The distribution center is currently being built in Neuendorf, a few minutes south of the city of Basel. It will be one of Switzerland’s largest logistics centers. The Migros-Verteilbetrieb Neuendorf AG is investing in the future of this particular location. Together with WITRON, the Swiss company is expanding and modernizing an exisiting frozen goods warehouse at this loaction. The goals here are two-fold. The first is to automate a manual logistics center which is storing non-food items. The second goal is to integrate an Omni-Channel warehouse concept to serve both, the store and e-commerce business. Altogether, there are three construction sites in parallel to an ongoing operation.
The figures are impressive: half a million cases will be shipped from here every day. And a quarter million pallets and hundreds of thousands of items will be stored in the warehouse - an enormous project that will be realized by 2021.
If the weather permits, Thomas Kissling from Migros-Verteilbetrieb AG in Neuendorf can see the Swiss Alps from his window. He is responsible for the non-food area of the Swiss company. Many envy him for the panoramic view. However, nowadays, Kissling has little time to view the mountains. Combining daily business and the new construction site keep him even busier than usual.
Parallel to the still operating manual warehouse processes, WITRON technicians install the new systems in the huge non-food warehouse, which extends over several floors. Kissling summarizes the overall project at the location: “We are replacing an existing Schäfer system in the frozen goods area with WITRON’s OPM technology while we are also expanding the operation to include the assortment of the Denner discount store chain. In the non-food area, we are expanding the logistics processes with the AIO system, an OPM system, and a CPS system. Moreover, in order to meet the increasing e-commerce demand, we are further automating the online processes”, explains Kissling. The non-food area in Neuendorf can handle the shipment of store orders, store pick-ups (click + collect) as well as online orders.
A challenging project. Listen to the complete story in the podcast.
