"Due to the specific challenges, the project went far beyond the requirements of a classic retrofit project," summarizes Marc De Vlieger, Project Manager at SSI Schaefer. The demands placed on intralogistics in the dairy industry are particularly high - especially with regard to best-before dates, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) hygiene standards and the traceability required by many customers.
Storage solutions for dairy companies therefore require processes with high availability and the fastest possible turnover with high throughputs. "All in all, we expanded the existing high-bay warehouse for FrieslandCampina, linked it to the conveyor technology and integrated it into the IT system, and brought the existing systems in the Aalter logistics center up to the latest state of the art."

An important production facility for FrieslandCampina is located in Aalter, Belgium. From there, the markets in Benelux, France, Great Britain and Germany are supplied with UHT milk products, condensed milk and chocolate milk. 450 different article strains, products and sales units are in stock at the Belgian distribution center. In 2005, SSI Schaefer built an automated warehouse as the general contractor for the intralogistics. The concept, capacities, equipment and technological standards were planned in detail and already designed for the foreseeable growth of the dairy company in the following ten years. The material flow concept, the 11-aisle high-bay warehouse with almost 25,000 storage locations and connected picking area, the pallet conveyor technology, an electric monorail system (EMS) for pallet retrieval on gravity roller conveyors and the pallet test station were able to prove their efficiency and reliable process stability over this forecast period - coordinated by the WAMAS logistics software from SSI Schaefer.

Optimize processes and save costs

New production and packaging lines as well as the continuously increasing demand ultimately required higher storage and throughput capacities. Around 500,000 pallets of long-life dairy products now leave the production and distribution center every year. Against this backdrop, FrieslandCampina commissioned SSI Schaefer to expand the existing system by more than 12,000 pallet spaces, i.e. a capacity increase of around 50 percent. "The expansion of the facility, which was already planned by SSI Schaefer in the 2005 layout, provides us with considerable cost savings and sustainable advantages in terms of service and logistics," explains André Van der Meulen, Warehouse Manager and Project Manager at FrieslandCampina.

Parallel to the required expansion, SSI Schaefer set up new conveyor connections to the automatic palletizing system, which is operated by robots. To cope with the increased production output, the intralogistics specialists installed a parallel conveyor system to the existing conveyor line between production and the extended high-bay warehouse. "The redundant conveyor line ensures the timely and seamless disposal of the production lines, increases throughput and guarantees the continuous availability of the system," explains De Vlieger. Finally, all changes were incorporated into the programming of Wamas, the material flow computer and the programmable logic controllers (PLC) of the automation components.

The realization of the project was correspondingly challenging

FrieslandCampina has opted for the SSI Resident Maintenance concept from SSI Schaefer's Customer Service & Support Division for servicing, maintenance and to ensure maximum system availability. © SSI Schäfer

Once the floor slab had been poured at the front of the HBW, the intralogistics specialists began to erect the steel structure for the racking system. At the same time, SSI Schaefer successively installed the rails for the storage and retrieval machines (SRMs) in the eleven aisles of the 32 m long extension, which were later connected to the rails of the existing system. It should be noted that this all took place while production continued 24 hours a day, six days a week and in three-shift operation.

Just six months after the shelving construction began, the new and existing systems were connected and the material flows coordinated. The expansion could be put into operation. With the capacity increases, modernization measures and an additional identification point (I-point) set up by SSI Schaefer, FrieslandCampina has increased throughput to up to 220 pallets per hour. With the second conveyor line between production and the high-bay warehouse, the disposal and storage buffer was increased from 60 to 120 pallets.

Project realization at the highest level - beyond commissioning

FrieslandCampina has also opted for the SSI Resident Maintenance concept from SSI Schaefer's Customer Service & Support (CSS) division for maintenance, servicing and to ensure maximum system availability. A team of five SSI Schaefer employees, at least one of whom is always on site, looks after the system around the clock. In addition, the SSI Schaefer Helpdesk is available for advice and support with further technical questions.

"After the positive experience with the existing system, SSI Schaefer also implemented the expansion project with confidence and in a spirit of partnership - and without any restrictions to ongoing operations. Our goal was optimally realized with the project implementation: efficiency as well as service with an availability of 98 percent could be significantly increased. This means that nothing stands in the way of further growth for the production and distribution warehouse by taking on additional and larger orders," sums up Warehouse Manager André Van der Meulen.