Witron enables fully automated picking at food retailer
July 30th 2009 Migros, the largest food retailer in Switzerland with a turnover of some 17 billion Euros, awarded Witron Logistik + Informatik the order to implement its OPM system in Suhr. With OPM (Order Picking Machinery), it will be possible to economically and efficiently automate the entire in-house supply chain from receiving through shipping. After ramp-up of the system in April 2011, Migros will have the capability to supply some 600 stores throughout Switzerland using the state-of-the-art logistics center in Suhr.
As general contractor, Witron will not only design and implement the logistics system. Its subsidiary FAS will produce and install the tray conveyor system, tray stacker cranes and COM machines.
This order further expands the long-lasting partnership between both companies.
"With this new picking system, Migros will be able to develop additional business areas and expand existing ones. The continuously increasing market requirements can be perfectly covered with the dynamic functionalities of the OPM system. This investment is another step into a healthy and lasting future of the MVS (Migros Verteilzentrum Suhr)”, says Daniel Waltenspühl, head of the MVS.
The system is composed of a 56-aisle tray warehouse with 285,000 tray locations. In the future, some 315,000 cases from a dry assortment consisting of 4,500 different SKUs will be picked each day with 28 COM machines. These 28 COM machines will produce store-friendly pallets. Since the entire order picking will be done without human intervention, it will be free from any pick errors. The existing high bay warehouse that was implemented by Witron in 2002 will serve as a replenishment warehouse consisting of 68,000 pallet locations. A part of the former system will also be used for the handling of special offers, as a buffer warehouse for dispatch pallets and for the receiving and goods issue processing.
The realisation of the project will be both a logistical and architectural masterpiece. The compact footprint of Witron’s OPM will allow the new storage area to be erected on the roof of the existing logistics center.
With the decision for OPM, Migros relies on a warehouse and picking system that has established itself as an efficient and extremely successful solution for the food retail market throughout the world since 2003. Including the Migros project, Witron has sold 286 COMs in 17 projects for retail companies in Germany, Switzerland, Spain, the US and Canada.
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