In 1889, the brothers André and Edouard Michelin founded a rubber factory that bore their name, which would evolve into the world’s leading tire manufacturer. Today, the group has more than 110,000 employees and sales of more than 20 billion Euro. The Michelin Group is active in 170 countries worldwide and sells and produces all kinds of tires; for passenger cars, trucks, buses, tractors, motorcycles, aircraft, and all sorts of other vehicles. Manufacturing takes place at 72 production facilities in 19 countries.
The availability and service requirements are generally high in the industry, and for Michelin, a high level of customer service and an effective supply chain is part of the company’s strategy and is prioritised in the business operations. “Strong customer focus is a cornerstone of Michelin. Therefore, fast, efficient and service-oriented logistics is crucial for us,” says Patrik Oskarsson, Logistics Manager of Michelin Nordic AB, which includes the countries of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.
THE RETROFIT PROJECT – MODERNIZATION OF THE NORDIC DC
“In 1991, we built a highlyautomated warehouse facility in Kungälv, Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2004, a decision was made to centralise all our Nordic distribution to Kungälv. It was the start of an expansion, and ten years later, a powerful modernisation of the facility,” says Patrik Oskarsson. The decision to modernise the facility was a natural result of the fact that the equipment was no longer able to manage inventory production fast enough nor efficiently enough during production peaks.
“It was high time to modernise the facility. Our existing AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles) were not suitable for the large and rapid goods-flows and unable to handle the increased volumes. They became a bottleneck in the flow during our peak seasons. In addition, it was getting difficult to get spare parts for both cranes and AGVs.” A large part of the equipment in the warehouse – including cranes and AGVs – was installed by Swisslog as early as 1991 in a completely different market situation. In 2010 the work started with pre-study and planning to cope with today’s volumes and service demands. This was followed by a thorough procurement process of the new automatic warehouse system and associated software. In tough competition with several of the major players, Swisslog was selected and commissioned to quickly and professionally carry out the modernisation of the facility. The project was designated The Retrofit Project.
“A VERY WELL-EXECUTED PROJECT”
The work that was carried out together with Swisslog focused on replacing the facility’s existing eight stacker cranes with new, highefficiency cranes. In addition, a fixed conveyor system was installed, which replaced the previous AGVs. Patrik Oskarsson says that the biggest challenge was to make replacements and carry out modernisation while having minimal impact on the daily warehouse operations. The highbay warehouse had to close completely during the eight weeks to allow for the replacement of cranes, and when the new conveyor system was installed, an external warehouse had to be used as a supplement for a few months during low season.
“In retrospect, I can say that it is a very well executed project. Swisslog understood our challenges and managed to plan and carry out the modernisation with minimal disruption to our daily production. The modernisation and crane replacement went smoothly and we succeeded with our most important assignment; to get the tires to the recipients at the agreed time,” says Patrik Oskarsson “It is rare that projects like this are executed completely as planned and on time.” Currently, the distribution centre in Kungälv supplies the entire Nordic region with virtually all types of tires. Despite the high level of automation, the distribution centre employs around 55 people. Around 20 people work in administration, IT, and production and delivery planning.
The rest work in the warehouse. This is because the handling of tires requires a lot of manual operations. For example, certain labelling must be done by hand. Employees in the distribution centre are also working with monitoring the operation, handling of incoming and outgoing flows as well as the everyday maintenance. To secure a continous operation Michelin has a support and service agreement with Swisslog, in which the cranes are serviced on a regular basis, three times a year.
Michelin has a close partnership with Swisslog characterised by a climate of trust and regular meetings and discussions about the current operation and future needs.
The tires supplied to the Nordic market are produced at factories in Europe, mainly in Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Russia. The majority of import flows is warehoused in Kungälv for distribution to different types of customers; tire repair shops, automotive companies, wholesalers and retailers throughout the Nordic region.
GOOD CAPACITY IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE
Through the new conveyor system, Michelin Nordic’s DC has got a completely new layout and significantly improved capacity as a result of the new modern cranes. The modernisation makes it possible to maintain a high level of delivery service and avoid bottlenecks associated with the seasonal peaks that occur during June to October and January to March.
“Our modernised facility makes it possible to carry out our assignment – to deliver the right product, at the right time to the right customer – at the same time that we have a good capacity for further growth in the foreseeable future,” says a pleased Patrik Oskarsson.
BENEFITS
• High availability of articles in a modern and highly automated warehouse
• Improved customer service during peak seasons
• Increased warehouse and order fulfilment capacity for future growth
• Replacements and modernisation conducted with minimal impact on the daily operations
• Project delivered timely
• Close cooperation with focus on future development and continuous improvement
SWISSLOG SERVICES
• Design, engineering and realization of CDC
• Project Management
• Training
• Service and Support
SWISSLOG (UK) LTD
Tel: 01527 551 600
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