Fresh food imperative

PART OF Edeka Group, the largest German supermarket chain, Edeka Freienbrink is on a mission to distribute fresh food to its 488 stores around Berlin and Brandenburg quickly and efficiently. The goal is to deliver fresh produce to the stores within 4-5 hours of receiving the order, and Edeka is relying on the automation expertise of Cimcorp Group to achieve this.

Fresh produce has a limited shelf life and the longer it takes to get to the store, the greater the chance that it will spoil or lose its nutritional value. 

Edeka Minden-Hannover operations manager Rene Klaus, explains: “The system has to run. We are very time-bound and any delay in the process could mean that we could not supply our customers with the quantity that they would like to have, and that cannot happen.”

Order data is received at the Freienbrink DC around 11.30am and picking starts in the system at midday. The drivers arrive an hour later and wait for the goods to be loaded into their vehicles. They usually deliver the produce to the stores in Berlin first, and the goal is to have the goods in the stores by 8.00am the next morning. 

With Cimcorp's automation expertise, Edeka is enjoying fast and efficient deliveries of fresh produce without picking errors or delays. “From Freienbrink’s DC, we serve a total of 488 stores, 416 of which have their fruit and vegetables handled by the Cimcorp solution,” says Rene Klaus. 

The automated solution comprises three fresh food modules equipped with Cimcorp’s overhead gantry robots. “The modularity guarantees the maximum functionality of the system through redundancy,” adds Jarno Honkanen (pictured), director of solution management at Cimcorp. “The individual module can be emptied – for example, during cleaning – without interrupting the entire flow of materials in the logistics centre.”

The robots handle food crates that are stacked on the floor. This means there is no need for expensive racking. It also means that crates can be moved to another module to clear the floor for cleaning, ensuring a high standard of hygiene.

The Cimcorp system takes care of the heavy lifting and physical work, allowing Edeka to rely on fewer people at the facility. With labour availability often an issue in warehousing today, this makes the DC easier to manage.

“The picking must be done on time,” explains Rene Klaus. “We work from Sunday to Friday. The produce always leaves in the afternoon. In terms of personnel, it means finding people to work weekends and holidays. These positions are becoming harder to fill.” 

By taking over monotonous, repetitive and physically demanding tasks, automation can reduce the risk of injuries caused by manual labour. Automation leads to a safer, healthier and more comfortable work environment for employees at Edeka Freienbrink, allowing them to focus on tasks that require problem solving and critical thinking.

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Rene Klaus predicts that all heavy lifting and physically exhausting work will be done by machines in the future, with people needed to handle the control. “We have a vast quantity and range of products that we need to handle as fast as possible. The Cimcorp system is extremely helpful in moving, distributing and locating them. Automation is definitely the future,” he says.

As the demand for faster and more efficient distribution of fresh food continues to grow, Edeka Freienbrink is looking to increase automation and its partnership with Cimcorp will continue to play a vital role in helping the company meet these demands.

For more information, visit www.cimcorp.com