Page 45 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2019

September-October 2019
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LINE CONTROL & AUTOMATION
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Asahi’s new DC 250% more productive
Beverage giant Asahi has more than doubled productivity at its new Heathwood distribution centre in Brisbane with an automated storage and retrieval system from Dematic.
EEKING reduced costs, im- proved efficiency and pro- ductivity, and a better capac- ity to meet customer needs, Asahi decided to consolidate its sites into one DC and auto- mate its warehouse.
Asahi previously used manual forklifts for block stacking across multiple locations at its distribution centres, which according to Nathan Lucinsky, manager of the Heathwood DC at Asahi, came with numerous disadvantages.
“We had a very labour-intensive system in place, with every truck that came in having to be unloaded by a forklift. We then had to receive the pa- perwork manually, check the pallets
manually, move the pallets into the storage location, and then do all that in reverse to pick them,” he says.
Dominic Figliano, project manag- er from Dematic says, “After assess- ing Asahi’s warehouse require- ments, we knew that the best solution for them was the six-deep satellite automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS). The ASRS we built for Asahi uses Dematic’s newest and fastest crane, the 1200 H1. This is also the tallest satellite system we have built in Australia.
“An automated system eliminates a lot of the manual handling of pallets. This creates efficiencies and a high productivity boost of 250 per cent for the customer, and also increases
ABOVE: The high bay racking at the Asahi DC is 13 levels high and 34 bays deep, with a total of around 31,500 pallet storage positions.
safety for workers by not having as many forklifts,” he says.
The new system extends six pallets deep on either side of the six cranes, which are accessed by satellite carts. The high bay racking is 13 levels high and 34 bays deep, with a total of around 31,500 pallet storage positions.
According to Lucinsky, the new Dematic ASRS has helped the company reduce manual touches, which cost money and come with the risk of human error.
“We’ve now automated our ware- house processes and only use manu- al processes where it makes sense. In fact, most of our pallets won't be touched by a human until they get to our customer DC,” he says. ■
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