Integration with Vertical Storage Systems

When purchasing a Vertical Storage Systems, the question of integration with The Vertical Lift Module or the vertical Carousel comes up—but what does that actually mean? In this guide, we’ll try to answer some common questions. Hopefully, this will give you a better understanding of what to expect when connecting your current systems to the storage machines!

Connect the Vertical Storage Systems

“Connecting the Vertical Storage System” is a phrase often used when setting up an integration from an ERP system or a warehouse management system (WMS) with their Vertical Lift Modules or Vertical Carousels. This integration allows you to automatically transfer storage locations, items, and orders from your ERP/WMS, thereby creating a simpler and faster logistics workflow with minimal manual steps.

To be more specific, which systems are involved?

As mentioned above, the goal is to establish a connection between your current systems and the warehouse automation system, but to be more specific, what kinds of systems are typically involved? The answer to that question is that there are generally two scenarios:

1. Integration between your ERP/WMS and the warehouse automation system’s integration interface

If, as part of your project to implement Vertical Lift Modules (VLM) or Vertical Carousels, you have determined that you will continue to use your ERP/WMS to control and operate the automated storage systems, this is the type of integration you will be implementing.

In this case, all data—including storage locations, items, and customer orders—will continue to be managed and created in your ERP/WMS. Similarly, end users will use your ERP/WMS to perform various warehouse tasks such as picking, putaways, and inventory counts.

The integration takes place between your ERP/WMS and an integration interface provided by the Vertical Storage systems manufacturer. This integration interface simplifies communication with the Vertical Storage System’s control system, allowing you to automatically determine the correct tray location based on your storage locations, items, and customer orders in your ERP/WMS whenever a pick or putaway is to be performed.

2. Integration between your ERP/WMS and the automated warehouse system's WMS

If your ERP/WMS lacks much of the functionality you need to create an efficient and effective workflow with your automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), it is highly likely that you will instead integrate your ERP/WMS with the AS/RS’s WMS.

In this case, the Vertical Storage System’s WMS takes on a bit more of both the data and logic required to operate the Vertical Lift Module or Vertical Carousel. Basic data regarding items and customer orders will continue to come from your ERP/WMS; in turn, the Vertical Storage System’s WMS manages data related to storage locations and creates optimized picking batches/picking tasks based on your customer orders. The end user will also work in the user interface provided by the Vertical Storage System’s WMS.

What is being sent?

Items, storage locations, customer orders, etc.—as already mentioned—are the types of information typically transferred between your WMS/ERP and the Vertical Storage System. However, depending on how you integrate with your Vertical Lift Modules or Vertical Carousels, the amount of information sent varies slightly, and it generally follows the two scenarios described in the section above. For example, it might look like this:

1. Integration between your ERP/WMS and the Vertical Storage System’s integration interface

Since the data and logic remain in your ERP/WMS in this scenario, the integration is usually very straightforward and often involves nothing more than:

  • The storage machine's ID (if you have multiple storage machines)
  • Storage location (determines which tray is retrieved)
  • Next storage location (prepares the storage machine for the next tray to be retrieved)
  • Quantity (for display on, for example, an LED strip or the screen of a vending machine)
  • Product name (to be displayed, for example, on an LED display or the screen of a vending machine)

2. Integration between your ERP/WMS and the Vertical Storage System's WMS

In this case, since more data and logic will be stored in the Vertical Storage System’s WMS, the integration requires a bit more information. There are still relatively few messages to be sent between the systems, but the messages typically need to contain a bit more data. The following are common messages:

  • Item data (full item data)
  • Customer orders
  • Other warehouse orders (e.g., putaways, transfers, inventory counts)
  • Transactions

How is it shipped?

Finally, the systems are in place, and we know what kind of information is exchanged between them. But how is the information transmitted?

Integrations between ERP/WMS systems and Vertical Storage Systems are typically quite straightforward in terms of communication, and the industry relies on existing integration standards. When integrating systems, we discuss message formats and transport methods—that is, the format in which the data package from your ERP/WMS is sent, and the technology used to transfer it from the ERP/WMS to the Vertical Storage System. If you can work with any of the following message formats and transport methods, integration with virtually any automated storage system is possible:

Message format

  • Text file
  • Plain text file
  • XML

Method of transport

  • Email
  • FTP
  • File
  • TCP
  • API

Contact us