Organic Food Retailer Goes for Vanderlande’s ADAPTO
9th April 2018
Vanderlande has signed a contract with Dutch organic food retailer Udea to deliver a state-of-the-art, goods-to-person ADAPTO solution. The automated storage and retrieval system will be one of the largest of its kind that Vanderlande has supplied to date and be housed in Udea’s new distribution centre (DC) in Veghel, The Netherlands. Construction of the facilities will begin in June 2018 and the system is expected to go live at the end of 2019.
Udea is a wholesaler, importer and exporter of organic groceries and franchisor of the organic supermarket chain Ekoplaza. Due to continued growth – and following on from a number of recent acquisitions – Udea took the opportunity to reconsider its processes. At the current time, the company’s fresh and dry products are housed at two separate locations, but these will be centralised at one site after the construction of the new DC.
Due to the diversity of its product flows – including dry, ambient, chilled, fresh and frozen goods – Udea chose to automate its processes at a single omni-channel food DC. This will also factor in the deliveries it makes to Ekoplaza, as well as its e-commerce activities for consumers.
Udea’s ADAPTO system at the Veghel Foodpark will use double-deep storage and provide a high throughput of fast-moving goods. Alongside its eight ergonomic decanting stations, there will be 11 picking stations, at which operators can select both consumer and store orders. Vanderlande is also installing SIR (smart item robotics), responsible for automatically picking of healthcare and cosmetic products.
Uniquely for the food market, Udea will be the first to integrate multiple temperature areas within the ADAPTO racking, which will save a large amount of space. “It’s especially pleasing for us to be working with Udea, who are close neighbours to us here in Veghel,” says Vanderlande’s Managing Director Tjarko Bouman. “Both companies can be proud of the level of cooperation so far, and the project is also an excellent opportunity to gain even more experience of our robotic solutions in a food retail environment.”
Udea’s General Manager Erik Does adds: “We chose ADAPTO, because it is a solution that can grow alongside our business activities. It was especially satisfying for us to take part in this initial process alongside Vanderlande, because they showcased a business case that featured exciting new insights and possibilities. As a result, we will soon have access to a flexible and scalable system that we can expand as and when required.”