REWE, one of Germany’s leading grocery retailers, has automated the fresh food operations at its logistics facility in Oranienburg, which supplies the metropolitan region north of Berlin.
Working closely with Cimcorp, a pioneer in intralogistics automation, REWE has automated fulfilment of fresh produce orders for over 370 supermarkets and 580 stores in the greater Berlin region. Robotic systems at the distribution centre in Oranienburg, approximately 50 km north of Berlin, have secured transformational benefits for the retailer, including unprecedented levels of efficiency, reliability and workplace wellbeing.
Cimcorp’s intralogistics solution provides accurate, fast and reliable fulfilment for fresh fruit and vegetables in plastic crates. In addition, the automated system provides a safe and ergonomic working environment for logistics employees. High system availability is ensured through comprehensive customer service for the site, provided 24/7 by Cimcorp.
Speed means freshness
Up to 650,000 units of produce move through the Oranienburg facility every day, with speed being of the essence to ensure freshness for consumers. “In fresh food logistics, every minute counts and every delivery is critical,” explains Matthias Menzel (pictured, below), General Manager at the Oranienburg DC.
“Missing the delivery window means a significant financial loss. That’s why we invested in automation that delivers absolute reliability, real-time control and the capacity to serve Berlin and the surrounding regions.”
Accuracy and traceability
Cimcorp’s ‘Dreamfield’ solution at the Oranienburg DC integrates cutting-edge robotic systems, conveyor technologies and leading-edge software. The automation ensures fast and seamless material flows, resulting in reliable, on-time deliveries to REWE’s stores. With the end-to-end Dreamfield solution, every unit of produce is traceable and every process is managed for efficiency and quality. “Our customers expect that our reliability increases every year,” says Menzel. “As stores learn that they can trust our deliveries, it brings improvement not just to our logistics, but right through to the customer experience in the store.”
At the heart of this reliability is Cimcorp’s Warehouse Control System (WCS), which integrates the robots, conveyors and inventory management to ensure system-wide transparency. This advanced software manages everything from inbound barcode scanning and depalletizing, through inventory and picking, to precise outbound labelling and shipping – all the while maximizing transparency, safety and system uptime. User-friendly dashboards and error-management tools give operators full visibility and rapid response capabilities, further reducing the risk and impact of errors.
Robotic picking
Crates of fresh produce are picked by gantry robots, which form the backbone of Cimcorp’s Dreamfield solution. A key benefit of using this technology is that the open-floor design, without the need for racking, means easier cleaning and enhanced hygiene.
Inbound goods arrive at the DC on Euro pallets, which are automatically registered and scanned. Manual unwrapping and quality checks ensure that only compliant goods enter the system. Cimcorp’s robots then depalletize stacks, buffer them and manage their storage using FIFO (First In, First Out) or FEFO (First Expired, First Out) inventory strategies.
The fully integrated Cimcorp WCS orchestrates picking – managing workload balancing among the robots – and coordinates outbound pallet building and dispatch. The system is designed with redundancy, with dual robot cells and transfer cars ensuring continuous operation, even in rare outage scenarios.
Mitigating labour shortages
Crucially, the Cimcorp solution addresses labour shortages and workplace ergonomics for REWE. Labour availability has become a significant challenge for many retailers today. “Finding employees for the physically demanding jobs in warehouses, especially when it comes to the heavy lifting needed for fruit and vegetables, is getting harder every year,” says Menzel.
Cimcorp’s systems take care of the heavy lifting, leading to a safer and more productive work environment. With automation, strenuous manual picking is replaced by system oversight, process management and quality checks. By supporting workplace wellbeing, ergonomic working also helps with employee recruitment and retention.
“With this solution, our people can focus on work that is safer, more rewarding and less exhausting,” says Menzel. “We’re no longer fighting to fill overtime hours; instead, our staff are excited to work with new technology and see the benefits of automation in their daily roles.”
Sustainable solution
Sustainability is a fundamental element of REWE’s business strategy. By streamlining every process, automation is intrinsically eco-friendly. In addition, optimised truck loading means delivery vehicles have better space utilisation, resulting in less traffic and consequently lower environmental impact. Plus, a faster supply chain means longer shelf life for fresh produce, leading to less food waste. Then the service agreement with Cimcorp enhances sustainability by extending the lifetime of the system.
Scalable automation
Being modular in design, the Dreamfield solution can be easily expanded to meet growing order volumes. The solution is suitable for optimising material flows in the fresh food, liquid dairy, bakery and beverage sectors and REWE is one of a number of customers benefiting from the enhanced efficiency and profitability that Dreamfield delivers. The solution is powering fresh food logistics for Alimerka and Mercadona in Spain, as well as Edeka and Netto in Germany. These flagship facilities are not simply moving groceries but redefining what’s possible in food retail logistics.
