Atomic Austria, the ski equipment manufacturer, has invested €20m in an automated high-bay warehouse for cartons at its distribution facility in Altenmarkt, Austria.
The project, in partnership with intralogistics provider, Jungheinrich, was completed to deadline, despite the Covid-related quarantine requirements.
According to Jungheinrich, strong growth figures had increased throughput at Altenmarkt, so Atomic needed more space for the worldwide shipment of ski accessories and other sporting goods. As a result of the investment, 58,600 storage spaces are available in a 60-metre long, 26-metre wide and 24-metre high warehouse in silo design.
In addition to the silo warehouse, including steel construction and stacker cranes with load handling devices for variable load carrier widths, Jungheinrich supplied the conveyor system with goods receiving and order picking workstations, the control system, fire protection closures as well as the software. And, the manual vehicles of the Hamburg-based company, which have been in operation in Altenmarkt for many years, will continue to be used for incoming and outgoing goods.
Instead of the seven aisles envisaged by the planning office, Jungheinrich said it was able to reduce the warehouse to five aisles thanks to a sophisticated system that divides cartons into size families and bundles them in pairs. A total of 37 load units of different sizes, mostly without containers or trays, are identified and stored in eight or ten units per shelf compartment.
The Jungheinrich Warehouse Control System (WCS) controls the processes: Part of the 400-metre long conveyor system is an automatic carton detection system with cartons passing through a 3D measurement and weight recording. Sensors and several cameras also detect bulges or deflections during contour checking and sorting.
Steve Richmond, director of logistics systems at Jungheinrich said: “The use of automation combined with a robust warehouse management system has become a growing consideration for organisations as warehouses transition towards joined up intralogistics processes that unlock next level efficiency gains. We’re delighted to be working with Atomic Austria to support the expansion and optimisation of its materials handling processes and infrastructure.”
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