Clarks is building a new central distribution centre (CDC) at its headquarters in Street, Somerset. The new purpose-designed building – which will be the largest of its kind in the county – is nearing completion on a seven hectare site adjacent to the company’s existing facility at Street will be redeveloped as local housing.
Knapp Logistik Automation is the main contractor for the total materials handling process for the new 28,000sq m CDC, which will handle the majority of the shoe manufacturer and retailer’s deliveries to UK and European outlets.
It will receive and store shoes and other goods from all suppliers in outer cartons but pick down to single pairs in shoe boxes to match individual retail orders. The system will also handle other Clarks retail lines such as gifts, handbags and accessories.
The 480,000-location carton storage system comprises 25 automatic stacker crane aisles, each capable of double deep storage to a height of 14m. Forward picking is serviced by more than 2,000m of Knapp intelligent conveyor system which will be interfaced over a two-level mezzanine floor, using carton live storage and shelving techniques and a full suite of Knapp picking software.
Picked goods will be sorted into geographic delivery batches by a double-deck sorter supplied by Knapp’s project partner, Beumer. Following sortation, consolidated orders are shrink-wrapped and despatched via telescopic loading conveyors directly into the delivery vehicles.
The mezzanine flooring has been installed by The Mezzanine Floor Company as part of a £1.5M contract with Knapp.
Clarks’ existing distribution centre at Street will be replaced by the new facility. However, Clarks has replaced the old scanning equipment with a new cost-effective barcode system supplied by DataScan Systems as well as upgraded the four despatch conveyors manufactured by Newlands.
The original barcode readers have been replaced with LS6100 fixed Position Bar Code Readers connected to DP1100 decoder units (Logistics Manager February 2004).
Knapp and DataScan are among the major exhibitors at Logistics Link North, being held at Doncaster
Racecourse, Leger Way, Doncaster on September 22 and 23. For further information contact
Richard Milbourn on 020 8661 1160 or visit www.logisticslink.co.uk
