The report states that quality control can be maintained closer to the point of consumption than ever before with solutions from AS/RS.
An AS/RS can take the form of a vertical or horizontal carousel system, or a fixed-aisle crane-based system, and works to ensure the quality and safety of consumer products. This occurs by controlling the storage environment and maintaining a reliable data trail to record quality and ensure safety.
While these systems can be used in many industries, two in particular require critical strengths in environmental control on the cold chain: Pharmaceutical/medical supplies and food/grocery.
Hanel Storage Systems’ Brian Cohen, chair of the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) Automated Storage/ Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) Industry Group said: “We need strict monitoring devices that both create a hard copy log and also communicate electronically to various facilities if something happens. This can document that for whatever lot number or case number, temperature was maintained throughout a product’s entire stay in the system.”
