shipping without distinguishing between floors.

“The mezzanine floor is designed for future growth,” says Choi Tae-hyun, ”and we are currently using the mezzanine floor for partial inventory loading.”

As the types and shapes of products handled by NAVI MRO are so diverse, the company has also adopted a variety of pods (PODs), which are racks transported by AGVs. Therefore, small-sized products such as writing instruments and boxed goods are stored and picked in the pods.

“The system allocates pods according to the frequency of goods when they come in and moves them to workstations so that they can work without bottlenecks even when picking,” explains Choi Tae-hyun.

In addition, each pod is banded with a different color. This is to make it easier for workers to pick by looking at the color as well as the location on the monitor, which helps prevent off-picking.

This year, Mushiny plans to strengthen its 3D sorter sales by targeting e-commerce, books, 3PL, cosmetics, and supermarkets. Since its debut at the last Logistics Industry Show, the company has been receiving many inquiries, and more and more people are visiting its showroom in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do.

“We are aiming to launch our first 3D sorter project this year and expand our supply based on this,” said Choi Tae-hyun.