Flaschenpost claims to be the first food retailer to combine a system for chilled goods (2 degrees Celsius) with one for non-chilled goods in a single unit. The items from both temperature zones are stored and retrieved fully automatically in containers in the Autostore grid system and brought together in a picking tunnel. There, the employees pick both the chilled and dry goods at an ergonomic height at a goods-to-person picking station and load them for delivery. Thanks to the technical support, the picking performance can be increased more than threefold and the preparation time for orders can be reduced to 120 minutes.
The systems at both sites are comparable in size: in Langenfeld, the articles are stored in 19,000 containers and 43 robots are in use, while in Cologne, according to the company, there are 13,600 containers and 33 robots. Currently, more than 2,000 robot movements per hour can be carried out at Peak. Capacity can be increased at any time by adding more robots.
Other e-food suppliers also rely on a storage system by Autostore. Muesli supplier Knuspr, for example, uses the provider’s shuttle solution in its warehouses in Garching, Bischofsheim, and Vienna. Albert Heijn also recently put such a system into operation in Barendrecht. Picnic, on the other hand, relies on technology supplier TGW and is currently building a highly automated picking center in Oberhausen.
