TGW implements a complex logistics centre with four areas on one of the biggest construction sites in Switzerland. The Swiss food company Coop in Schafisheim accepts the "Coop General Goods" area as the first subproject. Since June 2013 the distribution centre has been built – since January 2016 Coop has been shipping flowers and plants, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, general goods as well as products from the bakery and confectionery from the TGW distribution centre.
The large-scale project for the gigantic Coop logistics centre was started four years ago in an area of 110,000 square metres. With an order value of about 100 million Euros, the project became the biggest order in the history of TGW at that time.
"General Goods" for central Switzerland
In the accepted area "General Products", flowers and plants, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, general goods as well as products from the bakery and confectionery are picked. In addition, the shipping area and buffer of those departments and of the cooling machine are in that building complex. The logistics centre implemented by TGW is equipped with a conveyor system for pallets and roller containers in the entire building connecting various goods receiving areas, the high-bay warehouse with approximately 4,000 storage locations for Euro pallets, the picking as well as the shipping areas and is arranged over six floors that are connected by 32 lifts in total. A bridge with a length of 160 metres connects two building complexes.
The distribution centre is in operation 24/7. When the full operation starts in spring 2017, about 13,000 roller containers and 2,000 Euro pallets will be provided in the shipping areas via the material handling system every day.
The entire modification and extension of the existing building were implemented during live operation. The biggest challenges were the extent of the overall project COOP in Schafisheim, the system's high degree of automation and the complex arrangement of the four interdependent subprojects.
Harald Stallinger, Managing Director at TGW Systems Integration is excited about this first success: "An important milestone has been reached. The acceptance of the other subprojects Empty Packs Centre & Bakery as well as Cooling Machine and Freezer Logistics will follow. We are happy about the good teamwork between our employees, the planners, suppliers and the entire Coop team. We can be proud of our achievement!"
