SOLUTION

Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS)

ASRS stands for Automated Storage and Retrieval System, a computer-controlled system that automatically place and retrieve inventory within the facility. Basically, an ASRS comprises of storage racks, storage and retrieval equipment, yet integrates with warehouse management system (WMS). Today, ASRS is widely used in warehouses, distribution centers for inventory management purpose.

There are several types of ASRS includes unit-load ASRS, mini-load ASRS, carousel-based ASRS, vertical lift modules (VLM) etc. Each type of ASRS operates in slightly different ways, but they all have one goal which is storing and retrieving loads with precision, accuracy and speed.

ABOUT AUTOMATED STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM (ASRS)

ADVANTAGES OF

AUTOMATED STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM (ASRS)

Nowadays, ASRS has been growing fast in different industries such as retail, food and beverage, e-commerce. What exactly are the key benefits of ASRS when compared to conventional racking and shelving?

INTELLIGENT NAVIGATION

As compared to conventional system in which placing and retrieving goods by using human operated forklift or warehouse truck, ASRS does not require much space to oper- ate. It not only allows the operating aisles to be smaller, yet the racking to be much higher. In short, ASRS is a very dense system, maximizing the storage capacity.

INCREASED EFFICIENCY AND ACCURACY

ASRS is being programmed to execute tasks with high accuracy. This prevents the human errors like storing products in a wrong place, retrieving wrong products and etc. In addition, since ASRS is integrated to the warehouse management system (WMS), it is smart enough to know the product location to be stored or retrieved. Therefore, human operators do not need to waste their time by visually searching for the shelves, looking for the correct prod- uct. This eventually increase the operational efficiency significantly. Besides, ASRS also helps to increase the accuracy in handling product data where it enables to transfer prod- uct tracking data automatically. Unlike manual operation, human operators have to enter the data manually into the system which may cause many inaccuracies.

BETTER OPERATION SAFETY

Human are not robot. When they perform manual and repetitive jobs for several hours, they are prone to fatigue and distracted, increasing the risk of injury. For instance, a fatigue human operator may lose focus when operating the forklift or any material handling equip- ment and bump into a person, causing a severe injury or death. In contrast, an ASRS able to eliminate all the risks associated with mixed pedestrians and material handling equip- ment traffic, as well as forklift operations.

BETTER INVENTORY CONTROL

Integration of warehouse management system into ASRS allows organizations to closely monitoring and tracking their inventory. It helps to eliminate physical stock counts which are prone to errors in data, transcription and consistency, causing disruption in operations.