Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS-RS) are commonly used in intralogistic facilities and are often operated by stacker cranes. These stacker cranes are used in high-bay warehouses to move small load carriers, pallets and special load carriers. This paper presents an approach for the determination of the mean energy demand of stacker cranes, using a reference cycle. The examanition of the reference cycles is based on a large scale simulation experiment with randomly generated stacker crane and rack configurations and operation tasks. The results permitted an analysis of the correlations between various paramters e.g. energy demand and performance of stacker cranes. Subsequently, three different reference cycles which allow an easy and fast calculation of the mean energy demand are developed and evaluated.

Modern intralogistic facilities fulfil important tasks within today's supply chains. Many different influences must be taken into account in their planning and construction. Current trends and circumstances show a strong tendency to build energy efficient and therefore environmentally friendly warehouses. This applies to the building technology of a warehouse and the intralogistic system used. Intralogistic facilities with an automated high-bay warehouse are very common and often operated by stacker cranes. This storage technology allows goods to be stored in a very volume and energy-efficient manner. The performance and energy demand of stacker cranes are influenced by a large number of parameters. To determine their energy efficiency is therefore complex. In this paper we present a method based on a simulation study which could be a possible solution for this problem.

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