SOO_Overview_Draft-R.pdf

UNITED STATES MINT

United States Mint-Philadelphia Penny Blank and Coil Racking Upgrade United States Mint- Philadelphia Project

Sequence of Operation (SOO)

SEQUENCE OF OPERATION (SOO) OVERVIEW

This paper provides an overview to the Sequence of Operation (SOO) of the Automatic Storage and Retrieval System (the “system”) at the United States Mint – Philadelphia. The system performs the physical functions to induct (i.e. receive), store, and retrieve material from a racking structure. The system also executes several software functions. The purpose of this overview is to familiarize the Offerors with the system. It is the responsibility of the Offeror to investigate any questions or interpretations with respect to this paper and/or actual system performance.

SOO.1 Coil Pallets SOO.1.1 Coil Pallet Induction

SOO.1.1.1 Pallets of coils are brought to the induction station by fork truck. As a fork truck approaches the induction station, a sonic sensor detects the presence of the fork truck and disables the conveyor at the station. The fork truck deposits the pallet containing a coil directly on the induction station. After depositing the pallet at the induction station, the fork truck driver backs away from the conveyor and indicates the fork truck is clear by pressing a button. When the button is pressed and the sonic sensor has been cleared, the pallet is free to advance on the conveyor on a space-available basis.

SOO.1.1.2 The pallet with coil passes a fixed barcode reader station mounted along the conveyor just past the induction station. The station includes two barcode readers which are positioned such that one barcode reader is on each side of the barcode reader station conveyor. The barcode reader inputs the data into the system, which tracks the barcode identification with the pallet.

SOO.1.1.2.1 Barcode information includes:

SOO.1.1.2.1.1 Unique ID SOO.1.1.2.1.2 Product SOO.1.1.2.1.3 Lot SOO.1.1.2.1.4 Weight

SOO.1.1.2.2 A successful barcode read operation considers the following:

SOO.1.1.2.2.1 If both readers read all barcode information, each individual data item in the list above must be the same on both labels.

SOO.1.1.2.2.2 Both readers must read the same Unique ID. If one reader fails to read the Unique ID, the read fails.

SOO.1.1.2.2.3 One reader is allowed to fail to read the Product, Lot, and/or Weight.

SOO.1.1.2.3 If the barcode validation fails, the load is stopped on the conveyor. A local signal light is illuminated to flag the condition and an alarm is generated on the local PanelView HMI. An operator inspects the stopped pallet and locates the human readable characters of the barcode label. The operator then keys the barcode characters into the local PanelView HMI. The pallet load on the conveyor advances toward storage in the same manner as those coils that were successfully read at the barcode scanner station.

SOO.1.1.2.4 If no barcode/human readable label is present on a coil stopped on the conveyor, a temporary placeholder identification, reserved for unknown loads (e.g. “9999”), can be entered for the coil by the operator on the PanelView HMI. At a later time that is convenient to an operator, these loads can be retrieved from storage, identified and re-entered, or removed.

SOO.1.1.2.5 Once the pallet has been successfully identified, the pallet advances on the conveyor to the aisle decision point, located immediately prior to the transfer to the first storage aisle input conveyor.

SOO.1.2 Coil Pallet Storage SOO.1.2.1 When a load arrives at the aisle decision point, the system makes an aisle decision and moves the load to the input spur conveyor for that aisle.

SOO.1.2.2 The aisle decision takes into account the product, the availability of bins in each aisle, and the status of each Retriever.

SOO.1.2.3 If no aisle is available for storage, the load is held at the aisle decision point until an aisle becomes available.

SOO.1.2.4 When a pallet arrives at the pickup stand of the selected aisle, the system selects a storage bin for the pallet and directs the system to pick up the pallet and store it.

SOO.1.2.5 Once the pallet has been picked up from the pickup station, the next pallet can be advanced into the station.

SOO.1.2.6 The RC controls the Retriever through the assigned move and reports when the move has been completed. The system then updates its database to reflect the pallet’s position in the storage rack.

SOO.1.3 Coil Pallet Retrieval to Blanking Annealing and Upsetting (BAU) Lines SOO.1.3.1 Prior to requesting a coil pallet, a supervisory operator selects the product/denomination that is to be delivered to each of the five BAU lines. Then, when an operator needs another coil pallet delivered to the Upender, the operator presses the Deliver Coil pushbutton located near the Upender. The system receives the pushbutton signal and if the Upender is in the horizontal home position and is empty, executes the request. The system acknowledges the request by illuminating the Deliver Coil pushbutton light.

