INTERVIEW
In terms of its commitment towards innovation, ULMA Handling Systems, is building process automation into the logistics sector. In this interview, Mikel Altuna, director for innovation at ULMA Handling Systems talks about a number of technological changes made at his firm to become a "company of the future”.
1.- In the industrial sector, digitisation has served to automate many tasks and processes. How has this affected the logistics sector?
A transformation is taking place from B2B and B2C towards C2B, towards Customer To Business even, where customers are the main driving force behind a company's activities. In this new era of 4.0, the aim is to deploy a large number of more resilient "smart warehouses" capable of adapting to customer needs and, consequently, their logistics. The virtual world of IT, the physical world of businesses and the Internet have converged.
Changes in demand profiles and the opportunities offered by new technologies have given rise to an unprecedented revolution that allows us to offer the market solutions based on technologies such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, IoT or Collaborative Robotics.
2.- Automation systems supplied by ULMA Handling Systems are principally focused order processing and automatic storage. Could you name some of the main technological developments that have taken place in this field in recent years?
As storage and automatic order processing systems are growing rapidly, their logistic processes must be more efficient and profitable. Automation provides greater flexibility to order processing and helps minimise errors. It also improves reliability and traceability.
But in addition to automating logistic systems, there is a growing interest in terms of making systems more ergonomic and productive because as operator productivity levels improve with better workstation ergonomics.
Some of the most innovative solutions from ULMA can be found in the FSS and SQS systems and the IK PAL robot.
The latter is the new multi-reference palletiser from ULMA Handling Systems included in our portfolio of logistic automation systems mainly focused on the distribution sector.
The IK PAL robot offers many many advantages and has become a reference system for, optimum palletisation of any kind of load that, regardless of product morphology, allows automatic multi-reference palletising to be performed quickly and efficiently.
Last year, we made significant progress with regard to what is called "logistics geared towards industry 4.0". By talking to our systems, the qualitative leap has been very significant. We no longer have "passive elements" but smart connected devices that react proactively when dealing with any incidents that may occur.
We know that smart connected systems are the future. Consequently, we are building "small brains" into our systems to maintain contact with our command centre.
3.- What are the advantages these solutions offer to Basque companies and which sectors have gained more?
Intralogistic automation presents numerous advantages. Profitability, quality, service and growth are factors directly related to automating a warehouse. Companies that decide to automate their logistic processes are able to measure any competitive advantages obtained in terms of production and distribution processes, savings in operating costs, optimum floor space utilization, improvements in productivity, ergonomy, safety and general satisfaction.
ULMA's aim is to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of our customers by delivering logistic expertise and technology to increase their profitability on a daily basis and stand out relative to their competitors.
There are many sectors that have benefitted from the advantages offered automated intralogistic solutions. For instance, the e-Commerce business, a sector that is constantly growing and demanding more efficiency and speed for order processing tasks.
Another sector that is profiting from our solutions is the large-scale distribution business. These companies have to deal with multi-reference demands adjusted to the specific needs of individual points of sale.
4.- In terms of its innovation approach, ULMA Handling Systems strengthened its ties with IK4-TEKNIKER last year and joined a group of companies already collaborating with the technology centre. Thanks to this relationship, both players have collaborated in projects such as IK PAL or FLECOOP in which robotics and the deployment of safe person-robot interaction environments have become highly relevant. How does your company rate this cooperation with the technology centre?
I hold a very positive view. At ULMA, we have already been cooperating with IK4-TEKNIKER for several years in the development of new products and the results have been highly satisfactory. Proof of this fact is the IK PAL robot.
The amount knowledge that IK4-TEKNIKER has gradually acquired with regard to ULMA's needs together with what has become a very close cooperation between the team members at both organisations has allowed us to generate an environment in which we can not only compete but also generate new opportunities. The end result of this relationship was the cooperation agreement we signed last year.
The FLECOOP project is one of the most recent examples of this momentum. It has allowed us to produce new products that will undoubtedly be involved in the design of intralogistic systems of the future.
5.- What kind of technological challenges will the logistics sector have to deal with in the future?
It is clear that the inception of technologies such as Big Data, IoT or Collaborative Robotics will have a big impact on the development of new solutions.
In the logistics sector, as is already happening in other sectors, systems demanded by the market will have to be smarter and more flexible.
Nowadays, the end customer is becoming the main driver for all operations and this is why systems must be able to cope with this new reality. The possibility of automating operations to a greater extent and of providing higher levels of adaptability and availability will be two key elements to further develop the logistics sector.
