An AutoStore warehouse system with 52 robots supplied by Element Logic has taken over a large part of the packaging handling at Sanistål’s central warehouse in Billund, Denmark. The implementation of the robotic solution has been very beneficial ergonomically for the employees.

The two main positive effects after implementing the AutoStore solution in autumn 2021 has been less heavy lifting and faster item picking.

“With the AutoStore solution, most of my work takes place by a workstation, while robots pick goods and deliver them to my station, for me to pack. My work is not nearly as hard as before, and I prefer to work together with the AutoStore solution,” says Ian Andersen, who works in the AutoStore team at Sanistål.

Saves a lot of lifting in a day

The 52 AutoStore robots do most of the heavy work of picking and bringing the goods to the employees. This minimizes the number of heavy liftings for the warehouse employees and facilitating the picking of goods at the central warehouse in Billund.

“Before, I had to lift every box onto a wagon. Now, I only have to give the box a little nudge onto an automatic conveyor belt that sends the package further into the system, and this saves me a lot of lifting every day,” says Erik Pedersen, warehouse worker at Sanistål.

Increases storage efficiency

The robotic warehouse solution increases the storage efficiency, and the goods are picked almost three times faster than manual picking.

“We haven’t decreased the number of employees because of AutoStore, but we’ve become more efficient so we can handle even more goods in the future. It is great that the robotic system also is an improvement on the employees’ work environment,” says Sine Solhøj Hansen, Operations Manager at Sanistål.

Focus on work environment

With employee work environment and safety in the forefront, it has been important from the very beginning for Sanistål to involve the warehouse employees in the implementation of the AutoStore solution.

“They have had a great influence on how the workstations have been set up and helped determine where the screen and scanner should be located, and how much space is needed. We make a lot of effort to involve employees in creating a good work environment,” says Henriette Marker Thomsen, Work Environment Coordinator at Sanistål.

Optimal interaction between people and technology

At Element Logic, it is important for us to achieve the optimal interaction between people and technology – both when it comes to work environment, safety, and optimization of processes.