Optimization Design Of Automated Storage And Retrieval System (AS/RS) For Electricity Meter

Modern Logistics has expanded from traditional transportation service to comprehensive logistics service which is supported by modern technology, management and information technology, and has become a new economic growth point attracting more and more attentions from society. The AS/RS, integrated with technical aspects of mechanics, electronics, computation etc., has become the production and storage hub of the modern logistics because of features of conveyorization, computerized management, automation control, networked information, etc. With the National Grid promoting the construction of Smart Grid, the traditional warehousing is failing to meet up with the demands of the storage, testing and delivery of intelligent power meter. Meanwhile, AS/RS for its space-saving storage efficient and convenient management, etc., has been more and more widely adopted by energy metering centers.Considering the complexity and randomness of AS/RS, the system simulation analysis is necessary. This paper provided an overview of system simulation and related technologies, described the characteristics of discrete event system simulation, the basic structure and strategies, and then discussed the significance of AS/RS simulation and its classification according to the characteristics and demand of AS/RS. Based on comparison of conventional discrete event system simulation software, Flexsim was chosen as simulation tool, with which the basic structure and the basic steps of modeling and simulation were described.In this study, an AS/RS currently being used by some electricity meter producer was selected as research objective. Parameters, overall layout and process information of this AS/RS were obtained by onsite research. Simulation model was built based on this AS/RS and simulation experiments were conducted with Flexsim. System performance indexes and key equipment running conditions were gathered and observed. Effectiveness of the model system was verified based on the experimental results, which was used to analyze the existing problems of the current control systems of equipment.In this study, operation processes of stacking cranes in different types of warehouses were discussed, for each of which suitable operation modes were provided. At the same time, two kinds of shelf location assignment strategies were proposed for different task requirements and were simulated with Flexsim. The simulation results showed that the operation effectiveness of current warehouse hardware could be significantly improved by adopting the proposed shelf location assignment strategies.In this study, optimization of the objective AS/RS was conducted combining its business features and operation process. The strategy of stacking crane operation and shelf allocation was used in the optimization, which was simulated with Flexsim. The simulation results showed that the proposed control strategy could significantly improve the system performances compared to that of original strategy, and the whole system was more efficient and stable.