Half the space, three times the productivity at Coop

When the global recession hit Denmark in 2010, Coop put its distribution center network to the test. The grocer decided to consolidate slow-moving, dry goods from various distribution centers in a recently built 45,000 square meter facility in Odense on the island of Funen. Originally built as a non-food distribution center, the hall already had an automated high-bay warehouse with a storage capacity of 32,000 pallets. However, an intelligent, integrated logistics solution was required to make the facility fit for the tasks ahead. Coop expanded this storage area by an additional 10,000 square meters in order to manage the general cargo distribution of non-food items and dry foodstuffs for the stores more efficiently.

The aim was to bundle the capacities from four warehouses into a single distribution center. The solution needed to be compact and scalable. They also wanted a fast and reliable system that would increase throughput rates and process orders more quickly.

The space-saving solution

A key element of this transformation was the creation of a goods-to-person picking system for slow-moving items. This involves splitting large packs into individual article items and then reassembling them into store orders. Christian Flindt, Technical Manager at Coop Denmark's Odense distribution center, explains: "As the space in our four regional warehouses totaled 100,000 square meters, we had to find a way to accommodate everything in a new facility. This could only be achieved through modern and very space-efficient automation." One of the main reasons why Coop opted for automation from Dematic was the space efficiency of Dematic's integrated system solution.

60 percent of the stock keeping units (SKU) from Odense can be handled in the 6,500 square meters of space in the Dematic Multishuttle warehouse. The remaining space of just under 50,000 square meters is used to store and pick all other slow-moving dry food products together with non-food items. Dematic has thus managed to almost halve the storage space required. Only an extension of 10,000 square meters was necessary: some high-bay pallet racks had to make way for the new Dematic installation and were rebuilt on a compensatory area.

From 140 to 450 picks per hour

The Dematic goods-to-person picking system used has increased productivity from 140 items per hour to 450. An additional decisive design parameter was that the solution should provide added value for Coop's stores. This was achieved through the use of order totes, which are pre-sorted according to store requirements and optimized for quick placement on the shelves (store ready). This leads to faster availability of goods. Employees now need on average half an hour less time to put away the pallets. "The elegance of the solution lies not only in its simplicity, but also in the sophistication of the technology used," says Flindt.

The combination of Multishuttle technology and Dematic iQ warehouse management software was the perfect match. The system was developed for slow- to medium-speed items that are small enough to fit into an order container but are not suitable for conventional picking. In total, there are around 45,000 storage locations with approximately 9,000 SKUs in the Dematic Multishuttle system. The system allows Coop Denmark to process up to 62,000 order items per day for around 300 to 400 stores.

Double-deep bearing and RapidPick

Schematic representation of the Coop warehouse in Denmark, which offers maximum flexibility in a small space.

The pallets are requested from the existing high-bay warehouse and transported to one of eight depalletizing stations, with each station having two pallet spaces for separation. The operators are instructed on screen how many cartons or items are to be transferred to the picking bins. The containers are then assigned one of the storage locations in the buffer warehouse of the Multishuttle system by the Warehouse Control System. This is a highly dynamic storage block with double-deep storage locations, which are served by 96 Dematic Multishuttles. The system handles 4,300 double cycles per hour.

In the system, pallets are transferred into containers and the required number of SKUs for the coming week's orders are stored in the multishuttle buffer warehouse. From there, they can be transported to one of the nine RapidPick picking stations. The picking container is delivered to the stations and the items are distributed to the order containers. The picker receives all relevant information on a screen - from the type and number of items to be picked to the target bins in which they are to be placed.

Completed order containers are labeled with the corresponding store number, name and a barcode. The picking capacity is up to 450 order items per hour and station. Order totes for the stores are transported from the Dematic RapidPick stations to a Dematic Multishuttle shipping buffer with 4,000 storage locations, whereby this part of the system has a capacity of 1,000 double cycles per hour. Finally, store orders are requested from the shipping buffer for palletizing and retrieved in the correct sequence.

"Satisfied with the performance"

Two stations with articulated arm robots stack the order totes for the stores in pairs on half or full Euro pallets. The robots can also insert additional pallets between the palletized order totes to create so-called sandwich pallets for greater transport efficiency. The pallets then pass through a film wrapping station and label applicator before being directed to one of the three dispatch lanes for truck loading. "We are very satisfied with the performance of the system," says Flindt. A high level of system availability was of immense importance to Coop. A team of 14 Dematic service employees provides 24/7 operational support on site in a rolling system and ensures 99 percent system availability. Flindt confirms: "Dematic's service engineers are outstanding. They make it possible to maintain and optimize the performance of the various systems at all times. Their response times for troubleshooting are also remarkable."

coop.dkwww.dematic.com/de