Spanish retailer opts for robotic order picking

Mercadona is investing in new warehouse technology at its Guadix distribution centre. To achieve improved efficiency and customer satisfaction, Mercadona has awarded Cimcorp the contract to supply the automation system for full-crate picking.

The scope of supply includes order-picking robots for fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as for meat products. The total material flow will be controlled by Cimcorp's warehouse management software, WCS. Cimcorp will also take care of the installation and start up.

The system, which will start operation once the construction of the new logistics building is finished at the end of 2013, is based on Cimcorp's order processing island concept. The island is self-sufficient, taking care of goods reception; put-away; location of stored items; retrieval planning; picking of crates; sorting and preparation of crates into discrete orders; and loading of the orders onto transport units ready for delivery.

"Due to very fast order processing with Cimcorp's robots, our customers in retail and food & beverage are able to shorten lead times, which is a critical factor for perishable products with limited shelf lives," says Markku Vesa, CEO of Cimcorp Oy.

3D Shuttle challenges warehouse automation conventions
In a further development, Cimcorp has introduced the 3D Shuttle, a full-scale robotic storage and retrieval solution for totes that offers the ultimate in simplicity and efficiency, and is about to revolutionise goods-to-man order picking, according to the manufacturer.

Designed for improving productivity in retail, foodservice and e-commerce distribution centres, the Cimcorp 3D Shuttle is described as a simple, yet highly efficient and high-tech order picking automation solution. One of the major advantages of the system is that it enables – as the first in the world, according to the company – the use of floor-based storage with no racking.

"The benefits of the Cimcorp 3D Shuttle are twofold," says Cimcorp's Sales Manager, Jarno Honkanen. "Operating in a ‘rack-free' storage envelope with no space-wasting aisles, it allows superb flexibility as well as lower investment costs. In addition, the novel high-speed goods-to-man solution offers extremely high throughput rates and 100% sequencing, minimising idle time."

Up to 1,000 totes per hour
Instead of creating a complex retrieval system to answer the challenges of modern-day order picking, Cimcorp has aimed for simplicity. According to Honkanen, less equipment and simple-to-use solutions equal productivity, reliability and cost-efficiency.

"The Cimcorp 3D Shuttle disposes of the need for massive conveyor sequencers. Where others offer multiple machines to boost efficiency, Cimcorp can do it with just one automation solution.”

The 3D Shuttle solution uses gantry robot technology, combined with a shuttle device to store and retrieve totes required for order fulfilment. It can retrieve up to 1,000 totes per hour from the storage area, and infeed capacities can exceed 5,000 totes per hour.

"The Cimcorp 3D Shuttle is fully scalable and can therefore be designed to meet the exact needs of each customer. It can take care of the entire operations of a distribution centre or, alternatively, it may operate as an ‘island of automation' within a manual facility," explains Honkanen.