FEATURE LOGISTICS
AUTOMATED INTRALOGISTICS streamlines online retail business
A growth of drive-in supermarket concepts in the UK is driving the need for automated intralogistics solutions. Richard Price of Kardex Remstar discusses the benefits
O
nline food sales in Great Britain last year accounted for around 3% of
overall turnover in the food sector. Many customers have their ordered goods delivered but a growing number are picking up their food from drive-in supermarkets. To be successful on a long-term basis such shopping concepts require automated intralogistics processes. British grocery chains are some of the most innovative online suppliers of food in Europe. Tesco, for instance, has been active in this sales channel since 2000 while ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose have acquired a liking for drive-in shopping concepts. Two major British grocery chains are
currently planning or already realising around 250 drive-ins. Most are located at traffic junctions where many commuters drive past on their journey to and from work.
DRIVE-IN SUPERMARKETS However, drive-in supermarkets in Great Britain have some catching up to do; France is world leader in this sector. Yet while the British grocery chains are pursuing an offensive strategy in relation to drive-ins, the Germans are still dragging their heels. Accordingly, in Europe, Great Britain is next in line after France. The US however, normally a trendsetter and home of the McDonald’s drive-in, is lagging some way behind. The fact that drive-ins are developing
at different rates in various countries is down to people’s mindset and
S12 MAY/JUNE 2014 | MATERIALS HANDLING & LOGISTICS
preferences and the specific market environment of the retail sector.
SUCCESS FACTORS In a procedure that is still often widely practiced, employees process the order manually, running up and down long aisles of standard shelves to gather the online order in baskets. Some drive-in supermarkets have recognised the inefficiency of this approach and taken measures to counter it by partially automating their intralogistics. After all, the storage concepts are essentially similar to those of the drive-ins. Standard structures consist of several storage zones: dry goods, fresh and deep-frozen. The quantity of goods in stock and thus the throughput rate and storage capacity is based on the size of the catchment area. Furthermore, the choice of facility depends on whether a manual, semi-automated or fully automated storage system is used, the space available and the ceiling height. High ceilings tend to require vertical storage systems including carousels or lift systems; low ceilings need horizontal arrangements. Such automated carousel systems are up to four meters high and have a load capacity of up to 60 tons. Several can be configured together. In the dry goods area; two stations each with four horizontal carousels are recommended. This arrangement is proven in the drive-in sector and guarantees an extensive mix of products with high frequency access.
Carousels receive the order from the internal storage system or via the order documents processed by the picker using a bar code scanner. They take the shortest route to the access opening where the picker takes out the article according to the position indicator and confirms the quantity of goods taken.
AUTOMATED INTRALOGISTICS The picker turns around and uses a pick- to-light system to identify in which of the boxes behind on the conveyor belt the goods belong. Automation of large parts of the intralogistics process in accordance with the ‘goods to person’ principle can serve most demands. It increases efficiency by around 30% compared to a pure shelf solution. Such solutions ultimately optimise the
intralogistics process. The carousels automatically seek the shortest route to the next product; the picker must never stand around waiting because the carousels alternately deliver their goods to the access openings; the picker is able to pack several orders in the boxes at once (multi-order picking); and with the help of a coloured light system it is even possible for a second picker to increase throughput rate. It is estimated that an ROI for an automated intralogistics solution can be seen within four years.
Richard Price, sales director UK and Ireland, Kardex Remstar
Kardex T: +41 (0)44 386 44 10
www.kardex.com Enter 307
/ MATERIALSHANDLINGLOGISTICS
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