When we launched JAX over 2½ years ago, we knew we were building something special even though JAX breaks no new ground in technology. JAX uses a proven industrial-grade material handling system combined with vacuum-operated lumber pickup heads, which can be configured in multiple ways to suit practically any plant. The process is deceptively simple. The JAX gantry head moves to the location of SKU X, picks up Y boards, and delivers them to Z locations, where X ≤ 35, Y ≤ 13, and Z ≤ 6.
We’ve configured our JAX with 33 SKUs and 3 saws – an Alpine ALS, a MiTek Blade, and a Monet DeSauw Automated Component Saw. Each of these saws was ordered with a stock configuration and required no alteration to work with JAX. Likewise, JAX works with any design software without alteration to its functioning. It simply reads the file that is normally sent to the saw and sends it to JAX in the order received. [For all images, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
Since we installed JAX, it became convenient to keep track of inventory, so we hired Q4US to write a perpetual inventory program too.
Every day, one of us in the plant office keeps a close eye on JAX’s operation. From the time JAX was installed until the present, we’ve been able to respond immediately to any stoppage or anomaly. Initially, that required one of us to hustle out to JAX to discover the cause. As owners, we didn’t hesitate to shut down all or part of JAX to discover the problem, since we could always feed the saws manually, like we used to do. This way, we avoided workarounds or band-aid type solutions that may have just kept JAX producing and may have masked the root cause. But over time, we’ve added cameras so that we can watch JAX’s continuous movement on monitors in our offices or on large screens in the plant that depict up to 8 distinct views.
Announcing JAX-XL for Lumberyards
In reflecting upon the solid performance of JAX, The Wood Retriever in a truss-oriented application, we are proud to announce that we are extending JAX technology to lumberyards. In this new implementation, JAX-XL, all partial bunks of generally rectangular SKUs are tightly arranged in a centralized, covered storage area, serviced from overhead by a Sage Automation gantry and underneath by Toyota Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs). Bunks of materials of various lengths are set end-to-end in columns 5’-0” on center, numbered 1 to 34 in this example. These bunks may contain sticks of lumber, lengths of LVL, units of OSB, and all kinds of sheet goods. JAX-XL is dedicated to retrieving partial bunk orders, while full bunk orders are stored, accessed, and loaded onto trucks in another location.
JAX-UC software, developed by Q4US, synchronizes the gantry and AGV movements, for example:
- Retrieval: 2x12x14 SYP from 10B is set in the Order 1 cradle, then 2x8x10 PT from 12D is set on top.
- Replenishment: JAX-XL gantry retrieves an empty cradle from 11B and moves it to 16G; AGV moves beneath 11G, 11F, 11E, and engages 11D, moving it into 11B; AGV moves 11E, 11F, and 11G in succession to fill empty locations; AGV moves cradle with full unit into 11G.
- Outgoing orders: AGV moves Order 1 cradle outside JAX-XL space and advances Orders 2 and 3.
While this novel configuration of bunks of material may be new to the lumber business, it is not new for Sage Automation, the Beaumont, Texas provider of JAX. In other industries, the Sage gantry already spans up to 70’ and can pick from densely packed stacks of different SKUs of tires, for example. While the JAX-XL gantry moves pieces efficiently within the structure, the Toyota AGVs have the capacity to move full bunks into, around, and out of the JAX-XL enclosure, to keep orders flowing.
When you’d like to learn more about what JAX can do for your operation, please call me or Richard Pedde at 980-404-0209.