Europa Warehouse has made an £11m investment in automation at its 715,000 sq ft facility in Corby, completed last year.
A division of Europa Worldwide Group, it is working with psb intralogistics, based in Pirmasens, Germany to introduce Goods-to-Person (GTP) technology aimed at eliminating time consuming and unproductive activities.
Commented Maria Torrent March (pictured), logistics director at Europa Warehouse: “After a whirlwind year in 2020, where resources within logistics companies were pushed to their limits, we are delighted to be able to announce a major investment into automation at our largest warehouse in Corby. The new technology will allow us to fulfil our commitment to our customers – improving efficiencies to cater for the increase in demand.”
The new efficiencies also include the use of an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), allowing Europa to pick 136,000 bottles per day and handle a capacity of around fifty million bottles per annum.
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A new Multi Order Picking Station (MOPS) also aims to offer huge labour management benefits and improved efficiencies while system productivity will be enhanced with a rotapick station (GTP) which improves pick rates (items picked vs. hours of work) for slower moving SKU by using a patented rotating system which holds up to 48 orders open at one time.
A selektron Warehouse Control System will also be introduced to remove pick errors and allow pick speed and accuracy to be monitored at a station level, driving warehouse performance.
“Most importantly, automation will allow Europa Warehouse to provide a streamlined service, giving us the ability to better plan and predict the flow of goods, assisting our customers in the ever-growing demand for e-commerce and support the developing consumer trend of next day deliveries,” Torrent March added.
Peter Light, business development manager at psb said: “We are delighted to be supporting Europa Warehouse with new automation at its state-of-the-art Corby site. Our intelligent automated manufacturing and distribution technology solutions will transform how Europa fulfils its customer’s orders. The concept is proven and reliable, and the modular design of psb selektron has been individually adapted with intelligent processes to work alongside the existing IT infrastructure.”