Automated Storage, Retrieval, and Transport Systems in Japan, 1991

摘要

Three business conditions have influenced the design, performance, and justification of Japanese automated storage and handling systems. First, with an unemployment rate of less than 2%, a predicted labor shortfall of 2.5 million people by 2000, and growing fears of a declining work ethic among the young generation, there is tremendous pressure to develop and apply automated systems to replace the labor intensive operations so characteristic of material handling and storage activities. Second, with a habitable land area only 30% the size of California, and with space costs sometimes ten times that found in the United States, there is an urgent need to develop and apply space efficient storage and handling systems. Third, with the increasingly popular just-in-time manufacturing and distribution philosophy, there is great demand for high-velocity, small load storage and handling systems throughout all manufacturing and distribution channels. The result of the influences is the aggressive development and wide-spread application of automated storage and handling systems for small loads. The systems are used to expedite and streamline operations within manufacturing and distribution operations, and are often justified on reduced training time required to bring temporary workers up to peak productivity and accuracy performance.