Food retail logistics for the entire supply chain
With us, grocery shopping becomes easy and comfortable. Since every business is unique, we focus on what exactly your business needs. We bring the shopping experience right where your customers are. When your customers move between online and offline, we want them to have a pleasant user experience and great service. We create the right logistics solution for you.
Along with delivery to stores for brick and mortar retail, new business models are becoming increasingly important: omnichannel, multichannel, seamless commerce and urban networks. 24/7 online shopping and flexible last mile concepts. Contactless in-store solutions and sustainable empties handling. We have intelligent automation solutions to optimize all of the process and value chains. No package is complete without modern software, including applications in artificial intelligence.
We are the right partner for
Have we sparked your interest? Take a quick look at our solutions and customers. Or contact us. We look forward to meeting you.
We want to work with you to develop the best tailor-made logistics system. The essential element for all of this is a holistic view of you and your project.
Online fulfillment
Fresh groceries at a click
Solutions for successful e-commerce fulfillment in food retail
Today, consumers who shop online expect a wide range of products, perfect service and flexible solutions for the last mile. We offer concepts that can grow with your business, coming from many years of experience in single item picking, a necessary ingredient for successful e-commerce fulfillment. For your business.
E-Grocer at a glance
Online food retail: Flexible last-mile concepts with MFCs or CFCs.
The demands in grocery e-commerce are as varied as the assortment. Our proven technologies dovetail perfectly with your business concepts, from semi- to fully automatic.
Our E-Grocer concept for online food retail offers solutions for every size and shape of population density. They cover everything from the large central fulfillment center (CFC) for far-ranging supply territories to the small micro fulfillment center (MFC) for supply to urban neighborhoods. Medium-sized suburban fulfillment centers (SFC) and contactless in-store concepts round out our portfolio of solutions. Our New Urban Logistics initiative equips food retailers with the tools they need to adapt their urban omnichannel networks to local needs.
Advantages
Central online fulfillment at REWE
REWE invested in an automated food fulfillment center (FFC) in Cologne. Thanks to the innovative automation solution, the entire range of goods is delivered fresh to the customer in the best quality. Orders arrive conveniently at the customer’s door on the same or the next day or can be picked up at a pickup station.
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Perfect e-commerce processes
Our E-Grocer CFC solution offers the ideal combination of manual and automatic processes. This not only means rapid order processing, but also reduced costs as well as order lead times. Thanks to sequencing by customer and optimal delivery routes, the groceries arrive at customers’ homes fast and fresh. Highly automated processes gently handle the more than 20,000 products. Furthermore, the cold chain is maintained in all areas. When making deliveries, planning the route ideally is essential. REWE’s customers benefit from the smooth-running logistics. They receive the best and the freshest. On time, right on their doorstep.
Highlights
Micro fulfillment: Automated miniature warehouse right in the store
With E-Grocer MFC (Micro Fulfillment Center) and our partner Takeoff Technologies, we offer an e-commerce solution connected to a supermarket, which is especially suited for food retailers in urban areas. This turnkey product provides rapid start for a low cost. A direct connection to the store means that consumers have the full range of products available for their online orders. Orders are therefore rapidly processed. Intelligently combining manual and automated processes means that orders are ready for pick up or delivery within 30 minutes. Last mile costs are also comparatively low. For our MFCs, we also offer a special service solution – our Multi-Site Control Center.
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We can fulfill orders five times faster and are in the right position for further growth. We feel good about where we’re at.
Our concept gives us a head start of several years on the competition. The experience gained implementing several MFC solutions for various food retailers is why we are ahead. With E-Grocer MFC, we have put a standardized modular product on the market. Retailers can have efficient e-commerce fulfillment in just a few weeks.
Advantages
Our MFCs are in use around the globe for various food retailers including:
- Sedanos
- Albertsons
- Wakefern Foods
- Loblaws
- Woolworths
- Ahold Delhaize
- Carrefour
Robotic supermarket: MFC at Sedanos
Sedanos is one of the leading local food retailers in Miami, Florida and is one of our first customers to implement an MFC with us. By investing in an MFC, Sedanos has made things easier for its customers, making shopping more convenient than ever. The heart of the solution is our OSR Shuttle™ Evo. It is a highly flexible, space-efficient storage and picking system that can be scaled according to order volumes. The Pick-it-Easy work stations link the shuttle system and the employees. At the ergonomic work stations, user friendliness plays an important role. It raises both the picking performance and the picking quality, ensuring that the right items always end up in the right shopping bag. Customer orders are ready to be shipped or picked up within 30 minutes.
