Hacker News Reader

Comment by kristofferR | Hacker News Reader

Komplett.no, which aims to become the Amazon of Norway (the real Amazon doesn't care about Norway), has a really cool automated warehouse (AutoStore) which seems even more advanced than Amazons:

http://autostoresystem.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O0UKARdLDc (360° video)

http://www.tu.no/artikler/unik-video-bli-med-inn-i-kompletts...

The packages still need to be packaged by hand though, but it seems like it would be easier to automate that for the AutoStore system since each product has its own box as opposed to Amazons Kiva system where multiple products are placed on the same shelf.

View on HN

I find autostore to be a much cleaner solution than the adhoc system amazon uses. With the amazon system you need a lot more space and staff to fill those shelves. In addition you have to be careful not to load them top heavy.

The only downside I see with Autstore is building maintenance.

What about maintenance on a column? You have to stop the whole system, unload & disassemble part of the grid just to run a new cable or check for humidity or whatever on your structural columns.

That's the only downside I see. It's a very simple concept solving a very real issue and their motto "stop airhousing start warehousing" real hits home!

From what it looks like it may not be so bad. Since the system appears to be dynamically scalable you can most likely move all items out of a section and make it off limits. Then do maintenance etc on that section.

looking at autostore I was curious how many skus can be done efficiently and how deep you can go relative to the number of fast moving lines? With a million SKUs it might be fun to see what initial mapping can be done. Also, how can hazardous stacks be integrated to they can deliver to the same work station as regular items?

as for maintenance I would think a few strategic extra rows could serve that purpose without losing too much efficiency.

most the picking I am used to has both voice and light based picking with high velocity parts duplicated to the front.

It will depend on the size of the grid, number of positions on one level and number of robots. For fast movers, autostore can prepare those products and bring them to a few of the top levels when users are not actively picking or doing putaway. When the picking starts, those robots can get accessed to fast movers more quickly.

For maintenance, there is an extra area outside the grid where you can move the robot out of the grid to do some maintenance work on it without affecting the rest of the system.

I really enjoyed seeing this, it's thought provoking and futuristic.

It does seem to emphasize efficient use of land area, though, and in the case of modern warehouses in North America, at least, I imagine the real estate itself is effectively cheaper than ever (because modern warehouses are built so big and so far away from everything, and because tax incentives often reward new construction) and only getting cheaper. It seems like an odd variable to optimize.

If real estate were at a premium, wouldn't we expect to see traditional warehouses, distribution centers, data centers etc in a multi-story format? But as far as I know, we don't. Instead, owners opt for giant footprints on cheap land.

Amazon has both national warehouses in middle of nowhere (but near airports) for general shipping, and small local warehouses for 1day delivery in urban areas.

I just interviewed at autostore:) They seem have really cool and clean technology and the one person I had contact with so far seemed really nice.

This may be the most futuristic thing I've seen. Thanks for the link.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com