Thomas Kretz
Managing Director
The automatic refrigeration system is the regional cold storage system for approximately 360 Coop shops in the Northwestern Switzerland-Central Switzerland-Zurich sales region. Coop processes the shop orders for milk and confectionery products as well as meat and fish on a daily basis at +2 °C using a fully-automated and highly dynamic picking solution. This consists of a shuttle warehouse, including automated roll container depalletising in the goods receipt area and roll container loading in the goods issue area.
THE SHORTEST LEAD TIMES The quality of fresh goods is crucial for every consumer. With the shortest lead times, the TGW solution ensures that ordered goods are handled carefully and get to shops as quickly as possible.
SHOP-SPECIFIC PICKING All orders are arranged by the packing pattern generator so that they can be efficiently stored away once they reach the shops.
The products are delivered in standardised plastic crates on roll containers. In the first step, the stacked crates are separated from the roll container in a fully automated process and are then loaded onto trays. The trays are loaded with several units, depending on the size of the crates. The trays are then stored in the shuttle system (60,000 storage locations).
As a highly dynamic picking buffer, the shuttle warehouse has the necessary stock for approx. two days. The plastic crates required for the shop orders are retrieved from stock and transported to stackers in a fully automated process. The TGW Warehouse Software optimises the sequence and calculates the ideal stacking pattern. The stacks are then loaded onto roll containers.
The loaded roll containers are secured and labelled with the shipping label. They are then transported via conveyor system to the goods issue buffer.
The TGW Warehouse Software ensures that all processes run smoothly. It calculates the ideal stacking pattern of the refrigerated goods while taking the following criteria into account: optimal filling level, high stability and short travel distances to supermarkets.
Thanks to fully-automated picking, the workload on employees in the refrigerated working environment is reduced and gentle handling of sensitive goods is ensured.
