Our customer
The consumer goods distributor Volg Konsumwaren AG supply their products to some 550 Volg countryside markets, 290 privately owned retailers and to more than 70 Agrola petrol station shops in Switzerland. Depending on shop size, the countryside shops offer 2,500 - 5,000 products – mainly fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables, bread, milk and other dairy products as well as meat from certified producers. The range also includes provisions as well as a wide range of household and body care products. A distribution centre in Winterthur supplies all sales points with a full range of food and nearfood products, whereas the fresh produce centre in Landquart is the hub for fresh supplies.
Customer requirements
- Implement an efficient storage and order picking solution for re-stocking shops with a floor surface between 60 and 400 sqm.
- Pick and deliver small-scale orders on time.
- Handle a large product range: 1,550 fresh produce references with different turnover frequencies.
- Each order picker must be able to access some 1,050 reference lines a day.
- Maximum stock duration of 2 days for fresh produce.
- Storage system must be suited for foods and for cold stores.
BITO Solution
- Combination of several BITO storage systems
» BITO Pallet racking with integrated carton live storage levels and BITO shelving units are used for storage, product buffering and order picking.
- Never out of stock
» Single deep pallet racking is used for buffering sufficient product quantities.
- Low-noise and reliable product flow
» The double deep racking blocks feature lanes with full width, narrow pitch steel rollers.
Storage facility features
- The Volg Konsumwaren AG stocks fresh produce in different picking areas according to the turnover frequency of a product.
- Goods are picked as individual product (single position storage) or as packaging unit (off-pallet picking).
- The upper racking levels are used as product buffer for direct re-supply of the pick levels underneath.
- Large fresh produce section equipped with shelving and racking for storing, buffering and picking products.
Customer benefits
- Reliable handling of deliveries from approximately 80 suppliers.
- Secure in-feeding and retrieval of products in separate loading and picking aisles, because operators do not disturb each other.
- Increased productivity and efficient order processing even of small-scale orders; Volg is now able to handle 25% more customer orders.
- The turnover frequency of a product determines which storage and order picking system is used.
- Fresh produce items are never stocked for more than 2 days before being delivered to a shop.
- Steel shelves allow to comply with relevant hygienic standards.
