Switzerland's largest furniture retailer needs efficient material handling operations. And TGW will contribute to that by implementing an automatic mini-load warehouse at the Swiss site located in Suhr. This automatic warehouse with more than 75,000 storage locations will accommodate a large part of the boutique assortment of the Möbel Pfister AG. In contrast to the so far implemented "person-to-goods" picking method with industrial trucks for the boutique assortment, the investment into the automatic mini-load warehouse will provide for "shelf-ready" supplies to the 20 Pfister stores, contributing to a significant increase in efficiency of the material handling operations.
What started as a family business in 1882 with a furniture and bedding store including a workshop, turned into a Swiss success story. With about 1,500 employees, the Möbel Pfister AG has evolved into Switzerland's largest furniture and interior design specialist. With 20 stores and the largest online and mobile shop, filled with more than 14,000 products, in the Swiss furnishing business, Pfister offers inspiration and 24/7 shopping pleasure.
The extension of Pfister's existing logistics centre by an automatic mini-load warehouse provides the basis for implementing the required material handling potential. Besides the shelf-ready replenishment of the stores and the resulting reduction of the times needed to search and distribute the goods in the store, the erection of the automatic warehouse will deliver additional storage space, allowing for a more efficient handling of the furniture assortment in the existing distribution centre. The automatic mini-load warehouse will be erected in silo construction design, which means the racks with a capacity of 75,460 storage locations will assume the load-bearing function of the building. In this project, TGW will prove its system integrator competency. The team will not only provide the storage and conveyor equipment including intelligent software, but also the silo cladding.
The software needed to control the automatic warehouse will be synchronised with the software of project partner Wanko used to control the manual warehousing processes. Furthermore, systems integrator TGW will carry out all preparatory work for the photovoltaic, smoke and heat exhaust installations as well as the lighting protection system.
Seven TGW Magito stacker cranes will store and retrieve the company's textile and home accessories assortment. TGW's new KingDrive® conveyor technology will ensure fast and reliable material handling operations. A special feature of the new system is the possibility of overloading the totes, enabling an ergonomic access to the products. After commissioning in 2015, the automatic mini-load warehouse will be among Switzerland's most modern warehouses.
