Swiss log: the automation products company is providing logistic solutions in the most chaotic of the market places
Automation in logistics is estimated to be Euro 313-million in the Middle East. The leaders in retail, commerce and FMCG are driving the growth for Swisslog, Alain Kaddoum, general manager of Swisslog Middle East tells Benjamin Daniel
Using a vacuum gripper, the KUKA robot picks up the layers of fruit juice cartons and places them in a specified position in the buffer area.
Switzerland-based Swisslog has landed. Literally. After commissioning an automation project at Mai Dubai, the company has recently implemented a fully automated intra-logistics system based on intelligent software in the context of big data and Industry 4.0.
Swisslog is a USD 600-mn company, and is part of the KUKA group, a German robotics manufacture and a group leader in its market. Swisslog specialises in fulfilment and storage solution; and picking solutions. KUKA produces robots and robotics solution, which complements the Swisslog projects.
Swisslog made its Middle East presence in 2015. A year later, Alain Kaddoum, general manager of Swisslog Middle East joined the company. The journey, however, was not easy, says Kaddoum, who says, automation was relatively new, and being a leader in logistics, we had the role of educating the market. “We showcased technology that was available worldwide, and made significant progress. We have implemented logistic projects at several companies. Some of the key ones related to packaging are Almarai, Mai Dubai, Axiom Telecom regionally and PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Roche, ASDA and Wal-Mart in the retail sector. We are receiving a lot of demand in terms of logistic automation; and in companies where they would like to integrate industry 4.0 solution into their operation to make their solution future proof,” says Kaddoum.
The wonderful deals
The Almarai project is valued at USD 21-million. Swisslog has recently implemented a fully automated intra-logistics system based on intelligent software in the context of big data and Industry 4.0, similar to what it has done for Mai Dubai.
The fully automated solution takes the pallets from end of production line, automatically, through Swisslog’s 1000-meter monorail system to a high-bay finished goods warehouse using Vectura stacker cranes where we automatically store the pallets. When the order comes, the pallets are shifted from the high-bay warehouse to the truck.
“Automation can be a stand-alone solution or an interconnected solution like Mai Dubai, but we still require small human intervention at the end to load into the truck,” says Kaddoum. “We can push the automation further where we can load the truck itself automatically. So, the possibilities are there, the imagination is here; it is a reality now but the customer has to have a need for it.”
Similar to Mai Dubai Swisslog has a bigger solution in Almarai. It is composed of five phases. “There are the pallet storage solutions in the chilled area where we store the dairy product and we connect the production line with the finished goods product warehouse and we even do automatic truck loading using automatic solutions to load immediately into the truck in less than 20 minutes,” explains Kaddoum.
Automation is not in a single sector but can be used in multi-channel in the same warehouse.
Alain Kaddoum
The possibilities (automation) are there, the imagination is here; it is a reality now but the customer has to have a need for it.”
Alain Kaddoum, Swisslog
The packaging side of the business
The cost of land, shortage of storage spaces in the existing warehouses, unqualified manpower for handling of goods are the challenges which will drive automation and future-proof solutions.
Kaddoum explains, “By using innovative solutions like Item Pick, where we pick the items by robots. This reduces the number of errors and the risk of damages because if you are handling the items by robots, then you are having less injuries, less accidents during the operations.”
Item Pick solutions is meant for E-commerce where one picks small items or pieces. “When you go into retail, the mixed pallets sent with different SKUs on the same pallets, it’s important to make sure that the pallets are optimised to reach the retailer. There are tailored solutions like ACPaQ, mixed case palletising system applicable for fully automated order picking of mixed case pallets.”
ACPaQ can be used in ambient temperature and chilled warehouse zones, and can handle almost all types of cartons, shrink wrapper, foiled packages, pallet types used in retail and beverage industries.
