"Cool Connection" from the manufacturer to the customer
The family firm Kloosterboer founded in 1925 is one of the leading logistics companies in the Netherlands.
Originally trading in vegetables, the company nowadays specialises in the storage, distribution, transport and customs clearance of temperature-controlled goods. Its chilled and frozen products include fruit, concentrates, fish, meat, garlic, dairy and potato-based foods. Besides this range of products, it also handles goods such as sugar, nuts, timber and industrial products.
The company has a workforce of 390 staff around the globe. At 8 strategic locations in the Netherlands, Norway and the Faroe Islands it boasts a total storage capacity of two million m³, capable of accommodating up to 350,000 t of goods. 350 customers from 30 countries entrust Kloosterboer with the logistics handling of their goods and the company's annual turnover is some EUR 60 million.
State-of-the-art logistics from Westfalia
Kloosterboer claims to offer top quality and reliability in line with state-of-the-art technology. It therefore makes stringent technical demands on the transport and storage of goods. The contract awarded by Farm Frites, asking Kloosterboer to assume responsibility for the logistics of its potato-based products to a greater or lesser degree, presented the company with a new challenge. A concept which catered for the customer's exact requirements was worked out together with the full-range provider for storage and transport solutions, Westfalia Logistics Solutions.
Construction of a new fully automatic high-bay warehouse by Westfalia took account of the demand for high performance, in particular in terms of retrieval. Other important factors were cost reductions in pallet handling, a decrease in the level of manual effort and greater flexibility and freedom from constraints as regards the time of day.
Automatic storage
Since 2003 the fully automatic, high-density deep-freeze Satellite® storage system has been in operation in Maasvlakte, based at Rotterdam's port district. With 62,000 pallets the 320.000 m³; high-bay warehouse is one of the largest of its kind in Holland. Pallets are taken to the warehouse by four storage and retrieval vehicles (SRVs) at 200 m/min and conveyed to their assigned storage position by the Satellite® operating at a speed of 90 m/min. This allows 180 pallets to be transported per hour using double loads.
A quick rundown of the warehouse
- 2-shift operation
- 140 m long, 65 m wide, 36 m high
- 8 storage blocks, 12 levels, 4,112 storage channels
- approx. 62,000 pallet positions
- 4 storage and retrieval vehicles for automatic storage and retrieval
- Triple support of Euro, ISO and Chep pallets
- 1,250 kg maximum pallet weight
- Automatic runner and contour checking
Double capacity
A very high capacity is also achieved by specific Satellite® technology involving the storage and retrieval vehicle.
This Satellite® is designed to receive and transport two pallets delivered in pairs by the transverse transport vehicles simultaneously, so doubling its capacity.
To ensure an optimum flow of goods including at the interface to the warehouse, chain conveyors, transverse transport vehicles and transverse transport queuing conveyors are used to transport pallets from the incoming goods area to dispatch.
Automatic loading with SpeedLoader
At the dispatch zone handling is also flexible with little manual effort. An automatic loading and unloading system for piece goods and pallets was installed here. The forwarding company Farm Trans, which is responsible for the transport logistics of Farm Frites, invested in three SpeedLoaders from Westfalia Loading Systems. They can be used to provide prepicked goods on stationary conveyor belts in the proper sequence – regardless of the time of truck loading.
Transport vehicles, which are likewise equipped with an integrated conveyor belt, dock at the loading door, i.e., directly at the stationary conveyor belt in the dispatch zone. Synchronised with the stationary and truck conveyor belt, automatic loading or unloading of the goods is then carried out within 1.5 to 2.5 minutes at the touch of button. The SpeedLoaders have a capacity of 32 Euro pallets and also provide for transverse loading.
Farm Trans shuttle traffic has to ferry away the 30 tonnes of potato-based products manufactured by Farm Frites every hour. That involves making 40 journeys in 16 hours. The SpeedLoaders cover 240,000 km each year. Every day some 3000 pallets in total leave Kloosterboer's warehouse. For Farm Frites this means that products can now be delivered more quickly and economically, ensuring greater freshness.
Arriving safe and sound
As soon as pallets arrive at the warehouse, they are inspected for damage on the transverse transport vehicle via an automatic contour check. They are weighed on a scale to see whether the article has the right quantity. The mirror-image design of the warehouse provides for a high degree of redundancy, so ensuring the availability of every article – even if an SRV fails.
Correct calculation of warehouse and material flow
Like the high-density Satellite® storage system, the associated inventory management and warehouse management system is also supplied by Westfalia.
An online 2-channel EDI (electronic data interface) is used to link the warehouse management system (WMS) with the ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. This interface provides for a prompt exchange of data and transmission of goods orders as well as data relating to goods receipts and withdrawals. A troublefree exchange of data for orders is especially important for Kloosterboer as communication with the customer is via the ERP system.
The warehousing strategy is geared to optimum performance and is based on the principle of the equal distribution of articles as well as single-item channels. Kloosterboer can also apply a number of freely configurable warehousing strategies, which can be individually adapted according to each customer's range of articles.
Automatically transported from the manufacturer to the customer
The logistics chain is automated right down the line thanks to fully automatic handling, which starts with the manufacturer Farm Frites, continues via Farm Trans in the form of automated loading technology and ends at Kloosterboer with automatic storage and loading. This ensures flexible and efficient storage and loading from the manufacturer to the end customer. Manual effort is reduced to a minimum, while control and tracing of the logistics processes are possible at any time using the warehouse management system.
"The reduction in staffing costs and time savings resulting from the low level of manual effort help to ensure a shorter payback time for the investment in storage and loading", comments Alex Kloosterboer, Kloosterboer's Managing Director.
