Method of planning a conveyor arrangement

A method of planning a conveyor arrangement (1) adapted to convey an object (9) from at least one feed in station (F1, F2) selectively to a selected destination from a plurality of destinations (D1 . . . D16), the conveyor arrangement (1) comprising:

• a plurality of conveyor zones (2), each conveyor zone is adapted to convey an object (9) from an inlet (I) of said conveyor zone (2) to an outlet (O) of said conveyor zone (2);
• and
• a plurality of controllers (11, 12), adapted to control the operation of the conveyor zones (2);
• wherein said conveyor zones (2) are arranged in a manner, that said object (9) can be transferred from an outlet (O) of a, in particular direct, upstream conveyor zone (2) to an inlet (1) of a subsequent conveyor zone (2),
• wherein at least one of said conveyor zones (2) is a junction zone (2i . . . 2s9) having at least two outlets (O1, O2, O3),
• wherein a junction controller (12) is adapted to control the junction zone (2i . . . 2s9) in a manner so as to selectively convey said object (9) through a selected outlet (O) of the plurality of outlets (O1, O2, O3) of said junction zone (2i . . . 2s9);
• the method for planning comprising the following steps:
• providing an IT planning tool (8);
• arranging representations (83) of a plurality of conveyor zones (2) in a manner, so that an inlet (I) of an downstream conveyor zone (2) is linked to an outlet (O) of an upstream conveyor zone (2) using the IT planning tool (8);
• defining a plurality of destinations (D1 . . . D16) within the IT planning tool (8);
• performing an automated analysis of the arranged representations (83);
• based on the performed automated analysis, automatically generating a destination look up table (17), in particular a plurality of individual destination look up tables (17), indicating a list of destinations (D1 . . . D16), which are located downstream of each of the outlets (O) of the respective junction zones (2i . . . 2s9).