News

22 Jun 2020

Robots and Robert Juliat. How Highlite Innovates


The Highlite factory and warehouse in Kerkrade, The Netherlands, is a masterpiece of automation. The 25,000m2 facility has been fitted out with integrated order picking and warehousing systems by Dematic NV (formerly Egemin Automation), which uses robots, conveyors and the latest smarts to distribute their huge range of lighting, lighting control, LED and audio products, some 8,000 items in all.

John McKissock, managing director of Australian Highlite distributor Clearlight Shows, has visited the site and been awed by it. “Highlite’s pallet storage area alone can hold over 20,000 pallets,” reports John.

“It’s 25 metres high, 47 metres wide, and about 85 metres deep. It’s all automated and robotic, and it’s awesome just to stand in it and watch the robots grab pallets and move them around at fantastic speeds.”

It’s all about efficiency and process automation, and the pallet warehouse is just one component. Next door is the ‘miniload’ component picking system, with its thousands of blue ‘totes’ – small plastic bins filled with components.

Inside Highlite Kerkrade – the miniload system’s ‘totes’.

Also completely robotic and automated, when an order is punched in upstairs in the offices, the parts are picked and placed on a conveyor belt, at the end of which a human operator assembles the order and sets it on one of many conveyors that go to different parts of Despatch; one line for Fedex, another for UPS, and so on.

On the other side of the logistics chain, incoming goods are also handled by automation. Highlite’s system can unload an entire shipping container without anyone touching the goods. Incoming pallets are forklifted onto a conveyor belt, which weighs and scans the goods. The system recognises what they are and where they need to go and sends them accordingly.

The pallet warehouse

All of this crisp northern European efficiency means great service to both distributors, customers, and end users. “The technical support Highlite can provide us and the speed and the turnaround is remarkable,” reports John.

“Recently, we had a 10-year-old Highlite fitting in hire that failed. We identified the replacement component we needed, ordered it on Thursday, and the light was back on the shelf ready for hire on Monday afternoon.

“While the time zone and weekend was in our favour, I’d be struggling it get it out of Sydney that fast. This just reinforces the fact that we decided to partner with Highlite International because of their drive to bring innovation to their business and product offerings. They’re constantly driving to respond to market needs.”

While the full 8,000 unit line Highlite offers was too large to do justice in the Australian market, Clearlight have decided to concentrate on the Infinity range of high-end theatrical lighting products, which includes the Infinity Signature Series of theatrical fixtures, Infinity moving lights and the Chimp range of lighting consoles.

Developed in collaboration with Robert Juliat, the Infinity Signature Series of theatre fixtures bring the design ‘Spirit of RJ’ together with outstanding features, quality, and sharp pricing.

Infinity Signature TF-260C7 Fresnel


One of the great features of the Infinity Signature series is their ability to operate at high professional functionality even on a basic lighting console.

All calibration systems are on-board the fixture to ensure steady output, constant colour, and a seamless fade. 16-bit internal dimming ensures smooth performance, even if a DMX controller operates 8-bit, as the fixtures are smart enough to interpolate between the 8-bit source and the 16-bit internal dimmer and create dimming without any visible steps.

Being able to use Selecon Pacific and SPX optics is another innovative feature that puts the Signature Series ahead of the competition.“The development Highlite have done in partnership with Robert Juliat has been incredible,” states John.

“Both manufacturers see it as giving them access to a market they didn’t have before. The Infinity Series is sold branded as ‘Spirit of RJ’, and Robert Juliat get their licensed technology into an affordable series. In turn, Highlite get access to the high-end theatre market.

“The software is developed in Germany, the R&D is all done in the Netherlands, and it’s RJ’s optics and design. The units are manufactured in China, but it’s all quality controlled in The Netherlands. They’re taking it to the top-end brands in terms of light output at an affordable price.”

Infinity TS-260C7 Profile Engine


While theatres are closed to audiences, Clearlight have been taking the opportunity to demo units to potential customers, and have Infinity hire units out working on film shoots.

“We’re extremely happy with the product’s performance so far, and everyone we’ve demoed it to has been impressed by the calibration, colour, output, and build quality.

“The onboard smarts are innovative – you can tell the fixture to act like it’s a 3000K fixture with a piece of LEE 106 in it, put it on a single channel of a dimmer, and it will behave like a Source4 Profile and do that beautiful dim to warm if you tell it to.

“You can run it on a garden variety console and still maintain the nice dimming curves, because it’s all managed within the light.”

For more info on Highlite International’s Infinity range, or to arrange a demo, contact:

Clearlight Shows (03) 9553 1688 or sales@clearlight.com.au




CX Magazine – June 2020   

LIGHTING  |  AUDIO  |  VIDEO  |  STAGING  |  INTEGRATION
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