SSI Schaefer Selected by Volkswagen for Distribution Center in Australia

Volkswagen Group Australia has identified that establishing a genuine parts Distribution Center (DC) in Melbourne is necessary not only for managing the overflow from the Sydney National Distribution Center (NDC), but to also establish a separate DC that can directly manage the southern dealer network in Australia.

Partnering with SSI Schaefer, the Volkswagen genuine parts DC consists of a fully-automated two-storey small parts binning zone with conveyor systems on both floors, and narrow and wide aisle racking and storage areas.

Managing up to 17,000 lines a month outbound and on average 4 x 40’ containers a week inbound, the stock replenishment requirements and turnaround of parts is crucial to the success of the genuine parts DC.

Establishing the genuine parts DC provided Volkswagen the opportunity to automate its small parts binning zone. Consisting of two floors, the small parts binning zone has been designed to accommodate 1,500 order picks per day.

The picking of individual orders is achieved by inducting totes on the conveyor system, which are diverted into one zone or up to eight zones. The zones are determined by the individual SKU location. Totes have the ability to bypass zones not to be visited; therefore VW can balance the workload and optimize productivity by manning varying zones according to the daily workload.

The system ensures that all pickers are picking and packing at the same time to allow orders to be shipped fast. The replenishment of product is achieved in reverse, whereby product is loaded into totes and the totes sent to varying zones and the pick face is then replenished. The conveyor system services both tiers of the module.

This system uses the Code-a-bars fitted to the tote bins to allow access to each of the eight (8) picking zones. Should a tote bin miss a picking zone, it will go directly to dispatch to be rectified by the packers, or manually placed back into the system for the required zone, or re-coded to the next required picking zone.

Once a tote bin has successfully entered each of the designated picking zones, the completed tote will then be delivered to the dispatch area and will accumulate in a dedicated accumulation conveyor immediately behind the packing area.

Each packer is provided with a ‘Call’ button at their bench that enables them to call through the next batch of tote bins for packing. This is achieved by having a small metering conveyor at the head of the accumulation zone start up that releases totes onto a powered delivery conveyor to their bench, where they remove the totes for that particular order. The metering belt will only run when one of the packers accesses their own ‘Call’ button.

The accumulation conveyor continues to accumulate any picked totes until it becomes full, at which point it will turn the picking conveyors (immediately upstream) off. As the accumulation conveyor starts to evacuate totes when ‘Called’ it will again allow the upstream conveyor to start up. Pickers can continue to pick orders that are in their own zone whether the conveyors are running or not.

The shelving area of the small parts binning zone consists of high-quality bin configurations and shelving to allow operators to pick and pack small parts with ease. The storage zone has been designed with 4,752 deep shelves that are 995x500 mm and 855 deep shelves that are 995x600 mm, each with 100/200kg load carrying capacity. The R3000 module is fitted with 1,080 LF532 Schaefer bins, 9,408 RK521 and 28,224 dividers, shelf dividers and 20 door sets for security items.

The complementary sizes enable the bins to be used in any combination within shelf units, independent of the application. An integral part of the R3000 is the LS600 long-span shelving that has been built as two tiers for the storage of awkward products and medium-volume SKUs. The LS600 system is designed to optimize storage options within minimum space and is ideal for handling of specialist automotive parts. The system has a unique clip, which allows standard Regal 3000 shelves to be fitted directly to the frame. The R3000 shelving system is an easy-to-assemble boltless and modular design. The R3000 system provides Volkswagen with a wide range of accessories and has a maximum bay load of 5,000 kg. The Schaefer R3000 modular system is suitable for future expansion in the genuine parts DC.

SSI Schaefer, www.ssi-schaefer.com.au