An automated central fulfilment centre (CFC) recently went live in Sydney for Australia’s leading supermarket chain, Woolworths.
Equipped with KNAPP’s E-Grocer solution, the 22,000-sq-m facility processes up to 60,000 online orders per week and has increased Woolworths’ online capacity across Western Sydney by over 50 per cent. The E-Grocer solution combines various KNAPP technologies in combinations suitable for every type of online food retail operation – from large CFCs, through medium-sized suburban fulfilment centres (SFCs) to micro fulfilment centres (MFCs) and contactless in-store applications.
The new CFC in Auburn, Western Sydney, supports Woolworths’ home delivery and express delivery services, as well as serving 16 direct-to-boot collection bays, the largest such offering in Australia. The Auburn facility features two key KNAPP technologies: the Evo Shuttle automated storage system and the Pick-it-Easy Robot fulfilment solution. Together, they ensure that customer orders are picked with high levels of efficiency and accuracy.
AI boosts robot performance
The Evo Shuttle takes care of automated storage and retrieval for inventory in all temperature zones, including frozen products. The system presents items in the optimal sequence for picking, with algorithms ensuring an optimal workload at each station. Orders are picked either at one of 16 ergonomically designed Pick-it-Easy workstations or one of two AI-powered Pick-it-Easy Robot stations. Equipped with specially designed grippers for fully automated single-item picking, the robots boost throughput. AI and intelligent sensors enable rapid self-teaching to recognise different products, packaging and features. Completing the high-performance solution at the CFC are automatic bagging machines, which streamline packing operations by automatically inserting and opening paper bags in the containers, ready for an employee or a robot to place items into.
“Over the last two years, we have seen over a 20 per cent increase in demand for online services,” said Sally Copland, Woolworths’ Managing Director of eComX, at the site’s recent launch. “By leveraging best-in-class technology, Auburn CFC will significantly boost order picking speed and accuracy for our customers in Western Sydney.”
Long-standing partnership
Woolworths and KNAPP have been working together since 2019. In addition to the Auburn CFC, the supermarket group has implemented six automated MFCs across Australia and New Zealand that also feature automation from KNAPP.
KNAPP supplies automation for both online and bricks-and-mortar food retailers worldwide. Customers include Spar (Austria), Kroger (USA), Rewe (Germany), Auchan Direct (France), Lotte Mart (Korea), Migros (Switzerland) and Shufersal (Israel).
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