Schou, the largest Scandinavian retailer of non-food items, has commissioned SSI SCHÄFER as a general contractor for their new automated logistics centre in Kolding, Denmark. The company’s business is B2B selling to the majority of Nordic retail chains and foreign retail customers.
SSI SCHÄFER was selected because of its flexibility in offering and a solution-based approach. The contractor suggested a few key changes to the layout to reach higher project output at optimized costs.
Schou has been supporting its operations from a manual warehouse so far. The company identified the need for automation of the processes considering the recent growth and future expansion plans. Automation will help the wholesaler to save money and efficiently utilize the available facility’s space. While manual shelves can only go as high as 12 meters, for automated storage “the sky is the limit”. Therefore, as soon as the new facility is ready, Schou will move their entire operations and storage there from multiple smaller manual logistics centres.
The new building is divided into 7 functional areas completing the cycle from receiving goods to shipping them to customers. SSI SCHÄFER is contracted to deliver 5 of the areas and to ensure 39,792 storage locations at the HBW.
The goods receiving zone will be equipped with a wrapper machine to pack pallets in plastic for more secure movement and storage. There will also be a NOK station in order to efficiently control and correct any minor errors of the goods. The pallets will then be delivered to 42 meters tall automated HBW by a conveying system. The goods will be picked up by 6 Exyz pallet cranes and placed for double-deep storage.
Schou requested SSI SCHÄFER to build 2 functional zones for shipping – a direct automated outfeed and a campaign picking area. The campaign picking zone will be utilized for large volume sales or special campaigns. This outfeed is intended for manual forklift picking for shipping at 60 positions. However, the positions will be filled automatically preventing out of stock situations. The second outfeed area, located opposite the truck gates, consists of 7 conveyors and is intended for direct shipping.
The new warehouse by SSI SCHÄFER will serve as a full-cycle logistics centre to support the business. The project will be wrapped up and handed over to the customer in summer 2023.
SSI SCHÄFER, October 2021