Intelligent Automation Solution: Transmec Increases Picking Performance by 50 percent

Scalable overall solution from a single source

The Transmec Group, headquartered in Northern Italy, is one of Europe’s largest logistics service provides with 800,000 sqm of warehouses and yards. The fast-growing 3PL (Third Party Logistics Provider) focuses on both business and end customers. The picking warehouse built by SSI SCHAEFER as general contractor now combines both distribution worlds under one roof.

The core of the new warehouse is the RackBot System COMPACT – a scalable comprehensive solution consisting of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR), rack systems, bins, work stations and intelligent software.

“One of our core value propositions is therefore to create powerful solutions to meet even the most complex customer requirements in line with market demands,” states Chiara Zoccoli, Project Manager at T-Log, Transmec’s storage division. “We do so by investing in know-how and innovation. The new RackBot System COMPACT is a very good example of this.”

Fully automatic picking using industrial robots

The new picking warehouse provides 13,000 double-deep rack storage locations for small load carriers. A fully integrated swarm of 15 mobile robots ensures a smooth material flow: 10 RunBots are responsible for horizontal transport, while 5 RackBots supply the racks. It is possible to change aisles at any time. Full roaming guarantees top values in terms of availability.

SSI SCHAEFER has seamlessly integrated the goods-to-person solution into the material flow of the building. The storage area is connected via a conveying system. Behind a safety gate, the RunBots pick up the bins and take them to one of the 360 buffer storage locations at a speed of 4 m/s. There, the RackBots take over and store the goods. 

Retrieval is done the other way round: The RackBots pick up the bins from the racks and transport them to the buffer storage locations from where the RunBots convey the goods to one of the two picking stations.

Implementation in only 8 weeks

Installation and commissioning of the RackBot System COMPACT took only eight weeks. SSI SCHAEFER managed all sub-systems from a single source. Special attention was paid to IT integration. Thanks to an intelligent interface environment, Transmec can flexibly integrate their customers' warehouse management systems (WMS). Customer orders now automatically lead to orders for the RackBot System COMPACT. The required work steps can be optimally sequenced to elevate delivery reliability to the highest level.

The 3PL logistics warehouse has been in operation since October 2024. “We consciously chose an online retailer as our first customer. “This way, we had two opportunities for stress tests – Black Friday and the Christmas season – all of which the robot-based warehouse mastered very well,” summarizes Project Manager Chiara Zoccoli, adding: “After these two positive experiences, we added an automotive company as our system‘s second customer.”

“After only three months of start-up time, we have achieved our goal and created a powerful omnichannel solution,” confirms T-Log’s General Manager Simone Corradini, who is already looking ahead to the expansion of the new picking warehouse: “Together with SSI SCHAEFER, we check which additional solutions are suitable for integration into the RackBot System. The goal is to further increase the utilization rate of the facility and offer our customers even better service.”

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