Automated truck loading systems
Encyclopedia
Automated Truck Loading Systems - ATLS has been commonly used in the material handling industry to refer to the automation
of loading or unloading trucks and trailers with product either on or without pallet
s, slip sheet
s, racks, containers
, using several different types of automated guided vehicle
systems (AGV) or engineered
conveyor belt
systems that are integrated into vehicle
s, automating the shipping / receiving
and logistics
operations.
These conveyor systems are commonly referred to as…
Some of these systems are used to handle bulk
products such as garbage
, agriculture
products, recycled tire
s, cotton
, bark or sawdust
. Manufacturing industries such as automotive, food & beverage, paper, consumer products, appliance manufacturers and uses ATLS systems for incoming materials and outgoing product to increase throughput and streamline production. The transportation industry relies heavily on ATLS material handling systems to rapidly move product via land, sea, and air.
Next to solutions for palletised goods, Ancra Systems developed a custommade trailer unloading system for the automatic unloading of loose loaded parcels. The major advantages of this solution:
- Increased trailer loading capacity with 200% to 300% (no wheeled containers needed)
- Trailer unloading time reduced to 25 minutes, which results in better trailer utilization
- Reduced manpower
- Increased ergonomics for workforce
- Fewer docks needed (due to higher trailer loading capacity)
- Maximizing sorting machines utilization
- No forklifts needed, which means safer working environment
ATLS vehicle loading technologies significantly reduce the manpower required on the shipping and receiving docks, eliminate product damage, accidents, and ergonomic injuries related to lift-truck operation. Generally, products can be loaded quicker and product density is increased resulting in more payload per shipment which reduces shipping cost, using a loading automation system. Loading automation is often the key component to achieve complete plant automation.
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
of loading or unloading trucks and trailers with product either on or without pallet
Pallet
A pallet , sometimes called a skid, is a flat transport structure that supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, pallet jack, front loader or other jacking device. A pallet is the structural foundation of a unit load which allows handling and storage efficiencies...
s, slip sheet
Slip Sheet
Slip sheets are thin pallet-sized sheets made of plastic, heavy laminated kraft paperboard, or corrugated fiberboard used in commercial shipping. Often, these replace the use of traditional wooden pallets...
s, racks, containers
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
, using several different types of automated guided vehicle
Automated Guided Vehicle
An automated guided vehicle or automatic guided vehicle is a mobile robot that follows markers or wires in the floor, or uses vision or lasers. They are most often used in industrial applications to move materials around a manufacturing facility or a warehouse...
systems (AGV) or engineered
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
conveyor belt
Conveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
systems that are integrated into vehicle
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
s, automating the shipping / receiving
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
and logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
operations.
These conveyor systems are commonly referred to as…
Some of these systems are used to handle bulk
Bulk material handling
Bulk material handling is an engineering field that is centered around the design of equipment used for the handling of dry materials such as ores, coal, cereals, wood chips, sand, gravel and stone in loose bulk form...
products such as garbage
Waste
Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...
, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
products, recycled tire
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
s, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, bark or sawdust
Sawdust
Sawdust is a by-product of cutting lumber with a saw, composed of fine particles of wood. It can present a hazard in manufacturing industries, especially in terms of its flammability....
. Manufacturing industries such as automotive, food & beverage, paper, consumer products, appliance manufacturers and uses ATLS systems for incoming materials and outgoing product to increase throughput and streamline production. The transportation industry relies heavily on ATLS material handling systems to rapidly move product via land, sea, and air.
Next to solutions for palletised goods, Ancra Systems developed a custommade trailer unloading system for the automatic unloading of loose loaded parcels. The major advantages of this solution:
- Increased trailer loading capacity with 200% to 300% (no wheeled containers needed)
- Trailer unloading time reduced to 25 minutes, which results in better trailer utilization
- Reduced manpower
- Increased ergonomics for workforce
- Fewer docks needed (due to higher trailer loading capacity)
- Maximizing sorting machines utilization
- No forklifts needed, which means safer working environment
ATLS vehicle loading technologies significantly reduce the manpower required on the shipping and receiving docks, eliminate product damage, accidents, and ergonomic injuries related to lift-truck operation. Generally, products can be loaded quicker and product density is increased resulting in more payload per shipment which reduces shipping cost, using a loading automation system. Loading automation is often the key component to achieve complete plant automation.