SOO.1.3.2 The Automated Coil Handling System retrieves coil pallets from the AS/RS for delivery to a BAU Line Upender based on requests from an operator at the BAU line.

SOO.1.3.2.1 Prior to requesting a coil pallet, if the operator presses the Deliver Coil pushbutton when a request already exists, the pushbutton is ignored.

SOO.1.3.2.2 Pallets are retrieved by product and lot number on a FIFO basis. The same product/denomination is retrieved for a BAU line until a set-up change for the line occurs. In addition, once a lot has been started on a BAU line, the system attempts to deliver coils of the same lot from aisles that are “in service”. When delivering coils of the same lot to a BAU line, the system attempts to alternate between delivering the heaviest coil and the lightest coil to the BAU line so all light coils are not delivered back to back at a given BAU line. If an operator has declared an aisle “out of service” that contains the only remaining coils of a desired lot, the system will proceed with retrieving coils of another lot.

SOO.1.3.2.3 When a Retriever deposit station is available to accept another load, the system selects the next pallet that best meets the retrieval order criteria, and directs a Retriever to pick up the pallet. The Retriever picks up the selected pallet from the rack and deposits it onto the destination deposit station.

SOO.1.3.2.4 When the Retriever has completed depositing the pallet onto a Deposit Station, the system records the move request which contains the load ID and the destination location being the end of the output conveyor.

SOO.1.3.2.5 The system conveys the pallet to the end of the output conveyor where it can be picked up by a fork truck. When a fork truck approaches the pickup position, a sonic sensor detects the fork truck and disables the conveyor at the station. Once the fork truck has picked up the pallet and coil and is clear of the conveyor, the fork truck operator presses a button to signal the fork truck is clear. When the button is pressed and the proximity sensor has been cleared, the next pallet with coil is free to move into the station. In addition, the system removes the pallet from its inventory database and considers the retrieval process complete. This causes the Delivery Coil light on the BAU Line Upender to be turned off. Note that until the coil is picked up by a fork truck from the end of the conveyor, no further retrievals to that BAU line will occur.

SOO.1.3.2.6 The fork truck operator then delivers the pallet and coil to the requesting BAU Upender. Once the shipping pallet and coil have been delivered, an operator uses a barcode scanner connected to a US Mint computer to scan the label on the pallet. This label information is used by the US Mint computer to record that this coil is at the Upender. No information is transmitted to the system from the US Mint computer when this occurs.

SOO.2 Penny Blank Containers SOO.2.1 Penny Blank Load Induction

SOO.2.1.1 Prior to a container of penny blanks (or other coin) being inducted at the induction station, a carrier pallet is delivered to the induction station from the AS/RS. When the carrier pallet is positioned at the induction station and is ready for use, a green light at the induction area is illuminated to indicate a container can be inducted. A container of penny blanks is brought to the induction station by fork truck. As a fork truck approaches the induction station, a sonic sensor detects the presence of the fork truck and disables the conveyor at the station. The fork truck deposits the container on the waiting carrier pallet at the induction station. The container must be placed on the carrier pallet without overhanging. There are guides on three sides of the induction station to aid in positioning the container on the carrier pallet. In addition, there is a sensor on the back side of the induction station to detect a container that is overhanging the back of the carrier pallet. To deposit the container, the fork truck positions the container over the induction station.

The fork truck then lowers the container and backs up such that the container is against the front guide. The container is then lowered onto the carrier pallet. If the container overhangs the back of the carrier pallet at any time, a red light in the induction area is illuminated and the container position on the carrier pallet must be adjusted before it can be inducted. After successfully depositing the container at the induction station, the fork truck operator backs away from the conveyor and indicates the fork truck is clear by activating a lanyard. When the lanyard is pulled and the sonic sensor has been cleared, the container is free to advance on the conveyor on a space-available basis. If the fork truck operator backs away and activates the lanyard with the container overhanging the carrier pallet, the container does not advance on the conveyors. An alarm is generated on the local PanelView HMI. The fork truck must adjust the position of the container extinguishing the red light, back away, and activate the lanyard to induct the container. If the container position cannot be made acceptable, the fork truck removes the container from the induction station.

