TGW speeds up Belgian grocery specialist UpFresh
(Marchtrenk, 4 April 2022) TGW is building a high-performance fulfillment center for UpFresh in the harbor city of Ostend, with completion scheduled for November 2023. Automation will allow maximum flexibility and help the Belgian grocery specialist meet its ambitious growth targets.
UpFresh is one of Belgium's leading grocery distributors, supplying over 2,700 shops with meat, cheese, salads, and convenience products. Speed is central to the B2B specialist's business model. Customers can place orders seven days a week; those who place their orders before 6 p.m. can expect to receive their fresh goods the very next day.
The core element of the system will be a three-aisle shuttle warehouse that will maintain a temperature of 35 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. This will serve not only for goods storage, but also as a buffer for empty totes and order totes. Orders will be picked at three high-performance PickCenter One workstations.
Robots will handle the fully automated process of putting pallets together, as well as depalletizing empty totes. The individual areas of the fulfillment center will be connected by almost one mile of energy-efficient KingDrive® conveyors. All processes will be planned, controlled, and monitored by TGW Warehouse Software, which will act as both the Warehouse Control System (WCS) and Material Flow Controller (MFC).
The new distribution center will help UpFresh meet its growth targets and further establish a foundation of quick, reliable service. The solution will also allow maximum flexibility, which will sustainably reduce operating costs.
"We have been working closely with the customer to develop a solution tailored to UpFresh's needs," says Hans De Sutter, Managing Director at TGW Benelux. "The installation's layout is designed to be fit for the future: it can be quickly expanded to double the performance, if needed."
