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Assembling articles into an order. What is demanding here is rarely the individual weight but the sum: 800 parcels per shift add up to several tonnes. Lifting aids keep the pick rate constant across the shift – the effect that appears in no accident statistic.
Order picking means assembling partial quantities from a range of articles according to an order. The storage-specific state – full pallets, full containers – becomes the order-specific one: exactly the articles and quantities a customer or an assembly station needs.
It is the step in the warehouse that is hardest to automate because it lives on the single item: grip, identify, count, place.
In person-to-goods picking the picker walks or drives to the storage locations and picks there. Travel time and changing grip heights shape the work; the shelf levels range from the floor to above head height.
In goods-to-person picking the conveyor system brings the storage container to a fixed workstation. Travel disappears and the grip height can be designed – but the number of picks per hour rises considerably and the strain becomes more one-sided.
It is rarely the single item that is heavy, but the shift. The strain results from weight times frequency, aggravated by posture: bending low to the bottom level, reaching above shoulder height, twisting the trunk between shelf and trolley.
This is evaluated in the risk assessment. In Germany the Manual Handling of Loads Ordinance sets no fixed kilogram limit; the usual tool is the key indicator method for lifting, holding and carrying, which combines load weight, frequency, posture and working conditions into a score.
First the station is organised, then technology is decided.
What Entracon offers here is on the matching page.
See what we offer| Feature | Person-to-goods | Goods-to-person |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | picker goes to the storage location | container comes to the workstation |
| Grip height | changing, from floor to above head | designable and constant |
| Picks per hour | lower, limited by travel time | high |
| Lifting aid | difficult because the location changes | readily possible because the station is fixed |
In Germany there is no statutory kilogram limit. The employer assesses the task as a whole – weight, frequency, posture, conditions – and derives measures from it. The same pack may be uncritical at ten lifts a day and too much at eight hundred.
Only to a limited extent, because the pick location changes. Options are devices on the picking vehicle or rail systems over zones with heavy articles. At a fixed station – goods-to-person, packing or palletising – their use is much simpler.
For clearly defined articles and containers, yes; the technology is developing fast. With a broad range of changing shapes, surfaces and packaging, a person is still faster and more reliable – supported by a lifting aid where the weight calls for it.
One short conversation usually settles more than three quotations. Call or write — you will reach an engineer directly.
Start typing – for example “balancer”, “SAP” or “pipe stress”.
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