Tag: automation|distribution centre|warehouse automation

Arvato and Douglas, a European omnichannel provider for beauty, have jointly officially opened their new location in Hamm, Germany. The new distribution centre with its state-of-the-art automation technology is a lighthouse project for both companies and marks the next step in their long-standing partnership. With a total area of 38,000 sq m, Arvato will handle all logistics for store deliveries and Douglas’ fast-growing online business in the DACH region – including returns management. The new logistics centre will create up to 400 jobs in Hamm.

After commissioning the logistics centre in August last year, Arvato initially began processing orders for online customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In the meantime, all Douglas stores in the DACH region are also supplied from Hamm.

With the new logistics centre, Arvato has tripled warehouse capacity for Europe’s leading omnichannel beauty provider, whose online sales have grown by an average of more than 20% per year over the past five years.

“We have created a forward-looking concept in Hamm that optimally supports not only growth but also the Douglas ‘Let it Bloom’ strategy,” said Julia Börs, President Consumer Products at Arvato, underlining the importance of the project.

“Efficient logistics is one of the most important pillars for any omnichannel retailer. With the new and state-of-the-art logistics centre in Hamm, we have reached a decisive milestone in linking store business and online store in the DACH region even more closely – also and especially to the benefit of our customers and suppliers,” said Sander van der Laan, CEO of the Douglas Group.

Arvato’s digitisation strategy perfectly supports Douglas’ cross-channel business model. The supply chain and e-commerce service provider has specifically designed the DC in Hamm as an omnichannel warehouse with high-performance automation technology and a cloud-based IT solution, in which Douglas’ various sales channels and country orders are brought together.

At the heart of the omnichannel solution is a state-of-the-art shuttle system from Austrian supplier KNAPP, with whom Arvato has been working for many years. The system of the latest 2D generation (OSR Shuttle Evo) has more than 130,000 storage locations, 32 ergonomic workstations and a storage and retrieval capacity of 12,500 totes per hour. At the same time, the more than 500 shuttles can not only move within an aisle, but also change aisles if necessary, thus reaching all items on one level.

This increases flexibility enormously and reduces the effort required for conveyor technology outside the shuttles. The shuttle is part of a sophisticated overall system which, with the connected automatic carton and tote erectors, three cross-belt sorters, pick-by-light picking stations for samples and large-volume items, and automatic carton sealing machines, interlocks perfectly.

Subsequent sorting then takes place in the goods issue and dispatch departments.

Börs said: “In total, we have invested more than €70m in state-of-the-art automation technologies at the Hamm site. This is the largest investment in a single site to date.”

In full operation, up to 114,000 packages per day can be shipped from Hamm. Fast delivery to customers in the DACH region is supported by the very good location of the DC in the eastern Ruhr region and the connection to several highways. “The location is also fundamentally equipped for further growth, as together with Douglas we already took into account possible capacity expansions in various functional areas during the design phase,” explained Börs.

In Sportisimo’s selection process, the intralogistics expertise offered by SSI Schaefer scored points with the sporting goods retailer, and subsequently the contract was awarded to them: Sportisimo’s newly built distribution centre in Hrušov/Ostrava, Czech Republic, will be equipped with an automated intralogistics solution by SSI Schaefer. The hall will be built on brownfield land in Contera Park Ostrava D1. In addition to supplying both branches, the new distribution centre will also supply Sportisimo customers who have placed orders through the online store. The future solution will focus on the automation aspect.

The contract between Sportisimo and SSI Schaefer was signed in May 2021. It is an important project that underscores the development and goals of the sporting goods retailer. Currently, project planning is in full swing, and the construction of the hall has also begun. Operation of the new facility is scheduled to begin in January 2023, which is a record time for such a large and complex project. In the future, Sportisimo will use Contera Park Ostrava D1 to supply both its branches and online customers in the Czech Republic and the surrounding countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

The new logistics solution is designed to ensure maximum warehouse efficiency. “More than 6,000 metres of conveying systems from SSI Schaefer will be installed in Sportisimo’s hall, connecting the different warehouse areas – from depalletising and goods-in to the automated small parts warehouse (ASPW), the picking area and shipping,” explained Marian Gono, Managing Director of SSI Schaefer Systems International in the Czech Republic.

