Lithium, a star product in the industry

Along with the rapid development of China's new energy vehicles, 3C consumer electronics and other industries, lithium batteries have gradually replaced traditional batteries and become a star product in the battery industry. Its energy density, service life, environmental protection characteristics, etc. are favored by consumers

According to the “White Paper on the Development of Lithium-ion Battery Industry (2019)”, from the perspective of market demand structure, the growth rate of consumer electronics and energy storage industries has slowed down, and the new energy electric vehicle industry, which accounts for 46.5% of lithium battery production share, takes the lead, making the market demand for new energy batteries, one of the three core components of new energy vehicles, have risen.

Three challenges of battery logistics and warehousing

The new energy market has mushroomed, with huge orders and output. As lithium battery companies accelerated production expansion mode, the requirements for flexibility, digitization and intelligence of production lines continue to increase, and a mature logistics warehousing systems have become standard for power battery companies. Along large amount of demand comes with high requirements.

1. High safety requirements: Lithium batteries contain a large number of chemical components and have high density. The requirements on safety, reliability and stability of warehousing and logistics equipment are much higher than those of ordinary goods. Fire protection will become the key for logistics warehousing system enterprises to win the market.

2. High entry-level of production process: Lithium battery production equipment is complicated and technical requirements are high, including post-processing and inspection links (formation, capacity separation, charge and discharge test, etc.). The process control precision is high, and the rapid switching between processes is extremely demanding on the technical requirements of the automated production logistics equipment system.

3. Realize digital management such as real-time tracking of production management system, real-time monitoring and traceability of battery production process.

Galaxis’s logistics solution for lithium batteries

Galaxis focuses on the new energy lithium battery industry. After a deep understanding of the lithium battery industry process, it tightly couples multiple scenarios such as storage, handling, and sorting to achieve a safe, efficient, flexible, and cost-effective end-to-end solution.

Case 1 A well-known lithium battery enterprise in Zhejiang

As one of the leading lithium battery production enterprises in China, the enterprise in Zhejiang goes ahead others in terms of industrial scale, independent innovation ability and technical level. At present, all battery technologies adopted by the company are proprietary ones, which has obvious technical advantages among domestic and foreign counterparts.

The project is located in Hangzhou City,Zhejiang Province. As the designer and service provider of the logistics system scheme of this project, Galaxis provides such warehousing and logistics equipment as warehouse management system, high temperature static storage system, normal temperature static storage system, negative pressure storage system, capacity separation storage system, power supply storage system and WMS\WCS and other software management systems, including 18 sets of fire-proof stacker, 8 hoists and 2 lifting RGVs and other core logistics equipment to complete procedures of cell automation and smart inbound and outbound.

【Fireproof stacker】

The main body is a combined aluminum alloy single-column structure, featuring light weight, firm structure and eye-pleasing appearance.

The walking is driven by dual servo motors, the speed of the straight rail is 160 m/min, and the positioning accuracy is ±2mm (formation, capacity separation storage)

The cargo platform is equipped with modification system and an automatic fire extinguishing system

Project results:

• The system realizes 7*24h on-line

• The logistics system can handle 2 kinds of battery specification products, with a storage capacity of 6000+ compartment

• Realize real-time battery information collection, monitoring, traceability, etc.

• Design based on customer demand, 4 kinds of safety protection measures can be set in the warehouse

Case 2 A well-known lithium battery enterprise in Shandong

A well-known electronic technology company in Shandong is a high-tech enterprise integrating R&D, manufacturing, sales and service of new energy products. The company's main products include anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, batteries and battery packs, and super-capacitors. Its major customers include China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), General Electric (GE) of the United States, PK of the United Kingdom, BMZ of Germany and other well-known domestic and foreign enterprises.

The project site is located in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province. The project design is suitable for the automatic detection and stacking of its cylindrical batteries, which can complete a series of automated processes such as stacking, transportation and storage of cells or material frames from the production line. As the logistics system equipment supplier for this project, Galaxis provided it with pallet conveying system, high temperature static storage system, formation, capacity separation area system, electrical control system, software and hardware management system, etc., including 4 elevators, 3 sets of lifting RGV, 8 sets of fire-proof stacker and other core equipment and software such as WMS/WCS.

【Lifting RGV】

It is composed of upright column, walking mechanism, distribution carriage, sky and ground rails, etc., and the distribution carriage carries the roller line.

Walking speed of 0-100m/min; positioning accuracy ±5mm

It is often used in occasions with narrow space and complex functions. It is connected with the chain plate machine to efficiently connect the logistics lines of various functional areas.

Project results:

• The system realizes 7*24h on-line

• The logistics line meets the production beat of 360 pieces/min

• Realize dynamic management and scheduling of logistics, and equipment information collection and traceability

 “Integrated” smart logistics solutions:

Galaxis’ logistics solution for the lithium battery industry connects 3 layers of planning, equipment and software. In the early stage, through the capture, mining and utilization of the massive underlying data in the industry scenario, combined with Galaxis 10 years of lithium equipment manufacturing experience and process refinement, the forward-looking smart production line planning and design was realized.

The full-scenario smart logistics product matrix spans access, handling and sorting, covering the whole line of production line automation, forming product clusters with core equipment such as four-way shuttles, AMR series robots, high-efficiency stacker cranes and lifting RGV. The modularized smart equipment realizes the rapid empowerment of multiple scenarios.

Through AI “smart brain” and efficient dispatching based on order characteristics, data tracking of equipment and goods is realized, unlocking the multi-dimensional needs of customers in complex scenarios.

In the future, the industry will usher in rapid development along with the introduction of favorable national policies on new energy. The vast space for development will surely attract more logistics solution providers to enter. Galaxis will continue to gain further insight in the industry and production processes to provide solutions and innovative technologies to solve customer pain points.