Even before Fresh Servant was officially founded in 1995, the company was already supplying the neighborhood in a Finnish village with vegetables directly to the front door in the 1970s. However, the small car that was used to deliver orders back then was soon no longer sufficient. The company grew rapidly - and today operates the most modern salad factory in Northern Europe. However, Fresh Servant remains true to its origins: the service character already rooted in the name is still the top priority and thus the goal of reliably supplying customers with fresh food and making it easier for them to have a healthy everyday life. However, with constant growth, the demands on logistics are also increasing. In order to deliver the large variety of packaged salads fresh to stores and tables throughout Europe, an efficient warehouse is needed that can keep up with the increasing demand.

Fresh concepts for fresh salads

Fresh Servant turned to intralogistics expert SSI Schaefer to meet this challenge. This was the beginning of a joint success story that was characterized by close and personal cooperation from the initial automation idea to the implementation of the entire system. As a result of the intensive teamwork, a new, highly automated warehouse solution was implemented at the Edsevö site. Juha Tiitto, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain at Fresh Servant, says: "The collaboration was very intensive and both parties actively developed the processes. We would like to continue the good cooperation in the future." The scalable system with modern shuttle technology, ergonomic picking areas and smart software could be perfectly adapted to the needs of the food retailer thanks to SSI Schaefer's flexible solutions. As a result, Fresh Servant benefits from high availability and maximum process efficiency - and is ideally prepared for further positive business development.

Fully automated storage in the SSI Cuby Shuttle warehouse

The SSI Cuby shuttle system is the heart of the automation solution and creates a total of 10,500 container storage locations in two aisles. In addition to the enormous storage capacity, the SSI Cuby shuttle storage system ensures a seamless material flow at ideal temperatures: 58 shuttles enable fast and safe storage and retrieval of the ready-to-eat fresh salads in the refrigerated warehouse. A conveyor system transports the containers from the packaging lines to the SSI Cuby Shuttle warehouse, from where they are then sent fully automatically for picking. Thanks to this connection to the warehouse pre-zone and the goods-to-person work stations, Fresh Servant can significantly increase its throughput with the new system.

Ergonomic and efficient: pick-by-light picking

At Fresh Servant, everything revolves around tasty and healthy products of the highest quality. However, it is not only the well-being of its customers that is important to the company, but also that of its own employees. For this reason, particular emphasis was placed on ergonomic workstations in the manual areas of the new logistics solution: In a flexible picking area, which is suitable for one to five people depending on the workload, medium and slow movers are picked using the pick-by-light system. To guarantee smooth processes, a separate empty container buffer is also available. After picking, the customer containers are then returned to the SSI Cuby Shuttle warehouse and brought to the palletizing area by conveyor system at the time of dispatch. The finished pallets are then transported to the outgoing goods area by forklift truck.