SOO.2.1.2 As the container leaves the induction station, it passes a fixed barcode reader station mounted along the conveyor just past the induction station. The station includes two barcode readers which are positioned such that one barcode reader is on each side of the barcode reader station conveyor. The barcode reader inputs the data into the system, which tracks the barcode identification with the container.

SOO.2.1.3 Barcode information includes:

SOO.2.1.3.1 Unique ID SOO.2.1.3.2 Product SOO.2.1.3.3 Lot SOO.2.1.3.4 Weight

SOO.2.1.4 A successful barcode read operation considers the following:

SOO.2.1.4.1 If both readers read all barcode information, each individual data item in the list above must be the same on both labels.

SOO.2.1.4.2 Both readers must read the same Unique ID. If one reader fails to read the Unique ID, the read fails.

SOO.2.1.4.3 One reader is allowed to fail to read the Product, Lot, and/or Weight.

SOO.2.1.5 If the barcode validation fails, the load is stopped on the conveyor. A local signal light is illuminated to flag the condition and an alarm is generated on the PanelView. An operator inspects the stopped container and locates the human readable characters of the barcode label. The operator then keys the barcode characters into the local PanelView HMI. The system processes the input and advances the container on the conveyor toward storage in the same manner as those containers that were successfully read at the barcode scanner station.

SOO.2.1.6 If no barcode/human readable label is present on a container stopped on the conveyor, a temporary placeholder identification, reserved for unknown loads (e.g. “9999”), can be entered for the container by the operator on the PanelView HMI. At a later time that is convenient to an operator, these loads can be retrieved from storage, identified and re-entered, or removed.

SOO.2.1.7 Once the container has been successfully identified, the container advances on the conveyor to the Retriever pickup station.

SOO.2.2 Penny Blank Storage SOO.2.2.1 All loads are stored in double deep bins in the AS/RS storage rack.

SOO.2.2.2 When a container arrives at the Retriever pickup stand, the system directs the Retriever Controller to pick up the container and store it.

SOO.2.2.3 Prior to depositing a pallet or container, the system performs automatic verification of all on-board sensors involved in depositing a pallet or container.

SOO.2.2.4 The bin selection takes into account the product and induction date. The shallow and deep positions of a bin will always be filled with the same product. In addition, the system considers a user-configurable range of dates to be equivalent for the purposes of FIFO storage and retrieval. For example, if the FIFO-equivalent date range is set to 5, then containers with an induction date of January 6 will be considered equivalent to containers with an induction date of January 1, and the SCS will store a January 6 container of product ABC in front of a January 1 container of product ABC, but it will not store a January 7 container in front of a January 1 container unless all other bins are full.

SOO.2.2.5 Once the container has been picked up from the pickup station, the next container can be advanced into the station.

SOO.2.2.6 The RC controls the Retriever through the assigned move and reports back to the system when the move has been completed. The system then updates its database to reflect the container’s position in the storage rack.

SOO.2.3 Penny Blank Retrieval to Hoppers SOO.2.3.1 Prior to delivery of loads to production, an operator defines the product that is to be delivered to a given hopper. When the control system senses there is no container at the hopper and no container is on the hopper’s feed conveyor, the system retrieves a load of the defined product from the AS/RS and delivers it to the penny blank hopper.

SOO.2.3.2 The system selects the oldest load of the defined product for delivery. If the oldest load is in a deep bin and is blocked by a load of the same product in the shallow bin which has an induction date within the date window, the system selects that load instead. No shuffling of loads is performed. A Retriever picks up the load from the bin and delivers it to the outbound conveyor. The load proceeds on the conveyor to the destination hopper. There the load is guided into position and a device is energized to raise the plug in the bottom of the container approximately 3 to 4 inches to allow the coins inside to be released.

SOO.2.3.3 While the load is at the hopper, the system monitors the weight of the load and hopper.

When the weight falls below a given value (as defined by an operator in the system database), the container is considered empty. The plug lifting device is lowered and the container is released from the station. By waiting until the pile under the container has diminished in weight, the container has adequate clearance to be conveyed away from the hopper. No hold down device is used to hold the container in place at the hopper.

SOO.2.3.4 If the container is empty but the system does not sense it is, a password protected release override function key on the local PanelView can be used by an operator to release the empty container.

SOO.2.3.5 If a container needs to be rejected from the hopper unload position, the plug lifting device can be manually retracted and a fork truck can pick up the load.