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Condis’ decision for OPM and DPS
Condis’ decision for OPM and DPS
In order to be prepared for future challenges, the Spanish supermarket chain Condis is currently taking an important step away from conventional warehouse logistics towards a highly dynamic and automated logistics and order picking system. The existing distribution center near Barcelona will receive an OPM and DPS system. Since autumn 2013, the distribution center supplies more than 350 stores in the Catalonia regions with more than 4,500 dry goods.
Customer: Condis Supermercats S.A.
The Spanish food retailer Condis Supermercats S.A. was founded in 1961. The company currently employs more than 5,200 people. With sales of more than 800 million euros, Condis operates over 400 supermarkets - both under its own management and as franchises - with a total sales area of 185,000 square meters. Condis stores can be found in the regions of Catalonia and Madrid.
Location
Barcelona
Industry sector
Retail / Distribution
Products
4,500 items in the dry goods range
Solutions
OPM, DPS
Volume
140,000 dispatch units per day
Special features of the project
More than half of Condis’ 400+ supermarkets are small, highly frequented city locations operated by franchisees. In terms of delivery, these locations have completely different requirements to logistics than the company-owned large Condis stores, for example. „But also various requirements such as special store layouts, small quantity supplies, or an individual definition of the maximum weight can be flexibly implemented for each customer order thanks to the exact master data handling with OPM or DPS.
Challenge
A key challenge was to install the new automated WITRON logistics system that is mainly used for picking medium and slow moving items into an existing building without interfering with ongoing operations and to combine it with the software of the fast-moving area, which for the time being continues to be operated manually. Secondly, the already existing high bay warehouse was to be further used and integrated into the new logistics processes. The DPS system used at Condis consists of a single-aisle AS/RS with 5,100 tote locations. At three picking workstations, guided by a pick-by-light system, employees pick the items directly from the storage tote into the customer order tote. Cases are picked using the patented WITRON OPM / COM system, enabling a fully automated product handling from receiving through to dispatch, with almost no human intervention. This is because the COM technology produces the order pallets / order roll containers fully automatically.
Customer opinion
This paradigm shift - away from a purely manually operated warehouse towards an automated solution - represents a strategic milestone for us as a multi-channel provider. We benefit from a significant efficiency increase in our distribution center - both in the automated area and the manual areas. We see positive effects especially in terms of flexibility, speed, availability, quality increase, and store service.