“Along the conveying sections, 150 workstations will be set up where all orders and returns will be consolidated. The ASPW is designed to be 23m high and currently has 11 aisles with a capacity of over 300,000 cartons. It accepts cartons arriving directly from suppliers. The plan for the future is to expand the small parts warehouse by adding more aisles.”

He adds that a four-story pick tower will be built next to the ASPW. It is made up of racks with aisles. A centre aisle will have additional conveying systems as well as workstations for consolidating picked orders. Plus, a large steel platform will be built in the hall, which will be manufactured at the SSI Schaefer Group plant in Hranice na Moravě. This platform will hold the picking stations used to pack orders and prepare them for shipping.

“From the very beginning, we tried to make the transport distances as short as possible when delivering the material prior to assembly,” Gono emphasised. “That is why we are making full use of our production facility in Hranice na Moravě, which significantly reduces our carbon footprint. Not only are we shortening the transport distances, but we are also supporting the Czech economy.”

Vanderlande has signed a contract with global footwear brand Crocs to deliver FASTPICK, a state-of-the-art goods-to-person (GtP) system incorporating ADAPTO technology. It will be installed at the new home of Crocs’ European distribution centre (DC) in Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Crocs was looking for a sophisticated omni-channel solution to support its rapid growth throughout the EMEA region. In recent years, the global footwear brand, known for its iconic Classic Clog, has achieved incredible growth, including record-breaking performance in 2020. As a result, Crocs had a requirement for an automated solution that offered the highest level of flexibility to support its future plans.

Vanderlande’s ADAPTO, an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS), will be central to the operation in Dordrecht and enables efficient and fast delivery to both stores (B2B) and consumers (B2C). ADAPTO offers Crocs the capacity to simultaneously store up to 16,000 SKUs across 54,000 locations. Order items will be fed to one of nine ergonomic workstations, from which they can be picked and transported to the packing and shipping area.

Vanderlande’s POSISORTER, a sliding shoe sorter, is part of the final stage of the approved design. It has a capacity of 5,000 items per hour and it sorts all orders to their correct shipping destinations. Vanderlande was selected for the project due to the flexibility of its system – which can be increased in terms of capacity and storage – as well as the availability of its local service engineers.

“Vanderlande’s FASTPICK is the ideal solution because it gives us the desired flexibility and will help us manage current and anticipated growth,” says Dennis Boor, Senior Director Distribution & Logistics EMEA, Crocs. “An example of what impressed us was the capacity to easily scale up the system to achieve a higher throughput, if required. Moving our operations required careful planning, so we are delighted that the technology within the Dordrecht DC is in such safe hands.”

Vanderlande’s Vice President Warehouse Solutions Terry Verkuijlen adds: “Partnering with such a well-known brand has given us a great deal of satisfaction. We are pleased that Crocs has not only seen the technical advantages of using ADAPTO, but also the added value. The solution was designed to support Crocs in adapting and scaling the configuration depending on their needs, and we’re confident it will match Crocs’ business objectives for many years to come.”

In mid-July 2021, the Swedish food retailer Axfood awarded its logistics lifetime partner Witron Logistik + Informatik an order for the design, implementation, service, and system operation of a food eCommerce DC in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Both companies are thus continuing the OCM (Omni-Channel Machinery) strategy they started with four very specific goals: maximum premium delivery service for end customers of all distribution channels, maximum end-to-end cost-efficiency, flexibility, and sustainability. Witron is already implementing the 100,000 sq m  omnichannel distribution centre in Bålsta (near Stockholm) for Axfood, which will bethe largest single project in the history of both companies.

“With the investment in these two distribution centres, we have laid the foundations for our future logistics platform, which will strengthen the entire Axfood family,” explains Klas Balkow, President and CEO of Axfood. “We are ensuring first-class, efficient, and sustainable logistics processes – for us and our nationwide customers – and with this are creating the prerequisites for profitable growth.”

