Leading-edge storage, picking and sortation technology has been combined by KNAPP into a stylish automated solution for the French clothing retailer, Celio.
Founded in 1985, Celio is the number one men’s fashion brand in France, with over 1000 shops, half of which are abroad and spread across 60 nations. In addition, through its e-commerce sales, Celio markets its clothing directly to consumers in 15 European countries. Selling some 35 million garments each year, Celio recently decided to merge its three warehouses into a new and highly automated distribution centre at Amblainville, just north of Paris. With the objectives of enhancing performance, supporting continued growth of the sales network and reducing handling costs, the new DC – both the building and its automated intralogistics – was realised in just nine months.
The new 30,000m² DC takes care of the handling of both flat-packed and hanging garments for Celio’s three sales networks – store deliveries in France, store deliveries abroad and online mail order deliveries. As well as efficiency and delivery quality, an improvement in working conditions for staff was a key demand, with a major focus placed on the ergonomic design of the workstations.
End-to-end solution
The KNAPP solution for Celio is end-to-end, combining the technology of KNAPP in the handling of flat-packed goods with the overhead conveying systems of Dürkopp Fördertechnik, a KNAPP group company. At the heart of the solution are the OSR Shuttle™ and the Split Tray Sorter systems, which combine to allow the DC to adapt flexibly to the changing order structure.
The OSR Shuttle™ automated store feeds eight Pick-it-Easy workstations at which Pick-to-Light displays and touch screens facilitate ergonomic and error-free picking. Here, staff prepare goods for transfer to the Split Tray Sorter, which functions as the main artery of the system, automatically dropping goods with absolute precision through a flap to a carton at one of 680 target positions below. The sorter features two-part trays, allowing two items to be placed on each tray and, if necessary, deposited separately.
High sorting capacity
KNAPP’s KiSoft Warehouse Control System ensures that articles are distributed evenly among the eight infeed points to achieve maximum performance for the sorter, which has a capacity of 15,000 items per hour. The sorter allows all orders – regardless of order structure or sales channel – to be processed efficiently by a single system. A separate 6000m² area processes hanging garments using modular trolley technology from Dürkopp Fördertechnik to handle more than 50,000 items per hour. The hanging goods are picked manually on several levels of the warehouse.
Total control
KNAPP provided a comprehensive, tailor-made software package from its KiSoft series to optimise material flows in conjunction with Celio’s host system. As well as the KiSoft WCS, KNAPP supplied KiSoft SRC to control and manage the OSR Shuttle™ and KiSoft i-Point to provide the visualization for the OSR Shuttle™ system. The result is simple stock management and statistics, comprehensive visualization and a clear display of error situations.
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