Pilsner Urquell
BITO PROflow pallet racking triples storage capacity
Our customer
Pilsener Urquell. Since the first Pilsner beer was brewed in October 1842, the brand name which was registered internationally in 1898 never lost its fascination. Today, the company with the time-honoured brewing tradition belongs to South African Breweries (SAB), one of the world’s largest brewers. Many nationally and internationally renowned breweries and beer brands are united under its umbrella. The Czech offshoot includes the well-known brands Pilsner Urquell, Master, Gambrinus, Velkopopovicky Kozel, Radegast, Birell, Primus, Klasik and Frisco. These beers are brewed in the Czech Republic at the three locations Brewery-Plzen, Brewery-Radegast and Brewery-Velke-Popovice and distributed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia by over 13 regional distributors. Around 2,400 people are employed in the breweries of PPAS (Plenzsky-Prazdroj, a. s.) in the production, bottling and distribution of more than ten million hectoliters of beer annually.
Initial situation and customer requirements
- Consolidation of several satellite warehouses into one central depot for export orders.
- Transportation costs were to be reduced.
- Order throughput was to be increased from 100 to 120 truck loads per day.
- Seasonal peaks had to be taken into account.
- Delivery times were to be minimised.
Some impressions of our customer solution
Project brief
The BITO Solution
Handling of small orders
» Small quantities are picked from BITO push-back pallet racking.
Palletised loads
» For larger orders, full pallet loads are retrieved from the BITO pallet live storage installation.
On-site application and key features of our storage solution
- The new depot is mainly used for picking complete pallet loads, but also accommodates smaller packaging units of bottled and canned beer.
- The pallet live storage installation provides 2,000 pallet positions. Each lane can accommodate up to 29 pallets in FIFO order.
- Storage capacity has tripled from 700 to more than 2000 pallets.
- Seasonal peaks can now be compensated easily.
- Trouble-free and damage-free handling increases delivery quality and minimises customer complaints.
The new storage facility from BITO helps us cope with seasonal peaks and ensures that all orders are delivered in full and on time. By merging several small storage locations into one distribution centre, we were not only able to reduce transport and handling costs, but also to increase storage capacity from 700 to more than 2,000 pallets. All advantages considered, we expect a payback period of only two years.
