About The Project

In 2022 Helly Hansen in its Europe distribution centre in Born, Netherlands increased its storage capacity by installing a new Autostore system with a capacity of 30,000 cells, which required a new conveyor system with a higher capacity and a higher level of automation.

Main Automation System Components

  1. Autostore system with a capacity of 30,000 cells
  2. Conveyor system with over 300m in length, multiple box entry/exit points, and 21 distribution chutes in the box sorting area. Additionally, the conveyor system has four box processing stations:
    • Box closer for automatic box closing
    • Dimension measurement – width, height, and length
    • Scaling
    • Labeling – printer with print & apply function
  3. Material Flow Controller (MFC) software. MFC is the central component of the warehouse automation system which controls material (packages) flow and interconnects all other automation system components
  4. Warehouse Management System (WMS) from company Consafe Logistics

Technology

The MFC software, drivers, and communication interfaces were developed in C#, .NET 6.0 with Visual Studio 2022.
The system database is MS SQL with SQL Server Management Studio for database management.
All the software and database were installed on two MS Windows Server operating systems.
Conveyor’s automation system is based on Siemens S7 1500 series PLC and Datalogic barcode scanners.

Outcome

Successful installation and commissioning of a new warehouse automation system with a capacity of 1000 boxes/hour.

 

My responsibilities in the project:

  1. System Design
    • Designing material flow and process operation in cooperation with the warehouse operation manager and operation supervisor
    • Design specification of the MFC-PLC communication interface and control algorithm in cooperation with the automation SW development team
    • Design specification of the MFC-WMS interface in cooperation with the WMS development team
    • Integration into HH IT infrastructure in cooperation with the HH IT operations team
  2. Software development
    • Material Flow Control (MFC) – main software for material flow management. Installation and configuration of the conveyor simulator
    • MFC algorithm implementation and testing
    • Interfaces for integration with the Astro WMS from Consafe Logistics. Development of the WMS simulator, interface implementation, and testing
    • Interface for integration with the conveyor automation system. Interface implementation and testing
    • Driver for integration of Evolabel T43 printer. Implementation and testing
  3. Project management
    • Coordination of the project activities with other teams and engineers responsible for the technical implementation
    • Supporting the main project manager in the technical aspects and meetings with customer

This project stands as a testament to my technical prowess and project management skills, and I am proud to present it as a reference for my work.