ELOKON implements large project for a new Amazon Logistics Centre

ELOKON @ Amazon logistics centre Graben
large project implementation completed

Going forward, Amazon will be relying on ELOKON’s pedestrian alert safety technology at their Logistics Centre in Graben. Comprising 6 warehouses and with a total area equivalent to 17 football pitches, the distribution centre is one of the largest in Germany and by the end of 2016, 53 new Crown SP 3521 High-Level Order Pickers there will have been equipped with ELOKON’s mobile pedestrian alert system ELOprotect which was specially developed for very narrow aisles and incorporates an anti-collision functionality to prevent all types of accidents, including trucks colliding with one another.


The Project at a glance

53

VNA forklift trucks

6

warehouses and with a total area equivalent to 17 football pitches

Very narrow aisles

were made more safe with ELOprotect ACS

Individual

solution tailored to Amazon's requirements


The Background
Large warehouse requires high level of safety

Two secrets of Amazon’s phenomenal success are the speed with which they fulfil their orders and their enormous product range. In the newly designed warehouse, forklifts produced by the U.S. company Crown will be transporting an almost bewildering assortment of shoes through the very narrow aisles and onto the high shelves. In this busy environment, accident and collision prevention is essential and that is where ELOprotect PSS and ELOprotect ACS come in.

The Solution
ELOprotect ACS protects against rear-end collisions

The innovative ELOKON pedestrian alert system ELOprotect PSS uses intelligent laser technology to prevent warehouse accidents by automatically engaging the forklift brakes when it detects people or obstructions in forward and backward driving direction. ELOprotect ACS is designed specifically to avoid accidents between vehicles, equipping the forklifts with laser scanners which continuously scan the front and rear of a moving truck.

How it works
Automatic braking

As soon as a truck drives into one of the very narrow aisles, the ELOprotect solution is activated. When a vehicle has come to a stop in a very narrow aisle for order-picking, other trucks which approach within a distance of up to 15m of the first truck, will have their speed automatically reduced. In addition, a visible and audible signal emitted by the display and operation module alerts the driver of the truck to the potential hazard. If the vehicle continues to move despite these safeguards, an alarm is sounded and the vehicle is forced to a complete halt.

System implementation within 6 months

When the first brand new Crown forklifts equipped with ELOKON’s state of the art pedestrian alert safety system made their first journeys through the aisles of the Amazon logistics centre at the end of August, this marked the on schedule completion of a project that had only taken six months from start to finish.

Even for ELOKON, a schedule that tight for a project of this size was a challenge, but then, Amazon are famous for their speed of delivery after all!


Close cooperation with Amazon and Crown

Furthermore, ELOKON has worked in cooperation with the OEM manufacturer Crown to modify the forklifts to Amazon’s desired specifications: the ELOprotect anti-collision functionality will also prevent unauthorised reversing of vehicles, a particularly hazardous manoeuvre in the Amazon warehouse operating environment.

The already proven cooperation between Crown and ELOKON continued in the initial phase of this project to include training and support of the Crown employees during the system installation. Moreover, ELOKON trained Crown employees on the practical use of the pedestrian alert system once it was installed in SP 3521 High-Level Order Pickers.


More information

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