© Witron

When he remembers various days, weeks and months in the project, he pauses and then continues all the more proudly. "The borders were closed. There were complex entry conditions. Strict quarantine was ordered by the authorities. For a long time, those involved in the project were only allowed to travel from the hotel (which they were otherwise not allowed to leave) to the logistics center and back. The canteens on the construction site were also closed. Even in the hotel, service was reduced to a minimum. You have to manage that as a team. These are real hardships - for the customer team, but also for our colleagues. As a project manager, you ask yourself every evening, how do I keep the mood up?

high," emphasizes Weiß. The Witron team moved with special permits from the government. Coop logistics was systemically relevant. "Orders increased again during the pandemic," recalls Glomlien.

From a technical perspective, the deep-freeze logistics were a particular challenge for Holger Weiß from the Upper Palatinate. "We virtually warmed the automated area from -25 degrees to -5 degrees Celsius, temporarily moved the goods to a conventional storage area and picked them there manually. Within eight weeks, we then made all the adjustments in the areas of electrical installation, platforms, pallet and tray conveyor technology until the existing freezer was started up again. The two new COM machines and two additional pallet storage aisles, four tray storage aisles, additional storage and retrieval machines, a depalletizer and the associated conveyor technology connection were then installed in the new deep-freeze building."

"The installation sequence was carefully planned in a collaborative process, prioritizing the installation of the new stacker cranes that would enable efficient car-pick system (CPS) picking in the extended freezer area. We then cooled the new production area to the required temperature, converted our automated production to CPS picking from the new RGBs and manual pallet racking and heated our existing production area to enable the installation of the additional Witron technology," adds Glomlien. "The phase required careful coordination and cross-functional collaboration between Witron's IT and mechanical resources and Coop's teams controlling production, transportation and order management, from commissioning to ramp-up and during the production phase. Once Witron had completed the new equipment in our existing production area, the process was reversed to complete the new production area. Order picking was then completely moved back to the fully automated order picking machines (OPM)."

Four COM machines in the freezer section of the system

© Witron

At Coop, the picking area is also referred to as the production area by those responsible, explains Holger Weiß. Today, a total of four COM machines work in the deep-freeze area of the facility. When the area was cooled back down to -25 degrees Celsius, Weiß also kept his fingers crossed. "If cables broke, belts snapped, motors stopped working or sensors failed, it would be exciting. Because we didn't have much of a time buffer. And at the same time, it was important to keep an eye on the quality of the stored goods to avoid major product damage. "With a project like this, you have to use the best components available on the market. We didn't change existing drives, but added new ones to the system. It has to work right away, otherwise the project won't be completed on time or the customer may even incur direct costs if goods can't be delivered." The Witron OnSite team used the conversion time to carry out maintenance on the system. "When the goods are back in storage, you always have to be in constant communication with the control room and react quickly on site," explains Weiß.

"Communication between the customer team, project team and on-site team must function smoothly. And the fact that it worked smoothly is undoubtedly documented by the result," emphasizes the Witron project manager. "The meticulous detail work paid off. Once we had started up the deep-freeze area, we were able to get back up to speed quickly. There were no negative surprises."

Efficient changeover concept for the dry goods range too

Following joint planning with Witron, Coop opted for five additional COM machines (now 17 in total - with space for four more COMs), four additional pallet storage aisles, ten additional tray storage aisles, the associated storage and retrieval machines and conveyor technology mechanics, three depalletizers and a wrapper for the OPM area of the dry goods range. "In the fall of 2021 and winter of 2022, a decisive phase was reached in the dry product range," says Glomlien. "This is the area with the highest throughput in the distribution center, with additional complexity due to two spatially separated OPM systems that work as one integrated unit.

In order to be able to deliver all orders on time and in optimum quality immediately after the new area went live, the start-up process was carefully planned and our warehouse distribution was closely monitored to ensure that the right products were ready for picking at the right time," says Gaute Glomlien, describing the well-thought-out expansion. "Detailed emulations carried out in advance by Witron's IT team in collaboration with Coop's production managers were also crucial in determining the right production strategy before the two fully integrated subsystems went live. "The exact coordination of orders and stocks between the individual subsystems is crucial," adds Holger Weiß. "This implementation strategy also proved to be extremely successful."

Optimize picking strategies

In the fresh produce area, four more COM machines (now 21 in total - with space for five more COMs) were added, including eight additional tray storage aisles, two more pallet storage aisles, the associated storage and retrieval machines and conveyor technology mechanics, two depalletizers and a wrapper. "We then added another material flow line for fruit and vegetables in the fresh produce area, which relieves us of the other goods in this area. In the past, the product groups were picked together," explains Glomlien. The fully automatic outgoing goods buffer, which covers various temperature ranges, has also been enlarged once again.

Holger Weiß is already back in Sweden on his next project. Day-to-day business continues for Coop in the CLog. "The expansion has given us a technically state-of-the-art solution that has been expanded during ongoing operations to a throughput volume that was not even foreseeable in the original planning. We are now further optimizing the processes," explains Glomlien. Coop's software systems were also upgraded to the latest Witron technology.

But even after the project has been completed, the processes in the logistics center are constantly changing, if only because the entire supply chain is subject to fluctuations and customer requirements change. A high degree of flexibility is therefore required in all processes. "Coop is running a continuous improvement process and has gained a lot of experience with the system in recent years. This is also very impressive for us. They analyze their data and calculations, select the right picking strategies for the regions and stores and determine the structure of their orders," reports Weiß enthusiastically. They also support the Witron colleagues on site and in Parkstein when logics change."