Food Logistics

JAN-FEB 2015

Food Logistics serves the entire food supply chain industry with targeted content for manufacturers, retailers, and distributors.

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www.foodlogistics.com FOOD LOGISTICS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 27 Temperature-controlled benefits The case for automation is especially strong in temperature-controlled warehouses where operating costs are higher. Swisslog's Jennings says cold storage facilities are more interested in automation, especially in light of the current truck driver shortage. "You're going to see more depen- dence on rail transportation expanding for food," Jennings says. "We're seeing more and more opportunity for people to do automa- tion in those facilities. We're getting a lot more inquiries from people in that area." In Las Vegas, Nev., Ritt Corp. is in the pro- cess of building a multi-temperature, automated storage and retrieval facility containing 150,000 pallet positions and a climatized cross dock of 150 truck bays connected with five enclosed sidings, according to the company. The com- pany notes its technologies save shippers 63 per- cent of transportation and storage compared to road shipment and non-automated facilities. Ritt Corp's modified atmospheric, reduced oxygen inhibits fire from ignition. The reduced oxygen, in conjunction with tem- perature, relative humidity, ozone generation and miscellaneous gasses controls and abates deterioration caused by age. This extends the shelf life of fresh food. Because multi-deep, dense storage systems allow a warehouse to store more inventory in less space, these systems are cost efficient because they minimize heat loss, says John Clark, marketing manager at viastore sys- tems, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based storage solutions provider. Retrotech's pick tray system (PTS), a shuttle-based system for cases/trays originally released in 2007, has been fully engineered for both ambient environments and harsh environments of the freezer warehouse. The newly-designed capability of the freezer-grade PTS provides a logistics automation solution to meet the growing demand for order fulfill- ment at the case and less-than case quantities from the frozen goods DC. The design brings the benefits of the robotic storage retrieval systems (productivity, flexibility and redun- dancy) for small-volume picking to the cold/ frozen DC, the company notes. Ventev Wireless Infrastructure, a unit of TESSCO Technologies Inc. has introduced an access point enclosure that can ensure Wi-Fi/WLAN connectivity in freezer rooms, where sensitive, indoor wireless access points must be protected from cold, condensation, and frost. Thick walls and heavy insulation make wiring for AC power expensive and Are we obsessed with control? Guilty as charged. We believe inspiration drives automation, and that means helping our clients optimize operations with robust WCS or WMS software controls. What do we control? • All operations within the facility • Any OEM's automated equipment • Order management and fulfllment • Inventory and traceability Why Retrotech's WCS/WMS Software? • Over 25,000 software users worldwide • Experience with all major OEMs • LIVE environment implementations—zero downtime • Over 500 system modernization projects To learn more about Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) or Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), please contact us at 866.915.ASRS (2777). retrotech.com cally to Amazon's network of fulfillment cen- ters, sortation centers and Kiva shuttle robots. "Their (Amazon's) strategy and execution will place enormous pressure on the industry to keep innovating," Stark says. Swisslog, the Switzerland-based automa- tion solutions provider, has introduced a robotic shuttle in Europe and the Far East called CarryPick. The key benefits of this system are labor savings, improved safety and potential for lower workers' compensation costs, says Randy Jennings, director of food and beverage sales. Another CarryPick benefit is that it can be deployed in an existing facility as well as a greenfield site. "You can put it into existing facilities," Jennings says. One consideration, he notes, is that the CarryPick does not make great use of cubic space, which is an objective for some warehouse decision makers. "It eats up a lot of real estate," he says. Like the Swisslog Autostore solution, the CarryPick makes sense for e-commerce opera- tions where there are a smaller number of line items per order and a high volume of orders. "We've had good success getting more pen- etration in North America," Jennings says. He says eight projects have begun in the last three months, including food and beverage facilities.

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