Belgian food retailer Delhaize has chosen Witron to design and install the automated tote handling system at its new 12,000 sq m logistics centre, DC Fresh III.
The new site will connect to Delhaize’s existing site, DC Fresh II, at Asse Zellik, which also uses Witron automation.
Delhaize Belgium supplies some 800 stores with more than 2,500 different fresh articles each day, with sales of 4.6 billion annually.
The logistics centre will use Witron’s Automated Tote System, which is able to store and pick commonly used euro pool totes without human intervention.
The extension adds a pick-module consisting of four lanes with 42,000 containers, 8 stacker cranes and 12 workstations to Dalhaize’s operation.
In the receiving area complete shipments are identified with a single bar-code scan. Further processing is tracked with indirect target tracing, making complicated labelling of individual totes unnecessary.
The system allows Delhaize to use different tote formats with different base surfaces of 600 x 400 and 400 x 300 with different heights.
The two logistics centres will be connected via the IT system, and also conveyors to allow order consolidation from across both sites.
Witron is responsible for implementing IT, mechanical components and ongoing service and maintenance for the new site.
The new site is expected to be operational by the end of 2013.
