BOREALIS: AGV solution increases storage space and speeds up work flow
Focusing on polythene manufacture for the wire and cable, pipe, and film industries, Sweden-based Borealis supports customers with speciality plastics for some of the largest energy supply, oil, and water pipeline projects in the world. Rocla’s automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have been working constantly at this unique site for over a decade now, transporting special containers. Rocla’s automation solution has enabled Borealis to increase storage space and speed up the flow of work while minimizing damage.
In 2001, Rocla received an order from Borealis for 10 AGVs. Then, in 2003, Borealis added four new AGVs to the system. The 14 Rocla AGVs transport octabins from the production area to storage and from the storage area to the dispatch area for lorries. The total warehouse area on the site is 24,700 square metres and contains 15,231 octabin pallets. The turnover factor is eight times a year. The flow has stayed constant throughout the 11 years of automation. In the storage lanes, the octabins stand two by two and on top of each other to double the storage capacity.
Excellent experience of measurable benefits with a Rocla AGV system
The first delivery, with its 10 vehicles, was implemented more than a decade ago. It was commissioned to answer the customer’s need for more storage space in a single location. The rearrangement of the consumed batches compressed the storage and saved a great deal of space. With the aid of the Rocla automation solution, Borealis could then store and dispatch in one location.
Earlier, with multiple storage locations, more damage occurred. The current automation solution has not only has reduced damage but also decreased the labour and transportation costs while making the logistics process more efficient and time-saving.
During these years of operation, the Rocla AGV system has been developed further and updated technologically. The latest tasks were to increase the out-feed speed and to expand the available storage space. The available storage has been increased through reduced distance between the octabins in the lanes and using the square centimetres here and there that were blocked by pillars earlier. These efforts have really paid off: transport efficiency has increased by more than 50%, and the storage capacity has increased, with 1,000 additional locations.
Rocla AGV in use in Borealis factory
