"Hygiene" logistics with Satellite® sets standards"
The American milk processing company Santee Dairies, Inc. based in California produces a complete range of dairy products in liquid form. "Milk and more" offering top quality is Santee's claim. The company processes over 350,000 gallons of milk a day and supplies its products to the major supermarket chains and stores in Los Angeles and surrounding area.
However, it was no longer possible for Santee to satisfy growing customer requirements and its own service needs with its old factory. The facilities were out-of-date and called for a high level of maintenance. Given the lack of storage capacity and shortage of space in Los Angeles, the company also needed to consider how to reorganise its entire warehousing and distribution logistics. Santee thus decided to relocate production to the City of Industry on the outskirts of L.A.
Greater economic efficiency and improved service required
The objective defined by the client was to make the to date labour-intensive processes involving storage and distribution more effective. The plan was to automate as many processes as possible. The technical specifications were to double storage capacity while taking up the minimum amount of space. In addition, the company wanted to improve the accuracy of order processing and cut the error rate in distribution. All processes and capacities were to be geared to the daily production level of up to 350,000 gallons of milk.
One special requirement on the material flow and storage system involved the different load carriers used at the company. Firstly, the warehouse was to accommodate goods on GMA (Grocery Manufacturers of America) pallets, and secondly, special-box containers (so-called dairy cases) were to be stored without additional loading equipment.
Storage without pallets in Satellite® system
Following detailed analysis of the basic logistical conditions, Santee opted for an automatic Satellite® warehouse from Westfalia. The system was designed as a high-density storage system and linked to production with materials handling equipment. The Satellite® was specially adapted to cater for the customer's wish to move the dairy cases without using pallets. All other warehousing details extending to full inventory management were also carefully tailored to Santee's every need. 11 conveying routes transport goods directly from production to the automatic warehouse. The four storage blocks with a total of 2200 positions are served by 2 storage and retrieval vehicles via fully automatic processes.
A small part of the rack storage system has also been set aside for conventional manual warehousing. This is used as a buffer for very small batch sizes.
Special hygiene concept
To cater for the hygiene requirements of the dairy industry, the entire storage system was designed so that it is easy to clean. Every storage channel is equipped with special water jets designed to "flood" every channel. Left-over milk and cleaning water are drained off via special gulleys. In addition, the rack system completely dispensed with moving parts. Special "Satellite pans" protect product stored at lower levels from escaping liquid.
Satisfying results
All key objectives were achieved with Westfalia's storage system. The space requirement to store the daily production volume was reduced to a minimum and almost all logistics processes were automated. This greatly improved distribution efficiency and picking productivity. This resulted in improved organisation and greater delivery volumes with fewer staff and in less time. Today all storage processes are coordinated at Santee using the Warehouse Control System. The result is very high transparency and faster order processing. In particular the paperless warehousing and order picking have had a positive impact on the cost structure and intensity of work. In addition, the error rate in distribution has fallen to a minimum.
A high level of product quality is achieved thanks to careful goods handling and the exacting hygiene standards.
