TGW Logistics Group launches an automated order fulfilment system suitable for freezer temperatures and based on standard products and components. The system integrator aims to meet the challenges of refrigerated and freezer warehouses and distribution centres.
The 'all-wheel drive' Stingray Shuttle can be installed and used in temperatures ranging from +40 to -30 degrees Celsius. "For freezing environments, we adapt the Stingray with two components made of materials that adapt to freezing situations. You can compare it to winterising the car," states Michael Schedlbauer, Industry Manager Grocery Retail at TGW. "The performance of the freezing technology is identical to that of equipment operating at standard temperatures."
Freezer warehouse Coop
TGW introduced its largest shuttle-based solution to date at Swiss grocery retailer Coop. At the Coop site in Schafisheim, Switzerland, the company implemented a comprehensive logistics system with a fully automated freezer warehouse and distribution centre for dry goods, a 'chilled-zone' and a buffer for empty bins. The temperature ranges from -25 degrees Celsius in the freezer warehouse to 'ambiant' temperature for the dry goods.
Within the Coop facility, frozen goods are stored in a pallet warehouse with 17,000 storage locations at -25 degrees Celsius. Splitex depalletisers divide the pallet loads into individual bins and boxes. These are then stored by Stingray Shuttles in 40,000 storage locations at 4,500 boxes per hour. For order preparation, the shuttles collect the requested products and place them on conveyors that transport them to the fully automated TGW Autostax palletising stations. Here, volume-optimised and store-friendly pallet loads are built according to predefined stacking patterns.
