Vöslauer – Fully automated Comprehensive Logistics Concept
“For the planning of a high-bay warehouse including intralogistics at the manufacturing base, substantial know-how and power of endurance were required for our project as implemented by the Xvise consultants. All the essential concepts for the planning for optimal steady goods flow at the location were successfully met.”
Bridging the gap
When it came to reorganizing logistics, the relocation of a road opened up whole new possibilities for the mineral water bottler. A new age is beginning with the automated high-rack warehouse and innovative conveyor technology.
Vöslauer is Austria’s mineral water of choice. Each day, up to two million liters are bottled at their production site in Bad Vöslau. The company has enjoyed a good level of organic growth over the course of its long and successful history. “But the client had to battle with a lack of space and logistical bottlenecks,” says Xvise consultant Gerald Wolf. “They needed a comprehensive solution to sustainably improve their logistics.”
In a planning process spanning several years, the Xvise consultants developed an overall logistics concept in close cooperation with Vöslauer which answered this need. Based on previous concept studies, various scenarios were drafted with different storage versions, building arrangements and finally a futureproof solution and call for tender were produced.
Optimum use of space thanks to a silo structure
To create the required space and get some more room for maneuver, a public road which had up to that point crossed the company premises was moved, and neighboring land was purchased as well. “This meant we could create large areas – on the one hand for HGV processing, on the other hand to expand our storage in the form of an automatic high-rack warehouse in silo form,” says Wolf. In this type of structure, the shelves also act as the load-bearing elements for the wall and ceiling structure, which permits the maximum utilization of the space.
Increased pace thanks to automation
A conveyor bridge crossing the road connects the high-rack warehouse with a new shipment building directly next to the production hall. Pallet roller conveyors transport the pallets into the loading yard, where they are taken directly by the drivers and loaded onto the right vehicle. The goods from production are also collected by a driverless transport system, passed to the conveyor and put into storage. “In the future, these processes will primarily be automated,” summarizes Gerald Wolf. This massively increases the pace of the logistic processes. “This is particularly important at peak periods, when up to 160 HGVs have to be loaded per day.”
Soon, the beverage manufacturer will be able to harvest the fruits of their extensive preparations and intensive planning: the dispatch building is finished, the conveyor system including the bridge is largely in place and the high-bay warehouse is getting bigger with each passing day.
