Automated system "mooves" dairy beverages around the clock
Kroger's Mountain View Foods facility is delivering milk, cream, and juice to stores faster than ever thanks to robotic warehouse technology and 24/7 operation.
Victoria Kickham started her career as a newspaper reporter in the Boston area before moving into B2B journalism. She has covered manufacturing, distribution and supply chain issues for a variety of publications in the industrial and electronics sectors, and now writes about everything from forklift batteries to omnichannel business trends for DC Velocity.
The Kroger Co. is no stranger to innovation. The Cincinnati-based grocery giant has made headlines over the past year for its investments in automated warehouse technology that streamlines and improves the fulfillment of online grocery orders. But Kroger is investing in its more traditional operations as well, implementing an automated warehouse system at its Mountain View Foods milk-processing plant in Denver that is helping the company deliver dairy products faster than ever before to stores throughout the region.
Kroger was careful to choose the right system to meet its needs, company leaders say. After researching best practices in manufacturing and warehouse automation in other countries, the retailer settled on an end-to-end system from material handling solutions provider Cimcorp that incorporates robotic technology to minimize labor, reduce time-to-market, and conserve energy. Up and running for about five years, the technology has delivered on all fronts. The 215,000-square-foot Mountain View Foods plant is able to function as an almost unstaffed, or "lights out," operation that is increasing the shelf life of the packaged milk, cream, and juice it provides to 160 Kroger stores—all while keeping safety and sustainability as top priorities.
EFFICIENT BY DESIGN
At the core of the Denver facility's operation is Cimcorp's MultiPick warehouse solution, a fully automated robotic production, storage, handling, and order-processing system that can hold up to 36,000 crates and pick 32,000 crates per day. The solution includes a warehouse management system (WMS), robotic gantries, software modules, and plastic belt conveyors that together coordinate the stacking, storing, picking, and movement of products throughout the site. Cases and stacks are picked according to Kroger's specified sequence on one end of the facility and palletized for loading onto delivery trucks at the other, leaving space for storage buffering in between. The solution also includes an inter-platform communication system, which integrates Cimcorp's WMS with all of Kroger's warehouse software systems to make sure everything works in concert.
Cimcorp and Kroger also point to the innovative look of the system. Instead of using a traditional in-floor-mounted "drag-chain"-style conveyor, MultiPick moves single and stacked plastic dairy cases on a series of knee-high plastic belt conveyors. Case stackers, manual in-feed stations, and inbound and outbound conveyor systems complete the solution, which is directed and monitored via Cimcorp's WMS. The WMS also controls order processing, gantry movements, stack transport, and storage facility data, while a programmable logic controller (PLC) manages the conveyors, stacking equipment, palletizer, and strapping system. In addition, Cimcorp's software uses a picking algorithm that selects cases for shipping on a first-in/first-out (FIFO) basis, by date code, to maximize product shelf life.
All in all, the solution "precisely controls the entire material flow of the facility," according to Cimcorp.
SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE
Cimcorp leaders say safety was a driving force behind Kroger's automation project in Denver. Minimizing human involvement reduces the chance of accidents and injuries, and the Mountain View Foods facility has had no recorded accidents since it opened in 2014, they note. The system's design helps keep things safe. In a traditional dairy, workers would have to use long-handled hooks to pull 250-pound stacks of dairy cases onto a chain conveyor—a process that presents a high risk of worker injury. According to Cimcorp, MultiPick's end-to-end automated system, with its nontraditional conveyor belt design, eliminates those challenges. It also allows the facility to run 24/7, increasing productivity. Today, orders are picked with 100% accuracy at faster speeds, which results in shorter leadtimes, fresher products, and maximized product shelf life, leaders at both companies report.
"Because of the level of automation, it takes far fewer people to run the Mountain View Foods facility than [it does to run] a traditional dairy," a Cimcorp spokesperson says. "Visitors often ask, 'Where are all the people?' The plant currently employs a staff of 115, with only about 30 people required per shift to cover all 215,000 square feet of the plant."
Sustainability is a key benefit as well, in line with Kroger's efforts to become a zero-waste company, an initiative it launched in 2017. The automated system at Mountain View Foods is helping to meet that goal in a number of ways. According to Cimcorp, robotic picking and palletizing can be performed as a nearly "lights out" operation because human involvement is only required to monitor system performance. As a result, Kroger has been able to reduce energy usage per unit by 3% each year.
The system is also helping to conserve water by limiting employee movement throughout the plant. Employees must follow a specific hygiene protocol to avoid product contamination when entering different parts of the plant. Less employee movement means less water used in that process. Together, Kroger's production plants, including Mountain View Foods, have reduced the company's yearly water use by 61 million gallons—the equivalent of the amount of water used annually by roughly 1,500 U.S. homes, the companies say.
Cimcorp leaders say the Denver plant's success has led Kroger to consider implementing similar technology elsewhere, although the companies have not announced any new or ongoing projects.
"Impressed with the results ... Kroger has had discussions with us at Cimcorp to retrofit automation into the distribution of other production facilities," the Cimcorp spokesperson says.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.