Coles Group Limited NDC’s are world-class

by Case Studies on 2010-09-20

10,000 m2 of automated storage and handling under one roof

When you enter the National Distribution Centre (NDC) of Coles Group Limited in Somerton, Victoria you will see the ‘best-of’ SSI Schaefer split case picking solutions under one roof. The world-class NDC and its twin installation in Eastern Creek, New South Wales, are the Australian flagships for SSI Schaefer.

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Taking twelve months to install, bringing together over 50 expert staff and importing best-in-breed solutions from all corners of the globe the Coles Group Limited NDC’s are a picture of perfection. The sheer size and capacity of the NDC’s make the Coles Group Limited solution one of the most leading-edge automated order picking solutions in Australia. With the Somerton and Eastern Creek NDCs supplying over 1100 retail stores with ambient grocery goods, including toiletries, confectionary, soups and snacks, cosmetics, , pet food, and pharmaceutical products it is crucial that they have a world-class automated picking and storage solution that is accurate, efficient and reduces overall costs to the company.

Measuring 10,000 m2, the SSI Schaefer solution is a fully automated picking and storage system that incorporates 3 types of conveyors totalling close to 3000 metres in length, 2 robots for stacking totes on to dollies or pallets, 8 crane aisles, 18 carousels and over 150,000 totes. Every component of the solution has been customised for Coles Group Limited requirements and designed and installed by SSI Schaefer.

The Challenge
The SSI Schaefer split case picking solution was a significant part of the design of these two new Distribution Centres that, as part of the Supply Chain Transformation Project, had to deliver significantly improved store friendly deliveries, provide for safe and efficient operations, and minimise end-to-end Supply Chain costs for Coles Group Limited.  

The Solution
According to Andrew Sanderson, Coles Group Limited, the design of the new National Distribution Centres at Somerton and Eastern Creek were developed as a part of their overall Supply Chain & Logistics transformation project.
“The NDC’s were designed to deliver store-friendly deliveries and provide safer and more efficient operations. The key on our journey was safety. This was paramount in all of our NDC design principles,”
Currently holding over 16,000 SKU’s, each NDC is responsible for delivering and stocking over 550 stores.

So why did Coles Group Limited choose Automation?
Coles chose automation as an efficient way of dealing with the large number of slow moving product lines within the DC.  The design of the equipment enabled these goods to be picked more efficiently over manual methods, and within the design, we were able to ensure that all manual handling was achieved in a safe manner.


So how does the SSI Schaefer Solution work?

Goods Receiving
All goods in the Somerton NDC are received on pallets from hundreds of suppliers every week. For improved handling and to ensure ideal picking of the sorted items, the goods are re-packed into totes. Empty totes are erected at the empty tote buffer and then fed into the system. The manual re-packing of the items into the empty totes, via the conveyor system takes place at 14 dedicated ergonomically designed work stations. Once emptied, pallets are transported off the work stations, stacked and made available on transfer stations for further use.

Partially emptied pallets are forwarded to pick-up stations for the transport into the pallet warehouse. The accumulated cardboard packaging is collected on trash conveyors and fed into the external recycling system. Storage totes filled with products now arrive in the storage area. Here they are either stored directly into the tote storage system – Miniload- or to the Schaefer Carousel System (SCS). During peak periods the SCS serves as a temporary overflow buffer for the Miniload system. In the Miniload, the totes are stored double deep in 8 aisles on an area approximately 4,800 square metres. Approximately 100,000 storage totes are available at any time in the Miniload system.

8 x storage and retrieval systems (SRMs) ensure the smooth processing of storage and retrieval movement, as well as transfer movement to the supply positions of the order picking stations. Due to safety regulations and sound insulation, a separate cladding was attached around the Miniload racking. Next to the Miniload there are two SCS modules with 5 carousel systems per module. They serve as an intermediate buffer for storage operations and as an order consolidation buffer prior to shipping. With its 13 levels at 64 totes per level, these SCS modules offer an additional 8,000 dynamic tote storage positions.

Order Picking
Based on the orders received from supermarkets nationally, the items are picked into transport totes and then consolidated for shipment. Slow moving goods are picked at 2 pick-to-tote work stations. The products are supplied to these work stations by 4 x SCS systems per work station.

In the Miniload area, A- and B- movers are picked and supported by pick-to-light technology at 32 x work stations. The 4,180 supply locations are automatically replenished by the  8 x SRMs. Dynamic storage positions for slow moving items are also located in this area which allows storage of partially emptied totes back in to the Miniload racking system.

Storage totes that are emptied during the picking process are then either used directly as transport totes or fed back in to the empty tote buffer. Once the order picking process is complete, a weight check is performed on integrated scales to verify the contents of each tote. Any necessary rectification and random quality assurance takes places at 4 x QA work stations. Should there be deviations, a detailed inspection of the order is done and missing items can then be picked. The transport totes are then forwarded to the SCS in the order consolidation buffer.

Goods Shipping
Once complete and ready for shipping finished orders are retrieved and transported to the despatch area via 2 x conveyor lines. During transport, shipping labels are automatically applied to the totes. The filling level of each tote is also checked in order to ensure safe stacking for transport. Subsequently, complete order sequences are compiled at the sequencer in loading order. The totes are then transferred to 6 x pick-up lines.

Two robots stack the totes on to dollies and pallets. Depending on the order destination, the system will provide with one of two transport options. Dollies offer a capacity of 12 x totes, whereas pallets can be stacked with up to 36 totes. In order to meet the selected loading pattern, the robots can pick up between one and three totes at any given time. This is made possible by system identification and an adjustable gripping device.

The loads are then secured to the pallets or dollies. The pallets pass through a stretcher; the totes on dollies are secured by a strapping machine. Once a shipping label has been automatically applied, the handover stations combine dollies into groups of 3, pallets into groups of 2 and set them down on the ground level. Pallet trucks pick up two pallets or three dollies and transport them to the truck docks for loading.

To complete the transport cycle empty totes and dollies are returned from the supermarkets. Totes are folded and stacked – 120 to a pallet – and dollies are stacked at 10 high. Dollies are returned directly to the shipping area where they are de-stacked for re-use. The totes are de-stacked and erected at the empty tote buffer area, old labels are removed and the totes are then sent to the empty tote buffer for re-use in storage and order-picking.

Since go-live the NDC Design Team have worked effectively with their DC Operations, 3PL teams, WMS teams, Transport teams,
Store teams, Building partners, Automation partners and all other Supply Chain Transformation Project teams to produce the best DC designs for the future network of Coles Group Limited.

“Totes are now delivered to store in segment sequence and we have flexibility, simplicity and National consistency in every detail of our NDC’s. The buildings and the automation are identical and follow the same processes and we have leading ‘Best Practices’ with enabling technology,” Mr Sanderson said.

A solution of this calibre meant careful planning and preparation by the SSI Schaefer team and has proven that the company has capability to design and develop world-class solutions anywhere in the world. The Coles Group Limited NDC’s at Somerton and Eastern Creek are a testament to the SSI Schaefer capabilities in world-class split case picking solutions.

www.ssi-schaefer.com.au/