System palletizes 165,000 packaging units daily
Dematic receives major order from food wholesaler MDI
Dematic has received an order for an automated fulfillment system from Merchants Distributors, LLC (MDI). The intralogistics specialist is installing the Dematic Flexible Mixed-Case Fulfillment solution for the leading American food wholesaler and distributor at its headquarters in Hickory, North Carolina. The system components include a pallet high-bay warehouse with storage and retrieval machines, a Dematic Multishuttle for container buffering and sequencing, and Dematic RapidPall palletizers for the automatic assembly of mixed-item pallets. The solution is managed and controlled by Dematic iQ software. The use of the subsystems is expected to increase palletizing to 165,000 packaging units per day.
"The partnership with MDI is a bull's eye for us," says Michael Larsson, Executive Vice President of Dematic America. "Our solution will generate growth, improve service and promote employee empowerment - exactly the goals we pursue when we create a proposal. We look forward to implementing it for MDI." The company and its parent company Alex Lee, Inc. are based in Hickory, North Carolina, and supply food and non-food items to more than 600 retail stores across the United States. Over the past five years, the group has increased its store count by one-third, generating 45 percent sales growth. As a result, the current facility in North Carolina has reached its capacity limit.
The Dematic Flexible Mixed-Case Fulfillment will be installed, which also has an automated pallet high-bay warehouse with storage and retrieval machines, a Dematic Multishuttle for container buffering and sequencing and Dematic RapidPall palletizers for the automatic assembly of mixed article pallets. In addition, a goods-to-person picking module for the delivery of smaller order quantities is integrated into the solution. The subsystems create a solution for the fulfillment of mixed packaging units. The more than 18,000 square meter expansion of the facility not only increases capacity, but also creates 111 additional jobs.
Once completed, the automated system will be managed and controlled using Dematic iQ software. The aim is to increase daily palletizing from the current 125,000 packaging units to 165,000. There is also the possibility of increasing capacity to 200,000 packaging units per day. This means that the solution will also be able to cope with potential future growth. The pallets themselves are packed more densely and are assembled ready for the shelves in order to replenish the stock in the stores as quickly as possible.
Brian George, Chairman and CEO of Merchants Distributors, summarizes: "We are delighted to have found the right partner in Dematic to continue our growth at our headquarters, where we were founded almost 90 years ago. The location offers the ideal conditions to drive our company growth."
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