Fully automated case picking project in the perishable and frozen goods area For almost 10 years now, WITRON Integrated Logistics and the Canadian food retailer Sobeys have maintained a close partnership. With two warehouse automation projects jointly realized in Vaughan, Ontario and Terrebonne, Quebec the two companies are about to add another chapter to this success story. In mid-May 2014, both companies signed a contract to extend the existing dry grocery facility in Ontario by adding a fully automated case picking system for fresh and frozen goods. The numbers are again impressive: the new facility will have a footprint of approximately 245,000 square feet. The fully automated case picking system called OPM (Order Picking Machinery) is designed to handle a daily peak picking performance of almost 170,000 cases. The article range covers about 3,800 different products. Moreover, an automated shipping buffer will optimize the entire dispatch process. The warehouse will supply 783 stores with frozen goods and 829 stores with perishable products. Productive use of the distribution center is scheduled for fall 2016. WITRON will implement two of its systems into the new Sobeys Distribution Center extension – the Case Picking System (CPS) and the above mentioned Order Picking Machinery (OPM). Both systems are currently being operated in the existing Sobeys dry grocery facilities. The OPM system is literally a fully automated case picking solution as almost all processes apart from unloading and loading the trailers at shipping and receiving are automated. Thus, the system virtually eliminates picking labor in within the DC. The benefits of such a system extend beyond the DC, with a reduction in effort to fill store shelves as a result of store-friendly pallets. In addition, transportation benefits can be realized from improved order pallet density. All of these benefits are made possible through WITRON’s […]