Project to Expand Distribution Operations Completed

A state-of-the-art shuttle system, automated processes for incoming goods, 130,000 storage bins, and new picking workstations: Erwin Müller has significantly expanded its warehouse capacity at the Buttenwiesen / Germany site. FORTNA was commissioned with the concept design and implementation of the new future-oriented distribution operations, where they were a driving force and key partner throughout the project up to the go-live in December 2023.

Founded in 1951 as a textile wholesaler, Erwin Müller Versandhaus GmbH continues to grow. The company has gradually developed into a multi-channel specialist for home and household textiles and has proven it has the knack for understanding consumer needs when it opened an online shop in 1997.

“Since opening our online shop 27 years ago, we have always focused on being one step ahead of market requirements, and our current project is no exception: greater capacity, more flexible fulfillment and customer service that sets new standards,” explains Tobias Eder, Managing Director at Erwin Müller. “After so many years of being able to count on FORTNA’s technical expertise and implementation skills, we once again entrusted project manager Andreas Beermann and his team with the concept design and upgrade to our distribution operations.”

The data collected was used to design the upgrade, which consists of a new building with a main incoming goods centre and a shuttle and dispatch system connected to the existing building via a bridge. FORTNA devised a solution that took place in stages during ongoing operations. The new building will operate as a central warehouse for all items that can be ordered via the catalogue and online shops. The official opening ceremony for the new building took place in May 2021, while steel construction and other installation work for the automated logistics systems were completed in 2023. The shuttle warehouse, with 16 aisles, now provides an additional 11,000 m² of usable space. “We have combined new systems and inventory fulfillment in a multi-site strategy designed to consolidate orders and ensure high-performance processing,” explains Andreas Beermann, Sr. Manager Solution Design at FORTNA. “In the new incoming goods center, automation will significantly increase profitability and efficiency.”

Incoming articles are registered in the new building extension, transferred to containers as required, and scanned into the system using new barcode scanners. One hundred fifty-two shuttle (152) vehicles are used to transport and distribute the items automatically to the appropriate storage locations. The shuttle vehicles can be in either the shuttle warehouse for storage or directly to the eight (8) new ergonomic pick and pack workstations. Once there, they are manually picked to order and packed in up to 180 shipping cartons per hour for international dispatch. This close interaction between manual and automated processes increases productivity, saves time and reduces the error rate.

As Tobias Eder states, “With the support of FORTNA, we have put in place a future-proof solution at Erwin Müller’s central operations in Buttenwiesen that organizes the flow of goods to the best possible extent, is able to react flexibly to changing customer and industry requirements, and also offers sufficient capacity for future growth.”

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Fortna and Geek+ Partner for Order Fulfilment

 

Wholesaler Doubles Output with Robotic Logistics

The leading wholesaler in the Swiss organic market, Bio Partner, has doubled its output following the implementation of innovative robotic logistics from Swisslog at its facility in Aargau, Switzerland.

Bio Partner supplies business customers in the organic specialist trade as well as the rest of the retail and food industry from its location in Seon. As a result of the merger with Somona GmbH, the warehouse reached its performance and capacity limits, and the wholesaler turned to a local partner with a global footprint to deliver an automated storage system.

The 12,200m2 warehouse handles 10,000+ products, a process now optimized thanks to the high-performance AutoStore storage solution, delivered by global warehouse automation specialist, Swisslog, a member of the KUKA group.

“Companies with large warehouses have to constantly work on increasing efficiency and our robot systems work flawlessly around the clock,” says Swisslog CEO, Dr. Christian Baur. The aim of this new system from Swisslog is to automate the storage and picking of the dry assortment and to compress it in terms of volume.

Consistently high performance

The new AutoStore system at Bio Partner has 44 robots with the ability to handle 25,000 containers and at least 6,000 products completely autonomously. “The high-tech robots create a volume of 900 containers per hour and, depending on the development, this system can still be expanded considerably,” says CEO, Dr. Baur.
The orders are automatically transmitted to the AutoStore system and processed in accordance with parallel processes, which is a huge advantage in large warehouses. This means that higher volumes can be made available in a shorter time. Picking errors cost time and money, and robots don’t make mistakes since the hardware and software work together perfectly. Bio Partner relies on the modular warehouse management software SynQ from Swisslog to orchestrate the warehouse and picking processes based on data-based insights.

“Our company relies on long-term, sustainable partnerships. With Swisslog, we found a strong local partner and the system installation was quick and easy,” commented Lukas Mettler, head of warehouse logistics at Bio Partner.

As a leading global integrator with over 200 realized projects, this is just one example of many projects which showcase the wide implementation spectrum of AutoStore empowered by Swisslog.

Coop Invests in Large Automation Solution

Coop, one of the leading food retailers in Sweden, chose SSI Schaefer as their general contractor for intralogistics to provide a cutting-edge, energy-efficient and highly automated logistics solution for their new 77,000 m² distribution centre in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Coop’s new distribution centre, strategically positioned in the heart of Sweden, will handle the distribution of goods to Coop’s 800+ stores around the country. The majority of the material flow will be processed by two highly automated robotic case picking systems for chilled and ambient products. The result will be a sustainable warehouse that will handle more than 600,000 units per day.

SSI Schaefer approached this challenge with the 3D-MATRIX Solution®, a unique system design that will enable Coop to live up to its goals of flexibility and efficiency and at the same time produce store-friendly pallets. This is possible thanks to the award-winning shuttle system by SSI Schaefer that supplies both case picking robots and piece picking workstations with goods in a programmable sequence. Together with the integration of robots, Coop will improve its whole supply chain, from the distribution center to transportation and all the way to the stores and their customers’ dinner tables.

As Sweden’s foremost food retailer and as the winner of ‘Sweden’s Most Sustainable Retailer’, the new distribution center of Coop will be directly integrated into the nationwide train network, as trains form a major part of Coop’s transportation. This approach leads to fewer road transports and a smaller carbon footprint for Coop. SSI Schaefer, as one of the leading global providers of material handling solutions, is an ideal partner for companies that pursue economically viable and future-oriented sustainable goals. Its sustainable approaches, which the company is presenting within the “50 Sustainability and Climate Leaders“ initiative, had been another important criteria for Coop to choose SSI Schaefer as long-term partner for this innovative project.

In order to ensure the maintenance of one of the biggest automation solutions in the world, SSI Schaefer, together with another partner and the Swedish education system is supporting the creation of a two year degree for automation and robotics technicians, so SSI Schaefer playing an active role in encouraging students and learning. The terminal is being built in Eskilstuna logistics park and is expected to be in full operation during the second half of 2024.

https://www.ssi-schaefer.com/50-sustainability-and-climate-leaders

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