SSI project manager Jürgen Ringelmann recommends not rushing into automation, but proceeding gradually and carefully. This is the approach taken by the Austrian food wholesalers VOG. They decided to first gain experience in specific areas.
VOG was founded in Linz in 1916 as a purchasing cooperative of 21 Upper Austrian food wholesalers following a sugar supply crisis during the First World War. The principle "Trade is change" describes the ability to adapt to changing market and customer demands as a key pillar of the company.
M. Ritzberger
The retail service company operates a large-scale logistics infrastructure network with twelve subsidiaries. Warehouses, which serve as hubs for the distribution of goods to Central European customers, are located in Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, among other countries. The logistics activities of the entire group are coordinated by the in-house freight forwarding and packaging service provider, Vogtrans.
Needs-based
“Transparency across all inventory levels is becoming increasingly important due to the rising demands for product traceability,” says Matthias Ritzberger, Managing Director and Board Member at VOG. Based on a compelling solution concept from SSI Schäfer, which clearly stood out from the competition, the decision was made in early 2021 to take the next step with SSI Schäfer.
Bidirectional pre-zone.
The concept envisioned the construction of a new manual warehouse as well as a fully automated high-bay pallet warehouse. Both were to be integrated into the existing structures at the Linz site and linked to the existing infrastructure as effectively as possible. "With the high-bay warehouse, we invested in a fully automated system for the first time," reports Matthias Ritzberger. The goal was to achieve faster, error-free provision of requested goods while increasing resource independence. Furthermore, processes were to be optimized and a higher storage density achieved. Ritzberger: "SSI Schäfer's concept was immediately convincing."
Flexibility maintained
“To ensure consistent and efficient processes and to future-proof operations, it’s advisable to approach automation step by step,” says Jürgen Ringelmann, Project Manager at SSI Schäfer. “Companies, like VOG, can gain initial experience in automating specific areas and set their own priorities for the future.” After a construction and installation period of just two years, commissioning took place as planned at the beginning of 2023.
Photos: SSI Schäfer
The pre-zone of the pallet high-bay warehouse is connected to an existing hall via a newly integrated, bidirectional conveyor system, allowing for flexible goods handling. A shipping building is also connected via conveyor technology. The high-bay warehouse primarily serves to store the company's own brand of rapeseed oil, "Rapso," as well as canned goods and quality wine from its own production. It offers space for 11,000 pallets with double-deep storage, handled by four energy-efficient SSI Exyz stacker cranes. "VOG deliberately opted for in-house construction," explains Jürgen Ringelmann. "This allows the customer to retain all options regarding how they might want to use the facility in 20 to 30 years." An additional 11,000 pallet spaces have been created in a further, also newly constructed, manual warehouse with 15 aisles. The necessary racking systems were supplied and installed concurrently by a single supplier.
Preventive maintenance
VOG is using the WAMAS logistics software for the first time. This material flow system continuously controls and optimizes processes in the fully automated high-bay pallet warehouse, from goods receipt to goods issue, in real-time synchronization with the WAMAS WCS (Warehouse Control System), which assigns orders to available capacity in the conveyor technology and order picking areas. This allows for the efficient handling of both short-notice rush orders and peak loads. Depending on the order structure, the system is capable of handling up to 180 pallets per hour.
Goods out
Thanks to preventative maintenance by SSI service technicians, the system can be operated at a consistently high performance level. If a malfunction occurs, rapid and efficient remote support is provided via the hotline. Alternatively, an augmented support solution can be used – a mobile video communication system that transmits the situation in real time, allowing VOG technicians to immediately begin troubleshooting.
“Our experience with the automated system in Linz has been consistently positive since its go-live,” emphasizes VOG CEO Ritzberger. “The system doesn’t always have to run at full capacity, which saves energy. However, thanks to the scalable buffer, it can be ramped up in a very short time to significantly increase throughput.” He adds that inventory management is also secure thanks to software-based continuous inventory tracking, ensuring that supplies can always be ordered in a timely manner.