Piece picking competence

From the end of 2024, the Gothenburg facility with a size of 11,500 sq m will provide home delivery to all online customers of the Scandinavian retailer in the region of southern Sweden, supplying approx. 17,000 different dry goods, fresh products, fruits and vegetables, as well as frozen food. In addition to the home shopping orders, the facility in Gothenburg will also handle click+collect orders for Axfood stores across the region. The highly automated food eCommerce DC is designed for a daily picking performance of 412,000 cases, which corresponds to some 6,700 customer orders.

“Witron’s piece picking systems pick almost 20 million single units per day worldwide,” says Jack Kuypers, Senior Vice President North-West Europe of Witron, citing an impressive figure. “In addition to a consistent overall concept – characterised by a high level of cost-efficiency – the competence in the area of end-customer delivery, which has been proven in numerous industries, was a particularly important decision criterion for Axfood.”

The logistical heart is the AIO “All-in-One Order” Fulfilment solution from Witron. The decisive advantage of this innovative piece picking system is that multiple categories such as different temperature zones, different distribution channels, as well as fast and slow movers can be handled in one integrated system – multi-functionally with the same technology and the same staff.

In Gothenburg, for example, e-commerce orders and click+collect orders are consolidated in this way. A total of 89,000 tote storage locations, 44 stacker cranes, and 52 ergonomic pick workstations are connected in a highly flexible material flow across all logistics areas. Due to these numerous advantages, Axfood has already opted for the AIO solution in the omnichannel distribution centre in Bålsta, where it also uses the system to fulfil online orders in addition to store orders.

Picking directly into containers

At the workstations, items from the dry goods and fresh food assortment are picked directly from the storage tote into shipping bags. Frozen products are picked from the storage tote into specially designed insulated containers, ensuring that the cold chain is maintained. The automated consolidation of all orders and temperature zones is optimised by an automated route sequence buffer, which consolidates the customer orders just-in-time and route-friendly for dispatch by Axfood’s own delivery vehicles or service providers.

Continuation of OCM strategy

“The food eCommerce DC in Gothenburg is the consistent continuation of our OCM strategy, which we started at Axfood with the realisation of the omnichannel distribution centre in Bålsta,” explains Jack Kuypers. “Consequently, OCM (Omni-Channel Machinery) is an integrated retail platform. It includes a high-performance logistics centre, the integration of the horizontal supply chain nodes, as well as different vertical channels, and, in addition, an optimiser that makes it possible to easily and efficiently manage the generated network according to various priorities – e.g. time, costs, performance, transport, or volume.

“We combine existing technologies, simultaneously develop a platform from the supplier, over the warehouse, through to the store or end customer, create transparency within the retail network, and enable data exchange between all participants,” says the Witron SVP “all the way to the store – or as here in Gothenburg – to the end customer.”

“With OCM, Witron has succeeded in creating a platform, a high-performance end-to-end retail logistics network, which actually integrates all nodes of our network for the first time,” explains Nicholas Pettersson, Managing Director Logistics at Axfood. “Inefficient parallel worlds and self-sufficient silos are taboo. In addition, the future solutions in Gothenburg and Bålsta will increase efficiency in all logistics processes, reduce food waste, and provide even higher supply quality, as well as better service for stores and end customers.”

As a general contractor, Witron Logistik + Informatik GmbH is responsible for the entire design, concept, realisation, and commissioning of all IT, control, and mechanical components. A Witron Onsite team with 38 technicians, responsible for service, maintenance, and system operation, ensures the permanent availability of the highly dynamic food eCommerce DC in multi-shift operation.

Fives, one of the world’s most preferred partners for transforming supply chain facilities, announced that it has been awarded the contract to deliver DHL Express a new handling system in Neu Ulm, Germany.

DHL is facing a tremendous items volume growth that is affecting its entire network of hubs and service centres in Europe: this new facility will be crucial in strengthening the delivery service in the Bavarian region.

