Dematic’s smart robot wins SCLAA awards for Nestlé

Selecting a Dematic robotic layer picking system proved to be a wise choice for Nestlé Australia. It received three logistics awards for its Arndell Park national distribution centre (DC), which uses a Dematic system. Another Dematic user, The Just Group, was presented with the SCLAA’s Information Management Award for implementing Dematic’s RapidStocktake stocktaking solution.

Dematic’s robotic layer picking system.

The 2011 Australian Supply Chain and Logistics Awards were presented by the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA) in Perth. Nestlé picked up three awards: the Supply Chain Management Award, the Australian Storage and Handling of Materials Award and the Australian Manufacturing Logistics Award.

Nestlé’s DC is used to store and distribute several hundred Nestlé products, with about 80% of the orders distributed as full pallets. The remaining 20% of orders are distributed in pallet layer and full-case quantities, which had previously required manual handling of around five million cases each year. Installing the Dematic system has improved this OHS challenge, handling four million of these cases.

The Dematic four-axis robotic layer picker has a dual bellows and vacuum-gripping head that is capable of handling almost 80% of the Nestlé product range, from cartons to bags to bottled beverages.

Orders from Nestlé’s SAP warehouse management system are downloaded into Dematic’s PickDirector warehouse control system. Interfacing with Dematic’s FreePick Maximiser software, PickDirector orders the stock required for layer picking in the sequence required to fulfil the next wave of orders.

When new pallets of stock enter the system, the layer picker selects the required layers and transfers the stock to one of four pallets for customer orders. The system’s software allocates remaining stock to other orders or to storage bays to be combined with later orders.

Orders are check weighed, stretch wrapped and labelled as they are conveyed through the system. Any orders that need individual case picks are completed using the DC’s voice picking system.

Dematic’s FreePick Maximiser software enables the system to achieve high throughput rates. The software enables 20-50% of goods to be distributed without needing to be physically picked by crossmatching orders and pairing them with compatible order profiles.

Dematic’s products have also helped award winner The Just Group make its twice-yearly stocktake more efficient. The RapidStocktake solution is a Bluetooth-enabled system that has meant considerable time and cost savings for the retail group, which previously had to close its stores for a full day of trade when stocktaking. The group includes outlets such as Just Jeans, Portmans, Peter Alexander and Jay Jays.

Other high-profile awards included the Australian Training, Education and Development Award, won by the University of Wollongong’s Sydney Business School, and the Environmental Excellence Award, presented to the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of Queensland (WCRAQ). Rick Ralph received the Australian Industry Excellence Award and Amy Vassallo took home the 2011 Australian Future Leaders Award.