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ASRS System
Model: Carlsberg
Category: Automatic/Industrial Machines & Equipments / Automated Machinery & Equipments / Automatic Material Handling Equipment
Characteristics
High throughput to Quench Europe’s thirst
Carlsberg awarded SSI Schäfer the contract for the new production and distribution center due to their concept for a sophisticated logistics solution in the beverage industry. The 76,000 pallet storage positions, pallet conveyor system with monorail and Schäfer Compact Cranes (SCC) as well as a precisely tailored warehouse management system by SSI Schäfer provide transparent, efficient processes and a high throughput.
The new production and distribution center near Fredericia is the largest investment project in the history of Carlsberg breweries. The historical Danish companies production facility encompass about two square kilometer, half of that area. After an international tender, the contract for design, planning and building of the system was awarded to the intralogistics specialists of SSI Schäfer, Giebelstadt.
SSI Schäfer completed one of the most modern and outstanding beverage logistics sys-tems in the world for Carlsberg. The concept and service range from implementation planning, rack construction for the high bay warehouse (HBW) and a special "in-house-rack" along with the connection to the bottling plant via monorail. Furthermore, the ware-house management is handled by the software system of SSI Schäfer. Its special capabilities provide efficient processes for yard management, replenishment of production lines and order picking as well as the sequential allocation of outgoing goods.
"One of the most interesting projects that we have realized as a general contractor for logistics so far,” says Peter Lambrecht, project manager for SSI Schäfer. The biggest challenge was the tight schedule. The plant was supposed to be completed and ready for a gradual start up within 14 months of placing the contract. "Given the size of the project that is approximately six month under plan" says Lambrecht. A large platform construction in the main hall, the in-house rack, an eight-aisle rack system, and the WMS, linked to Carlsberg’s SAP-inventory management system, were all installed in an existing building during running operations. "In order to provide an executable version of the accurately tailored WMS with SAP-interface, IT-developing, test and simulation programs took place simultaneously to the installation of the hardware in Fredericia," says Lambrecht.
Since November 2008, the plant in Fredericia is running at full capacity and the old ware-houses in Copenhagen were consolidated in the new distribution center. "Completely automated processes from receipt of empties to goods issuing", says Lars G. Hansen, director of the project. "At the same time, the performance of the system is ideally tai-lored to our high standard throughput as well as the requirements during peak times."
Up to 65 trucks fore rear unloading + 60 sideunloading trucks + train with 2 x 28 trailers, from eastern Denmark a day deliver approximately 5000 - 6000 pallets of empties from all over Europe. Starting at the acceptance of empties the pallets are inserted into the conveyor system loop via 13 infeed stations. Identification of empties and transfer to one of the two monorail loops - one for beer cases, the other for soft drinks is done via video capture.
Booth monorail loops transport the pallets into the production facility. The production facility is connected to the logistics center via a special bridge for the monorail. Schaefer overcame the vertical height between the levels shipping warehouse and Carlsberg-production with a serpentine track located beside the warehouse. In the production facility, the pallets are taken off automatically and are de-stacked by pallet stackers. The bottles and cases are cleaned, checked for damages and then forwarded to the bottling plant.
The production facility is equipped with an eight-aisle "in-house rack" that holds 6,000 pallet storage positions for single-deep storing intended as a buffer for empties of soft drinks as well as for a small part of the production. The mini high-bay warehouse is inte-grated into the conveyor loop for soft drinks, as well. The eight Schäfer Compact Cranes (SCC) provide storage and retrieval for up to 250 pallets per hour. Without the special SRM design of SSI Schäfer, this automated in-house-HBW constructed within an existing complex of buildings would have been very difficult to enact. Unlike conventional SRMs, these compact machines are not positioned via the open roof, but are delivered as a completely pre-assembled component, from bottom carriage to mast stub and hoist platform, including the traveling drive and switch cabinet. This enables them to be trans-ported and installed through access portals. An additional asset of the system is that the high standardization of the SCC-components ensures high availability as well as short assembly and commissioning times. This was another advantage with a high payoff in light of the tight schedule of the Carlsberg project. "For this reason the flexible building concept of the SCC has proven to be important and in line with the market" reasons Lambrecht.
The two monorail loops also transport the cases and kegs filled and palletized on the production lines back to the logistics center. SSI Schäfer installed a four kilometer track for the automatic transport system, its buffer and transfer stations. Roughly 280 trolleys, that yield a turnover of approximately 3,000 double cycles per hour, are located on the guide rails of the two loops.
The 9,000 square meter HBW has 18 aisles containing 70,000 storing positions for beve-rage pallets ready for dispatch, each of them designed for a maximum weight of up to 1,000 kilogram. The 18 SRMs in the HBW are equipped with two telescopic forks each and achieve an hourly handling capacity of up to 700 pallets for storage and 800 pallets for retrieval processes.
Retrieval takes place based on orders. Besides the allocation of entire pallets, there are two material flow lines for order picking installed. One of them facilitates the fully auto-mated compilation of mixed pallets. A newly installed pallet conveyor system supplies the separate sorting stations with retrieved pallets from the high-bay warehouse. A partially automated, manual picking area is installed for the compilation of cases that are not homogeneous.
Another distinctive feature is that the monorail and the majority of the pallet conveyor system are located on the second level of the plant. Approximately 50 vertical conveyors are used for the transport to and from the filling machines as well as for the transfer to the dispatch and goods issuing areas. In the latter the shipments are consolidated automatically and the pallet conveyor system then forwards them to the loading bays. There, fork lifts take over the palletized beverage cases and kegs to load them onto trucks. The roofed loading area offers protection against adverse weather.
Overall, SSI Schäfer installed 2,000 conveyor system elements, roller conveyors, chain conveyors, lifting-transfer units, pivoting roller conveyors or shuttle vehicles in the new Carlsberg distribution center. The WMS, which controls supply and replenishment of both production lines as well as order and yard management, the entire material flow processes and the sequential allocation combined with the two monorail loops provides an efficient, transparent flow of goods with a high throughput. "Despite the very aggres-sive schedule, the words co-operation partner and partnership were characteristic throughout the entire project", Lars G. Hansen, director of the project sums up. "The bot-tom line, an very good performance, that fully met our expectations."
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