The new service centre will be equipped with Fives‘ proprietary technologies: conveyors, EASYCapture (Fives’ integrated data capture station) and Fives’ new swiveler wheel diverter model.

The result is a turnkey, single-directional system with recirculation which handles up to 3,000 items per hour. The solution and technologies have been designed to potentially reach 4,500 items per hour to face the end-of-the-year seasonal peaks.

The new high-capacity electric swiveler operates with a PLC software logic that drives the equipment to high-speed performance. The robust hardware design is also a key factor in reaching such performance.

In addition, two unique features, such as small rollers and a small PLC for each unit, make this wheel diverter a cost-effective piece of equipment.

The result is a competitive solution, which combines the highest performances on the market for this type of technology with a moderate investment.

Fives, as solutions partner for DHL over many years, will once again support DHL in enhancing its last-mile delivery services.

Dematic is close to completing a fully-automated distribution centre located in Trecate, Italy for the global luxury group, Kering. The project has been developed by a constant exchange of information, commitment and collaboration to build a lasting partnership and achieve the best outcome.

The first part of the building has been operating since March 2020, and the second part (over 100,000 sq m) is scheduled to be operating by the end of the second quarter 2021.

Built in record time, the new global logistics hub covers more than 162,000 sq m (equivalent to 20 rugby fields) and features automation technology that provides scalability, innovative sustainability and features for the well-being of employees.

Powered by Dematic iQ software, the hub will meet the demand from regional warehouses, retail stores, wholesalers and e-commerce worldwide, and it will significantly increase Kering’s capabilities for shipping (up to 80 million pieces per year) and storage (up to 20 million pieces). It will also reduce lead times by 50% by increasing the speed of deliveries and enhance collaboration among the brands.

The project has been planned in two Go-Lives (in 2021) with final acceptance in July 2022, with a total number of staff expected to reach approximately 900 people.

“We are proud to be a valuable partner in this project,” said Marco Parini, Director of Solution Development South Europe. “We look forward to working with Kering to help them meet current demand and build toward future success.”

Developing the system in such a short timeframe (12 months) has been made possible by the global resources of Dematic, which was able to leverage its international teams and resources in partnership with Metis Consulting and XPO Logistics. The new global logistics hub will include:

• a 600,000 storage location Dematic Multishuttle
• a three-module Dematic Pouch System
• a six-aisle Dematic Multishuttle Flex
• a Dematic Crossbelt Sorter
• 10km of conveyor
• a 50,000 location pallet rack
• more than 350 operator workstations

All powered by Dematic iQ software.

Thomann, the music supplies retailer with the highest revenues worldwide, has expanded its logistics centre over the years with the help of intralogistics expert TGW.

The mecca of German musicians is in Treppendorf. Thousands of people visit the small Upper Franconian village counting 201 inhabitants every year. Their destination is Musikhaus Thomann, the music supplies retailer with the highest revenues worldwide. The artists do not have to worry that the keyboard or set of drums they want is not in stock: approximately 90,000 items are always available in the logistics centre. If you decide on a certain instrument in the shop, you can take it home after about half an hour later. Most of the €1.3 billion in revenue, however, is generated by the online shop.

Owner Hans Thomann is particularly proud that online customers do not only receive their ordered goods fast but usually in one delivery regardless of whether they ordered one item or ten. This shipping method is sustainable and cost-saving but it is a challenge when it comes down to logistics: merging small and big items as well as fast and slow movers.

“We are able to process up to 40,000 orders per day,” says Norbert Groth, technical logistics manager at Thomann. In the run up to Christmas, all logistics employees work six days a week in three shifts. During off-peak times the operation is carried out in two shifts. The orders can only be processed because the logistics system has been automated and expanded over the years.

Long-time intralogistics partner of Thomann is TGW Logistics Group. The Austrian company started to automate the Versand-Center-Süd (VCS – Shipping Centre South) in Treppendorf as general contractor in 2008. For TGW, the company in Upper Franconia is a model customer in terms of expansions and modernisation.

