Ready for intense shuttle traffic
Operations are well underway in Europris' new 60,000 m central warehouse outside Moss. Most of the operations have been moved from what were at most seven different warehouses in Fredrikstad. Now there is only one warehouse left in Fredrikstad, which is gradually being phased out.
During the next six months, the last, and perhaps most impressive part of the automation in the warehouse will be put into operation, namely Swisslog's automated shuttle solution for light goods, CycloneCarrier. The facility will consist of 108 shuttles that operate in six times, with six integrated stations for picking and palletizing cartons, four depalletizing stations and integrated transport path systems for both pallets (ProMove) and light goods (QuickMove).
Although the shuttle facility occupies a relatively small part of the large warehouse, it is planned to handle seven out of ten of the warehouse's order lines. And that with only 12 pickers divided into two shifts.
- This solution is more efficient than anything else we looked at, says logistics director Pål Christian Andersen.
Manual but efficient picking
In total, the shuttle facility has 39,744 locations spread over 18 levels in height and six modules. But what exactly does the shuttle actually do? Yes, it brings goods to pickers at lightning speed, who at one of six picking stations assemble an order pallet for the store. All this happens on a mezzanine, and the pallet is gradually lowered so that the picker can always work at an ergonomic height. When the pallet and order is finished, it is lowered through the floor to ground level, while it is secured with stretch film, and automatically labeled with transport label with RFID tag. The pallet is transported to the nearest lane in the relevant building, to again save truck driving, ready for transport to the store.
When the order pallet is ready and lowered to the level below, the picker can immediately start on the next pallet, even if a new load carrier is still not in place. A curtain floor at the station allows picking to begin, and when a new pallet is in place, the curtain slips away and the goods end up on a new load carrier.
- This is the efficiency we are looking for, says director of central warehouse Jan Eilef Tomasi Engen to Moderne Transport, when he shows us the plant.
SMART PROCESS: When the pallet has been picked up from the shuttle system, it is lowered through the floor via this lift and at the same time secured with plastic.
SMART PROCESS: When the pallet has been picked up from the shuttle system, it is lowered through the floor via this lift and at the same time secured with plastic. Øyvind Ludt
In the shuttle facility, medium-frequency goods that are within the size and nature requirements must be entered, which according to the plan will apply to 70 per cent of the order lines. However, this does not correspond to 70 percent of the volume. High-frequency goods are picked from a so-called PickFace with 120 picking locations and 240 buffer locations in a compact area, which saves a lot of truck driving.
First in the Nordics
The shuttle facility will have the capacity to simultaneously pick up and put in place 1682 boxes or cartons per hour, and is the first Swisslog has delivered of this type in the Nordic region, says project manager Øystein Araldsen.
- It will be a very important reference for Swisslog, he says Araldsen about the facility, which has become his own giant baby.
Swisslog's delivery is not limited to the shuttle facility. The shuttles are phase 2 in the automation at Europris. Earlier this year, eleven 32-meter-high Vectura pallet cranes were put into operation. The cranes handle 64,720 pallet spaces in the high-bay warehouse (HBW), and supply the manual warehouse with pallets when needed via a conveyor belt almost 250 meters long on the mezzanine. The track goes through three halls and pallets are lifted down to the right place via goods lifts. That way, a lot of truck driving is saved.
Both the crane warehouse and the shuttle system are controlled by Swisslog's WMS SynQ, which in turn communicates with Consafe's Astro WMS takes care of orders and picking.
Hard competition
Automation of pallets with the Vectura cranes and the ProMove plant was delivered in the first phase, but it was not a given that it was Swisslog that would be commissioned with the shuttle plant.
- We had a collaboration with Swisslog in phase 1, and that made us confident in them as a robust supplier. But we ran a real tender process with five players involved, says logistics director Pål Christian Andersen.
Now the Europris team is looking forward to getting the warehouse fully operational.
- It will be very exciting to fine-tune the warehouse when the shuttles are up and running, and we have moved out of the last warehouse in Fredrikstad, says Tomasi Engen.
Compared with everyday life before moving to a new central warehouse, the goal is for picking efficiency to increase by as much as 300 per cent in shuttle areas, measured against the normal picking zone.
- We get there when everything is up and running, says the warehouse director confidently.
Looking at more possibilities
At the same time, future expansions of the automated plant have been taken into account.
- We have prepared expansions for both the high-bay warehouse and the shuttle facility, and we have a number of projects in the back pocket that we want to look at when production here is stabilized, says Pål Christian Andersen, and mentions automatic picking and pallet construction, AGV and also streamlining container handling outside the building as possible future projects.
During the last six months, the new central warehouse has already been properly tested. Europris has been among the lucky ones to have a boost in sales as a result of covid-19.
- The plant was allowed to run for periods, and we were probably on the verge of what we put into the business case. We sniffed at maximum capacity at times, says Andersen.
380 METERS LONG: The Europris warehouse in Moss is the largest warehouse built in one go in Norway. Øyvind Ludt
