With a pallet shuttle system from Movu Robotics, logistics service provider Kris De Leeneer (KDL) has 45,000 storage locations and a storage and retrieval capacity of 11,000 pallets per week. Importantly, this automated storage system meets KDL's flexibility needs, as capacity can be increased simply by adding more shuttles.
The project at KDL is the first Movu Atlas system for the logistics service provider market. The system forms the heart of KDL's new, state-of-the-art 10,000-square-metre distribution centre. Being located next to the motorway where land is expensive, KDL opted for storage in height to minimise the building's footprint.
The distribution centre provides under-day stock for customers in the chocolate industry, which consists of ingredients and primary goods for making bars and boxes of chocolate. The new DC is designed to help KDL further improve customer service and provide space for expansion of its own operations. It not only centralises all logistics services in acarbon-neutral location, but also reflects the company's vision for the future: 'better, bigger and easier'.
Twenty pallet shuttles
Movu designed a system comprising 28-metre-high Atlas racking with ten levels and a floor area of 60 x 100 metres, sufficient for 45,000 storage locations. Pallets are moved using a fleet of 20 pallet shuttles. These self-driving robotic carriers transport pallets along the rails of the storage aisles and along the rails of the main track that runs across the storage aisles. Movu WES software manages the shuttle traffic and transmits orders from KDL’s warehouse management system (WMS). Movu has also supplied an app that allows authorised operators to control the system from their smartphones.
Next to the Atlas facility is the shipping area and three mezzanines, each with an area of around 2,000 square metres, which are used for handling goods. Movu collaborated with Ceratec to supply integrated in/out zones, advanced conveyors and turntables. Together, these systems ensure a seamless flow of goods from storage to the shipping area, where there are ten loading docks.
Occupied for 40 per cent
The system is currently 40 per cent occupied, leaving plenty of room for new customers. If expansion is needed, a back wall can be removed to build more racking. The site has room to double capacity to 90,000 pallets in the future.
