System lets Asda streamline online order picking

Exmac Automation is helping Asda change the way it picks online grocery orders at its new Home Shopping Centre in Morley, near Leeds, which now delivers to households previously covered by Asda stores in Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield.

The Home Shopping Centre uses an Exmac belt and roller conveyor system to transfer merchandise from a mezzanine floor to a despatch point on the ground floor, enabling online orders to be picked and processed; and shopping baskets compiled. The 50,000 sq ft centre, which carries the full range of products but is closed to the public, is dedicated to Asda's fast growing online shopping business and is expected to complete twice as many orders per hour and give customers a fourfold increase in the number of delivery slots.

Commenting on the installation, an Asda spokesman says: "The Exmac conveyor system plays an important role in maintaining the efficiency of our first Home Shopping Centre and will help us increase the reach of our home shopping business, which currently is able to deliver to 94% of the UK." The conveyor systems are designed to handle a tote every 2.5 seconds and are equipped with a touch-panel HMI (Human/Machine Interface).