At the same time, the retrieval capacity of the entire system was increased by 150 pallets to 400 pallets per hour and the fresh storage capacity by 700 pallet spaces. After the contract was awarded in March 2020, the western expansion of Switzerland's largest mozzarella producer and fifth-largest milk processor, which invested more than CHF 10 million, went into operation in December 2021.

Products at the cutting edge

Züger Frischkäse AG has passed on its knowledge of cheese production within the family. Father Edwin Züger wanted to produce the still little-known fresh cheese products. In 1984, the first Züger mozzarella was ready for the market. Fresh cheese products are still in vogue today. In addition to mozzarella, the company also produces butter, cream cheese, mascarpone, ricotta and quark, shepherd's cheese, cottage cheese and grilled and fried cheese.

Christof and Markus Züger have launched new specialties and various convenience products on the market, such as the vegan "Züger MozzaVella". The company uses state-of-the-art technology such as a coagulator and extensive automation. 50 percent of the products are exported, the main customer being Germany. The company processes between 400 and 450 tons of milk every day, around 20 percent of which is organic. After doubling the volume within ten years, the company is planning to expand its capacity again in the next few years. "We want to use the latest technologies to continuously develop our company and thus meet the ever faster changing needs of our customers," says Christof Züger.

Logistically scaled up for high production volumes

René Giger from Westfalia Sales Switzerland has been supporting the company's intralogistics automation since 2006. In 2010, Westfalia's first order was the realization of the compact automated fresh food warehouse with 2,500 pallet spaces. The intralogistics specialist has now extended this to the west in what is now the fourth major order. "We had to increase throughput in order to handle the growing number of products through the facility," says René Giger, describing the challenge. "We also had to store more packaging material to cope with rising prices, raw material shortages, availability and longer delivery times. The 700 additional fresh food storage spaces were an obvious choice due to the compact layout." The self-supporting silo design saves costs for the hall construction.

There were previously six vertical conveyors (SKF) for the daily throughput of approx. 2000 pallets. René Giger: "We have installed two more single-column SKFs and connected them with conveyor technology on five levels. The lifts are equipped with roller conveyors on turntables. Load units can be picked up and transferred from the front and side." The SKFs transport an additional 150 pallets per hour at up to 90 meters per minute over a lifting height of 24.5 meters and also increase the storage capacity from production and packaging tasks.

Placed on the roof for space reasons

The high number of vertical conveyors is a special feature of the storage system: "Due to the limited space available, our storage technology with ^Satellit® was a must for the logistics solution right from the start - we built all three warehouses on the former roof," says Giger. This is because the particularly compact, multi-deep warehouses with up to five levels can be tailored to fit into tight spaces.

"After the fresh food warehouse at 4 °C with 115 x 15 x 11 meters, we installed the deep-freeze warehouse at -18 °C with 30 x 24 x 11 meters and 1,400 storage spaces in 2012. This was followed in 2014 by the packaging warehouse with 40 x 34 x 11 meters and approx. 3,000 rack spaces for pallets. We have thus automated the company's internal intralogistics processes."

The system is designed for Euro pallets made of wood and plastic, for plastic pallet boxes and for load units up to 1.3 meters wide, 0.9 meters deep and 1.8 meters high. In refrigerated and deep-freeze storage, they weigh up to one ton, while the packaging material units weigh up to 250 kg each. Westfalia has installed all the components of its storage systems, including its own programmable logic controller (PLC) and its key satellite technology, at Züger, including two transverse transfer carriages for the picking zone.

The four storage and retrieval machines each transport approx. 60 pallets per hour in double cycles and are equipped with the chain satellite load handling device. To double the access frequency in the fresh goods warehouse, two stacker cranes run on one rail. Each warehouse manages with one aisle, which reduces energy consumption and maintenance costs.
Westfalia's Savanna.NET warehouse execution system generates up to 8,000 transport orders a day at Züger. It combines warehouse management and warehouse controlling - "with all project-specific features such as 2 stacker cranes on one rail or a vertical conveyor with two load handling devices on top of each other," explains Christian Goltermann, Sales Manager Software & IT at Westfalia. "It exchanges data with the CSB host system, automatically fills and empties a blast chilling zone, supplies a picking zone and the three different product and temperature zones: fresh, frozen and normal temperature for packaging."

In addition to the software, Westfalia implemented additional TERRA Savanna workstations as clients of the CSB host system. 20 TERRA workstations are distributed throughout the plant. The system was retrofitted with six control scanners in order to eliminate data misalignment between warehouse management and the material flow computer.

Sustainable warehouse automation for higher productivity

The gradual expansion of the automated storage system in a confined space is in line with the company's development, explains Silvan Egger, the responsible project manager at Züger Frischkäse AG. "Although we built the first warehouse back in 2010, we were able to upgrade and retrofit it and bring it up to date. This expandability has great advantages for the company and its development. The current expansion has enabled us to massively increase productivity. Trucks no longer have to wait for their pallets."

The long-standing cooperation has proven its worth: "Thanks to their specific expertise, we have the best solution for us. This also includes a spare parts warehouse that is as simple as possible and the same components as in previous years. We work with the same, long-standing Westfalia employees. Ideas and improvements could be implemented in the ongoing project. And we were able to integrate the new system perfectly into the existing system." He would therefore definitely recommend the intralogistics specialist, says the project manager. "Westfalia is a highly specialized SME with very competent employees. The company has a high level of vertical integration, which means that it not only buys everything in, but is also a system manufacturer. Westfalia manufactures its own products and the storage and retrieval machines are robust and durable. All control technology solutions have also been developed and implemented in-house with us."