“If the number of orders and the number of items are rising at the same time or if the requirements change, companies will have to think about expansion at some point to ensure all items are available at the right time,” explains Markus Kammerhofer, Head of Retrofit Sales at TGW. “Thomann’s revenues have increased by a double-digit percentage in the past years so that the system commissioned in 2008 was no longer able to process the order volume,” says Norbert Groth. For this reason, the new Versand-Center-Nord (VCN – Shipping Centre North) has been live since 2017 in addition to the Versand-Center-Süd.

Looking back: In 2009, Thomann had a system that could process 20,000 parcels per day. A four-aisle automated mini-load warehouse with 70,000 storage locations and picking process for fast movers was built and TGW equipped it with eight Mustang storage and retrieval machines (SRM). In addition, Thomann was provided with an automatic pallet warehouse comprising five aisles and 18,000 storage locations which went live in 2010 after two expansion stages. Large items are stored in a manual picking warehouse. The core of the installation was a Natrix sorter where employees packed up the items at 32 packing stations.

Hans Thomann was very proud of the system performance resulting from the twelve million Euro investment: the output had increased by 40-50% compared to the former system. The throughput time was reduced to 28 minutes. The expansion concept of TGW was successful. The picking process for the different commodity groups comprising various sizes (from instrument cables to electronic pianos) was optimised. The system is controlled by TGW software. Around four million customers could choose from 65,000 items. The number of customers as well as the number of items has increased further, however. Hans Thomann decided to build the Versand-Center-Nord (VCN) and chose TGW as a partner again.

It went live in 2017/18. The high-bay warehouse (HRL 2) ordered from TGW comprised 21,000 storage locations for pallets. Additionally, a shuttle system with six aisles and 111,600 storage locations for small parts was built. Thomann also invested in automatic carton erectors and sealing machines, labelling machines as well as in an efficient goods-to-person picking area.

During the expansion, TGW modernised the WMS in order to meet the complex requirements of the music supplies retailer. After a software modernisation of CI_LOG 4, Thomann now uses the TGW Warehouse Software covering the Warehouse Management System (WMS), Warehouse Control System (WCS) as well as the Material Flow Controller (MFC).

Thomann hasn’t stopped growing, however. Thanks to the successful expansions implemented by TGW before, Thomann approved further projects in 2020. The high-bay warehouse HRL 1 will be expanded in order to improve the replenishment in the future. Additionally, the VCS will be equipped with a new goods-out loop with automatic labelling machines for up to 2000 parcels per hour. This will be installed during live operation and implemented by the end of 2021.

Another project in the works is a warehouse for storing bulky goods, for example electronic pianos. The increase in e-commerce due to the corona pandemic has led Thomann to think about other expansion projects, for example in the shipping area or for the shuttle warehouse. Another high-bay warehouse is also an option.

Thanks to the expansion projects, Thomann has reduced the throughput time from 28 minutes to 20 minutes despite the increase of different items from 65,000 to 90,000. Instead of four million customers, the company now provides more than twelve million customers with goods all over Europe.

All this sounds easy in theory but in reality it is a complex process. “The most important rule is: Do not interrupt live operation while expanding and modernising the system,” emphasises Norbert Groth. Detailed planning, intensive testing, well-defined functional specifications, clearly defined processes and a perfectly planned schedule are some of the keys to success according to the experts of the Retrofit department at TGW.

A so-called Big Bang was not possible in Treppendorf. The strong e-commerce business makes it unfeasible to shut down the system for several weeks; on top of that, the warehouse normally operates six days a week. For these reasons, all the work had to be performed between Friday evenings and six o’clock on Mondays.

“During a software modernisation process, it is possible to use the old version in case of problems. But as soon as the new system parts are commissioned, everything has to work out at once,” explains Norbert Groth. Similar to an orchestra where everyone has to start playing at the same time.

Norbert Groth is confident that the planned projects will be successful. “The involved TGW employees have the experience and competence for such projects,” he sums up.