FoodLogistics.com |

You don't see too many fully-automated high-bay warehouses (HBWs) in North America, thanks to the abundance of land and availability of employees, but they're very common in Europe—especially for manufacturers and retailers of food and beverage products.

The tallest HBWs can soar more than 100 feet, housing hundreds of thousands of SKUs of dry and/or refrigerated product. Unmanned stacker cranes, under the direction of a sophisticated warehouse management system (WMS), quickly, quietly and accurately move pallets in and out of racks.

These systems can move more than 5,000 pallets a day, filling hundreds of store orders within 24 hours of receipt.

Coupled with an automated or semi-automated order picking system, the labor savings and throughput improvement of an HBW can be substantial, as two European food companies found out when they went the high bay way.

Moving to automated distribution centers, both companies were able to realize reduced inventory costs, better manage seasonal peaks, increase customer service levels, reduce transportation costs, slash picking errors and enjoy shorter delivery cycles.

In 2005, Netto, a chain of discount supermarkets based in Denmark, opened a 67,000-square-foot distribution center in Wustermark, Germany, to support its growing business in the region. More than 4.5 million shoppers a week visit Netto stores in Germany, buying an array of products, including dry goods, fresh produce, dairy, meat, health and beauty care—all at competitive prices.

Netto turned to SSI Schaefer International, a warehouse and systems integrator based in Germany, to design and automate the facility, which handles Netto's dry goods—about 1,177 SKUs.

The distribution center features a high bay warehouse which stands 46 feet tall and features 9,700 pallet locations. The racks are double-deep, handling both Euro and half pallets. Palletized product is stored in the HBW, where one of four stacker cranes moves pallets in and out of the system.