TJ Morris and Witron expand cooperation

The signing of the contract is a particular vote of confidence as Witron will be commissioning a TJ Morris distribution center of similar size in St Helens in May 2025 and has already been awarded the contract to build the distribution center in Doncaster. Witron's technology will enable TJ Morris to maintain high service levels despite their pace of expansion.

Commissioning "logical consequence"

The distribution center in Doncaster is structured in the same way as the distribution center in St Helens, with all product groups and logistics areas - from incoming goods to truck loading - integrated into the highly automated end-to-end process. All processes are controlled by an intelligent Witron warehouse management system. Compactly integrated into the material flow are, among other things, 470,000 pallet, tray and container storage locations, 104 storage and retrieval machines and a total of over 15 kilometers of conveyor technology - all designed and manufactured in Witron's own value creation at the company headquarters in Parkstein.

Picking of 646,000 retail units daily

The mechanized system is designed for a daily picking capacity of 646,000 retail units. These are picked by the logistics modules Order Picking Machinery (OPM) with 32 COM machines, Dynamic Picking System (DPS) and the semi-automated Car Picking System (CPS). The dispatch of the picked load carriers is optimized by a fully automated outgoing goods buffer - "just-in-time", sorted by tours and branches, in the optimum truck loading sequence, taking into account the storage space utilization on the truck.

"In addition to the benefits for consumers in the stores, a decisive criterion for TJ Morris was also the focus on the employees who will work with Witron technology in the distribution center in the future. They will benefit from modern, ergonomic workstations, which represents an enormous competitive advantage in times of a shortage of skilled workers," explains Duncan Pointon, Witron Sales Manager responsible for the UK. "In addition, the issue of sustainability is addressed in many ways - e.g. through significant carbon dioxide savings due to densely packed load carriers, optimal truck utilization and fewer truck journeys. Furthermore, through space savings in construction and a significant reduction in surplus goods, breakage and waste."