The challenge: Empty shelves and overstocking are both big taboos at Dansk Supermarked. The third largest Danish supermarket chain operates about 500 retail stores under three different brands with groceries from all over Europe, and strives for maximum customer satisfaction.
The distribution center in Højbjerg, was designed to further optimize reliability and productivity of the entire logistics process as well as achieve the optimum level of workplace ergonomics.
Our solution: Dematic was assigned to consult Dansk Supermarked through the planning phase and was later awarded the contract to deliver the system on a general contractor basis. For Dansk Supermarked this required a solution purely based on the principle of "Goods to Man."
The core of the system is two automatic high-bay storage modules for pallets (fast movers) and large totes (slow movers) connected to highly ergonomic picking stations which then feed a large tilt tray sorter. The Dematic logistics IT system provides full integration of the new facility with remaining manual parts of the distribution center and the ERP-based control systems for purchasing (suppliers) and sales (supermarkets).
The solution encompasses the entire process, including automatic classification of the incoming goods according to grades and turnover, loading into storage and correct unloading and sorting. Last but not least, it supports efficient manual handling during order picking for higher productivity and operator ergonomics.
Benefits for Dansk Supermarked:
- High performance
- Negligible error rate
- Easy expandability through modular materials handling design
- High workplace quality thanks to ergonomic design
- Optimized logistics costs by combining three distribution centers
