Overview of the studied cases
| Characteristic | Case 1 pallet conveyor | Case 2 rack conveyor | Case 3 pallet AGV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | Manufacturing | Manufacturing | Manufacturing |
| L/UL solution | Conveyor | Conveyor | AGVs |
| Material flow | From a third party logistics provider to an automotive manufacturer | From a supplier of subassemblies to an automotive manufacturer | From a production facility to a finished goods storage within a company |
| Both loading and unloading performed at each destinations? | No | Yes | No |
| Type(s) of unit loads | EUR-pallets (800 × 1,200 mm), half-pallets (800 × 600 mm) | Specialised racks | EUR-pallets (800 × 1,200 mm), half-pallets (800 × 600 mm) |
| Number of transports per day | Deliveries according to fixed schedule. One delivery every 30 min. In total 27 transports each day | Delivery according to fixed, takt driven schedule. One delivery every 30 min. In total 27 transports each day | Maximum 10 transports Average 8 transports |
| Number of unit loads per delivery1 | Maximum 90 pallets Average 75 pallets | 30 racks | Maximum 72 pallets Average 48 pallets |
| Variation in truck arrival times | Low variation, having no effect on the production at the automotive manufacturer | Low variation, no effect on the production at the automotive manufacturer | Variations in truck arrival times since the deliveries are not performed according to a fixed schedule, but variations having no effect on the operations in production and warehouse |
| Number of trucks in the material flow | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Truck drivers involved per day | 6 | 9 | 2 remote drivers shared with other transport flows supervising the autonomous truck |
| Load transferring time | 300 s for transferring a full truckload. Limited variations | 420 s for transferring a full truckload, including both loading and unloading. Limited variations | 130 s for transferring a single pallet2 |
| Number of shifts | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Distance between sender and recipient (km) | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Characteristic | Case 1 pallet conveyor | Case 2 rack conveyor | Case 3 pallet AGV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | Manufacturing | Manufacturing | Manufacturing |
| L/UL solution | Conveyor | Conveyor | AGVs |
| Material flow | From a third party logistics provider to an automotive manufacturer | From a supplier of subassemblies to an automotive manufacturer | From a production facility to a finished goods storage within a company |
| Both loading and unloading performed at each destinations? | No | Yes | No |
| Type(s) of unit loads | EUR-pallets (800 × 1,200 mm), half-pallets (800 × 600 mm) | Specialised racks | EUR-pallets (800 × 1,200 mm), half-pallets (800 × 600 mm) |
| Number of transports per day | Deliveries according to fixed schedule. One delivery every 30 min. In total 27 transports each day | Delivery according to fixed, takt driven schedule. One delivery every 30 min. In total 27 transports each day | Maximum 10 transports |
| Number of unit loads per delivery1 | Maximum 90 pallets | 30 racks | Maximum 72 pallets |
| Variation in truck arrival times | Low variation, having no effect on the production at the automotive manufacturer | Low variation, no effect on the production at the automotive manufacturer | Variations in truck arrival times since the deliveries are not performed according to a fixed schedule, but variations having no effect on the operations in production and warehouse |
| Number of trucks in the material flow | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Truck drivers involved per day | 6 | 9 | 2 remote drivers shared with other transport flows supervising the autonomous truck |
| Load transferring time | 300 s for transferring a full truckload. Limited variations | 420 s for transferring a full truckload, including both loading and unloading. Limited variations | 130 s for transferring a single pallet2 |
| Number of shifts | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Distance between sender and recipient (km) | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
Note(s): 1In the cases the pallets are stacked. Case 1 involve triple stacking pallets occasionally. The variation in number of pallets in the cases is caused by what is produced at the assembly line
2The time it takes to load/unload one pallet for the AGV depend on how many pallets have been loaded/unloaded previously
Source(s): Table by authors
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