Conveyor and Sortation Systems Control

AL Systems DynaTrack is the communication layer between DynaPro Order Management and the physical conveyor and sortation systems. DynaTrack is the brains of the sortation operation, directing cartons into and out of appropriate pick aisles and shipping lanes, and controlling the movement of cartons on high speed sorters. DynaTrack provides the user a view of each and every carton as they move throughout the distribution center.

The DynaTrack software is run from a workstation and communicates to the conveyor system through an Ethernet connected PLC. The workstation interface is used to start and release batches or waves to their assigned pick aisles. DynaPro provides the means to maintain batch and wave integrity through the data received from DynaTrack. Once the case ID label data is validated, DynaPro responds to DynaTrack with the correct lane assignment. As DynaTrack diverts cartons into a lane, it sends a confirmation message to DynaPro, which is used to maintain real-time case location and order status.

Additional features and benefits of AL Systems DynaTrack include:

• Real-time communications with all material handling equipment, including conveyors, sorters, scanners, weigh scales, printers and I/O devices
• Configurable based on individual business rules
• Allows for high speed sortation, complex routing, zone skipping and recirculation of cartons
• Allows for disabling of divert lane(s) or stopping induction upon lane full
• Option to divert cartons to an area to be audited with DynaAudit, based on various pre-selected criteria
• Real-time communication with DynaPick (order picking), DynaLabel (Print and Apply) and DynaShip (Manifesting and Shipping). Provides weight information to DynaLabel and DynaShip to include carton weight on shipping labels and manifests