The national logistics division of Swiss food retailer Migros is expanding its highly automated dry goods distribution centre in Suhr with WITRON.
The integration of 14 additional COM machines into the existing solution during ongoing operations is a logistical, architectural, and sustainable masterpiece.
The logistics area required for this is being built on the roof of the dispatch station, which is adjacent to Migros Verteilbetrieb AG (MVB), Suhr, so that no additional space needs to be sealed for the expansion.
Starting in the third quarter of 2027, the additional technology will enable MVB to pick almost 132,000 additional cases onto store pallets fully automatically every day.
The facility in Suhr will then pick more than 560,000 cases on a peak day using a total of 47 COM machines in combination with WITRON’s DPS and ATS solutions.
The project known as 'FOODTURA' was a challenging task for WITRON’s logistics designers, as only 7,000 square metres were available for the expansion.
A total of 14 fully automated picking machines, 116,000 tray storage locations, 28 stacker cranes, six depalletisers, and four stretch wrappers had to be integrated - spread over two levels.
Given these specifications, MVB and all architects involved have elaborated a solution that sets standards in terms of both functionality and design.
Additional COM Machines
The new logistics area will be connected to the existing one via a compact conveyor system network.
“MVB has been storing and picking dry goods in Suhr since mid-2011 with a WITRON OPM system at Champions League level”, explained Alexander Schweizer, head of engineering and IT at MVB.
“From there, we currently supply more than 700 stores with 315,000+ cases daily.”
At the end of 2015, an automated solution for the fresh produce and convenience sectors was integrated into the existing building, enabling almost 120,000 cases to be picked every day.
Extensive IT Project In Neuendorf
In addition to the OPM expansion at the Suhr site, the two companies also signed a contract for a comprehensive IT project at the Neuendorf site.
At the beginning of 2021, WITRON successfully implemented one of the world’s most efficient omni-channel distribution centres there as part of a challenging greenfield / brownfield project.
The highly dynamic facility supplies more than 700 stores and many thousands of home shopping customers from a wide near-food / non-food range of 100,000+ different items p.a.
While the automated logistics areas in Neuendorf are already controlled by a WITRON WMS, the upstream and downstream logistics areas (receiving/shipping/returns handling) as well as all interfaces to the Migros SAP system and other higher-level systems (e.g. route planning, container pool management, statistics tools, etc.) have not yet been integrated into the WITRON platform.
As part of the end-of-life process, the existing solution in the near-food/non-food sector is now being successively replaced by a state-of-the-art WITRON WMS during ongoing operations.
The future software suite is impressive end-to-end, offering a high level of warehouse intelligence and excellent usability, tailored to the specific tasks of each worker.
For more information, visit witron.de.
This article was written in partnership with WITRON.
