Copyright © 2021 Business Insider Netherlands.All rights reserved.Registration or use of this site is subject to Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.Terms & Conditions |Privacy Policy |Cookie overview |To advertiseThe Albert Heijn distribution center has 8.4 kilometers of conveyor belt.Photo: Albert HeijnAlbert Heijn has entered the test phase of its new distribution center in Zaandam, which should open its doors in the first half of 2019.Except for a single operation, it is fully mechanized.The largest large-scale grower in our country has a total of six distribution centers of its own to supply the stores: two national distribution centers in Nieuwegein and Geldermalsen, and four regional centers in Zaandam, Tilburg, Pijnacker and Zwolle.In addition, AH has three so-called home shop centers for online shopping in Rotterdam, De Meern and Almere.In Zaandam, AH's cradle, the distribution center for non-perishable products will be 'fully mechanized'.The processing of almost the entire range of non-perishable products is done mechanically, i.e. with conveyor belts, artificial intelligence and robots.The packages hardly encounter human hands from reception to departure.Albert Heijn can send up to 400,000 extra boxes per day to stores, 50 percent more than now, on the same floor space.In addition, the robots can stack packages more efficiently in the roll container, so that fewer roll containers are needed.This ultimately leads to fewer trips from trucks to shops.And not unimportant: “This facilitates growth.For a retailer, growth and an increase in turnover is of vital importance," says Cees van Vliet, director of stores and distribution at Albert Heijn.“The greater capacity means that we can open more stores in the future,” adds Marjon de Koning, who is responsible for all Albert Heijn distribution centers.Another important point is of course the work that people do in the distribution center."That will be less and different. People will operate machines in the new distribution center, for example," says Van Vliet.At the moment, AH is still deploying 100 people per shift, in the new mechanized distribution center there are still 30. Already when the construction was announced in 2016, the supermarket company indicated that there was enough work left for permanent employees in logistics.They have a job guarantee.This does not apply to flex workers."It has always been difficult to find people for work in the distribution center. We use temporary workers a lot, especially from Poland. Those people will soon have to find other work," says Van Vliet.This will happen throughout the industry, predicts Van Vliet.He points to the two mechanized distribution centers under construction by competitors along the A12 and A2.For the time being, Albert Heijn is the first retailer with a distribution center that is almost fully automated.Business Insider was allowed to take a look.The first photo shows what it looks like now.We then track the products in the new, mechanized distribution center.This is the current distribution center of Albert Heijn in Zaandam.This is where 2,700 different shelf-stable products from suppliers come in and are delivered to about 300 AH stores in the country.Trucks from 270 suppliers deliver the products to one of the docks.The products on the pallet are then scanned by an employee, after which a pallet is driven by a forklift to the buffer locations.Buffer locations are the second, third, and fourth levels of the racks on the right of the photo.The bottom level is the pick location.An employee orders up to five stores simultaneously on roll containers using an electronic pallet truck (see photo).This process is driven by voice picking.The system tells the employee from which aisle and pick location a product must be taken and on which of the five roll containers the product must be placed.To be sure that the correct product is picked and placed on the correct roll container, the order picker must confirm this by stating the check number above the pick location and above the roll container on his order pick truck.When the roll containers are ready, they are labeled and prepared for departure.The label is also scanned during loading to ensure that the correct roll container is in the correct truck.In the new distribution center the trucks arrive at one of the 64 dock doors.The driver then drives the pallet with products to one of the eight so-called 'infeed stations'."Here the label of the pallet is scanned so that the system knows which products are on it and where it has to go," says project manager Hilbert Roukema."It is also checked whether nothing is broken and whether the products are stacked straight. Otherwise it cannot be stored in the high-bay warehouse."The pallet continues on its way via chain and roller conveyors to the high-bay warehouse where almost 9,000 pallets can be stored, 50 percent more than today.In total there are seven cranes that transport the pallets to the correct location.The high-bay warehouse is 30 meters high.The moment the system receives orders from shops, the pallets are transported to the so-called defoil area.Foil is taken off the pallet here, by a human."This is difficult to mechanize," says Marcel de With of Vanderlande, the company that takes care of the automation of the distribution center.A number of checks are also performed in the defoil area: is the pallet stacked neatly and does the item expected by the system match the item on the pallet that the screen shows.With a lift, the pallet goes to the area where the pallet is stacked and the products are placed in trays.About 80 percent of the products are automatically stacked.A small part of the range still has to be placed manually on roll containers.For example, a robot cannot stack toilet paper, says Roukema.In total there are about 50 to 60 articles that are not yet processed fully automatically.Employees can adjust the manual stacking workstations to their height and special lamps from Philips simulate daylight.Via an enormous network of conveyor belts, 8.4 kilometers in two mirrored lines, the trays continue on their way to a warehouse that can accommodate almost 140,000 trays of products.The products remain there until they are called off by robots.In addition to 14 robot stations, there are 12 manual stacking stations.These stations are only used during busy days.Order picking is fully automated.When an order comes in, fast shuttles and lifts take the products out of the warehouse on trays and take them to one of the 26 stacking stations.There, two robots stack the packages in the roll container.One robot prepares the box, after which the other stacks it.The system knows which items are involved, how large and heavy they are, whether they are fragile and how they are packed.In this way, the roll containers can be filled optimally, so that orders are processed more efficiently and faster.The stacking order matches that of the store."Chips is close to the Heineken beer. Then the robots don't fill the chips first and then the Heineken," says Vanderlande's Marcel de With.The connecting stacking order also makes it easier for employees in the store to fill compartments.In the room where the robots stack, you will also find the control room.Employees monitor the machines from here and monitor how many packages have been processed on screens.When all machines are in use, or 'all in dancing mode', the floor vibrates."You don't feel that in the control room. It is built in such a way that it is separate from the robot picking floor," says Marjon de Koning.The boxes stacked by robots are placed in a roll container by an elevator.The filled roll containers are picked up by AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicle) and transported to the expedition.When the shopping trip reports, these unmanned forklift trucks put the containers in the right place in the room where the drivers can load the order.This loading is done manually, but drivers can use an electronic loading aid.Technically, the AGVs can reach a decent speed, but at AH their maximum speed is 6 kilometers per hour, to guarantee the safety of employees and drivers in the expedition.Thanks to sensors, they won't fool you either.If you enter their safety zone, they will stop automatically.Whether Albert Heijn can build more of these types of distribution centers depends on several factors.For example, the available space at the other locations plays a role and the available technology must be sufficient for the distribution center in question.At the moment the process for boxes can be automated, order picking of individual items is a lot more difficult."The concept is scalable," says director of stores and distribution Cees van Vliet."But we're grocers enough to want to see this distribution center run before we decide to build a second one."5 software hacks every entrepreneur should knowWith this software you will never lose time making schedules againThis is the top 5 best workforce scheduling software for 2022Copyright © 2021 Business Insider Netherlands.All rights reserved.Registration or use of this site is subject to Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.Terms & Conditions |Privacy Policy |Cookie overview |To advertise