Optimised Picking at Polo
The newly established central European warehouse of Polo, an international supplier of motorcycle apparel and accessories, features a sophisticated picking system at its core. Key technical highlights include approximately 5 kilometres of conveyor technology, three continuous vertical lifts, 96 picking stations, and 60 dedicated stations each for shop and shipping operations. Together, these components enable an efficient and highly automated material flow.
„Our expectations were more than just met.“
Manfred Steffens, Polo GmbH
Inbound Goods Processing
Goods arriving at the warehouse enter through the inbound goods area. Containers, already tagged with destination data, are placed onto the conveyor system at the inbound interface. Here, the containers undergo an automatic contour and weight inspection to ensure they meet the required specifications. Following this quality check, an inclined belt conveyor lifts the containers from an initial height of 650 mm to a height of 8,150 mm, transporting them up to the fourth upper level of the picking facility where further processing begins.
Order Management and Container Assignment
Once inbound processing is complete, the GEBHARDT Material Flow Controller (MFR) takes over. It communicates directly with the Polo host system, receiving real-time order data. Based on this information, the MFR assigns transport containers to specific customer orders. A swivelling skate wheel transfer, equipped with two infeed points and two outfeed points, serves as the critical interface between the order start and picking process. This ensures that containers are routed swiftly and accurately to the correct picking locations.
Picking Process and Material Flow
The picking process relies heavily on the integration of three GEBHARDT circulation lifters, which vertically connect different levels of the warehouse. Each level loop—measuring approximately 200 meters in length—supplies containers to and retrieves them from picking loops located on each floor, each around 100 meters long. As items are picked and orders are completed, the finished order containers are automatically directed to one of 60 shop stations or 60 shipping stations, depending on the destination.
Meanwhile, empty containers are transported via a special section above the shipping stations back to the order start area. There, they are made available again for new picking assignments, ensuring continuous flow and maximum container reuse.
System Control and Automation
The entire conveyor and picking system is controlled by two Siemens S7-300 controllers, each equipped with high-performance VIPA SPEED CPUs. Together, they coordinate the operation of 487 drives, many of which are frequency-controlled for precise speed and motion management.
This highly automated control architecture guarantees optimal throughput, system reliability, and flexibility, even under high order volumes.