First UK site with Swisslog’s CaddyPick

Swisslog will act as general contractor for the materials handling elements of a new distribution centre. With this order Swisslog strengthens its position as a leading provider of automated intralogistics solutions for the retail industry.

TJ Morris has over 280 stores throughout the UK and plans to expand to over 700 within the next five years. A new distribution centre that will handle the increased volume and also facilitate distribution in Southern England is soon to be constructed.

First UK site with Swisslog’s CaddyPick

Swisslog will act as general contractor for the materials handling elements of this new distribution centre. The order comprises pallet and light goods cranes and conveyors, including software, and racking. At the heart of the solution lies Swisslog’s CaddyPick semi-automated case order-picking system. The integration of CaddyPick will revolutionise the working environment for TJ Morris, offering simplicity of picking and a clean, quiet atmosphere for operators. The integration is due to start on-site in mid-2014 and be completed in 2015.

TJ Morris operations director Joe Morris says: "Swisslog’s innovative solution design convinced us. It was the decisive factor for us to engage Swisslog for this important growth project.”

The CaddyPick solution concept combines the person-to-goods and zone-to-zone approach and is is based on two modules: Replenishment & warehouse module; and Picking module. It is particularly suited for environments with high picking density. This concept was designed to meet the requirements of the retail industry.

Benefits of the automated solution concept as opposed to manual solutions are said to include:

•Higher picking performance with fewer errors increases quality and efficiency in order fulfillment.

•Automated CaddyPicks eliminate damage/breakage by picking vehicles.

•Comfortable working environment for picking employees since noise and hazards created by pallet jacks and forklifts are eliminated.

•Lower operating costs.

•Increased efficiency thanks to reduction of non-productive times and parallel work on multiple CaddyPicks.

How the concept works
The solution consists of individual subsystems which are interconnected intelligently through software in order to create efficient warehouse processes.

For storing, Vectura stacker cranes are used to automatically replenish the goods along the picking aisles, servicing multiple aisle levels.

For transporting and picking, CaddyPicks automatically transport the order units through the picking aisles. To ensure maximum picking accuracy, the order item is displayed on a screen and highlighted by an LED dot on the floor. A scale integrated into each CaddyPick validates the picking quantity and reports an error if discrepancies occur. For employees, the benefits provided by the CaddyPick concept include shorter walking distances, a team approach and more comfortable working conditions.

The pick aisles integrated in the automated buffer storage can have single or multiple pick aisle floor levels depending on required pick faces and possible replenishment capacity per crane. The buffer locations, typically located above the pick aisles, can be single, double, triple or deeper (satellite car equipped stacker cranes) for optimal building utilisation and stacker crane throughput. Several pick face options are available to reduce the building footprint: 1-tier / tall loads; 2-tier h/ half high loads; and 3-tier and 4-tier layer with Swisslog‘s split-tray system.

In addition, CaddyPicks can accommodate empty pallets and packing materials, which are automatically removed at designated unloading stations and then disposed of.