Dalsgaard, distribution manager at the
Odense facility. “We had to learn how
to use the technology. For us, it was like
learning how to use a hammer.”
A HIGH-SPEED HIGH BAY
Today, the fulfillment process unfolds
swiftly with minimal human intervention. Upon arrival at the facility, all pallet
loads are checked for structural integrity
to ensure they can stand up to automated
processing. If a problem is discovered, the
load is transferred to a slave pallet, which
is a non-shipping pallet reserved for internal use. Pallet conveyors then whisk most
of the received goods directly to storage in
the high-bay warehouse.
The rack-supported building that surrounds the high bay was added to the
original factory building in 2010. The
high bay itself consists of 12 aisles divided
into three blocks. Twelve storage cranes
travel along the aisles to gather inbound
pallets and retrieve other loads needed for
orders. The cranes can handle about 500
pallets an hour, moving them in and out
of the more than 36,000 storage positions
found on 17 rack levels.
Some of the higher-demand products
from the high bay ship as full pallets
to the stores. Other pallets are pulled
from the high bay to restock a three-level low-bay warehouse, where case-level
picking of slower-moving items is performed. Conveyors transport pallets of
faster-moving SKUs to goods-to-person workstations, where case and piece
picking take place. Replenishment of the
various picking areas is accomplished
quickly, as a pallet can be pulled from
AS/RS storage and be readied for picking
within six to 11 minutes, depending on
the destination.
The Odense facility operates three shifts
daily, five days a week. Order fulfillment is
prioritized based on cut-off times, which
depend on the distance the order has to
be transported.
NO TRAVEL REQUIRED
Approximately 600 orders are filled daily
at the Odense facility. Each of the three
blocks of the high-bay AS/RS warehouse
has a goods-to-person picking station
attached to it. Up to two workers can
ogy. The heart of the system is an
automated storage and retrieval sys-
tem (AS/RS) that holds most goods
and provides timely replenishment
to various order fulfillment areas.
Schaefer also supplied the equip-
ment as well as the management and
control software.
Moving from manual facilities to
a sophisticated automated operation
required more than just turning on
a switch. It also meant a new way
of thinking about how goods are
processed.
“We had to learn how to have
a high bay,” explains Henrik
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