Highlights
MFC: Customer proximity and efficiency for Intermarché
In contrast to classic MFC solutions, Intermarché’s automated warehouses in Lyon and Paris are not attached directly to a supermarket but are instead independent dark stores. Each MFC delivers the online orders to 15 to 20 stores within a 25-kilometer (15-mile) radius.
The MFCs automatically process 80 % of the article range, while the remaining 20 %, which includes very specific items and freshly prepared such as cheese and meat, is processed in the stores.
Options for the last mile
Intermarché offers different options to their customers for the last mile:
- Curbside pickup at the store of their choice
- 24/7 lockers
- home delivery
Advantages
The MFC is a system that offers maximum flexibility, productivity and reliability in large cities. The increase in productivity allows us to not only achieve a higher economic performance but also increased flexibility in meeting our customers’ requirements.
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Urban networks
New logistics concepts that are right around the corner
Omnichannel brings seamless commerce to the real world
A contactless in-store experience at the point of sale. Customers switch easily between online and offline.
But how is this possible?
We are creating intelligent new solutions for urban areas through our initiative, New Urban Logistics. These solutions form the link between the online shop and the brick and mortar store. The task is to integrate people, processes and information and to offer flexible last mile solutions that are tailored to your omnichannel business. Our intelligent technologies help food retailers to design their perfect urban fulfillment network to be expandable and flexible enough to respond quickly to changes in the business.
In the market, it’s becoming more and more important to think in terms of networks. The networks are rich in opportunity, depending on the number and size of the orders, and will offer even more flexibility in the future.
RetailStore: Turning shopping into an experience
Our in-store concept, RetailStore, combines the best of brick and mortar and online shops. We create a unique customer experience right at the point of sale. The heart of this is an intelligent picking system, which stores and handles a comprehensive array of goods in a space-effective and theft-proof space. The solution is complemented by features such as interactive screens.
Omnichannel fulfillment
All sales channels seamlessly connected
Omnichannel brings seamless commerce to the real world
Omnichannel is not only the supreme challenge but also the future of logistics. It fuses traditional and digital retail and linking all sales channels. This is how seamless commerce becomes reality.
But how is this possible?
Omnichannel is a system for all business cases. One warehouse can ideally handle both the processes for e-commerce and the processes involved in delivery to stores, as well as combined processes. Depending on which segment needs more capacity, this concept responds flexibly to changing order volumes. Despite the differences in the final form of packaging, only one central warehouse is needed with the OSR Shuttle™ Evo. This way, synergies can be used to best effect. Depending on the customer’s requirements, we offer a fully or semi-automatic solution.
With omnichannel we have found a way to optimize productivity and order fulfillment and to minimize the size of the warehouse.
Goods-to-person work stations form the interface between people and machines. They are adaptable and reduce strenuous, monotonous tasks. At the same time, they provide the best possible order fulfillment and raise delivery and service quality. At the work stations, small quantities can be picked directly into the pockets, and store-friendly pallets or roll containers can be manually packed.
Our omnichannel solution is also available as a fully automatic concept. Our robots handle the processes, with RUNPICK packing the pallets for store delivery and Pick-it-Easy Robot picking the orders for e-commerce.
Omnichannel at a glance
Full automation with robots
Artificial intelligence for food retail
Gentle product handling in fully-automatic warehouses
Robots are used for automation in many areas of logistics. They use their artificial intelligence to improve quality, efficiency and performance. Where resources are lacking, robots step in, increasing quality and profitability. Humans and robots complement each other perfectly. A robot never gets tired and can carry out tasks over a long period of time with consistently high quality. By comparison, a human can respond quickly and flexibly to new requirements. This is right where our solution for the food industry comes into play: RUNPICK and Pick-it-Easy Robot.
Fully automatic full case picking
RUNPICK was specially developed for the food retail sector and stands for Robotic Universal Picker. The system picks and palletizes large handling units and fills orders for brick and mortar retail fully automatically. It processes handling units for fast, medium and slow movers from both the shelf-stable and the fresh food assortment. RUNPICK builds mixed pallets and roll containers and is well-suited for supplying stores with different structures. The system can grow with the requirements of the customer and as the market develops.
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The great advantage that RUNPICK offers is handling a variety of packaging types, processing them fast and efficiently using multiple-item picking. The system can pick up and put down several items in one cycle. This significantly increases performance compared to existing systems. Several handling units can be positioned simultaneously on the target load carrier. Thanks to packing algorithms, selectable picking criteria and the ability to handle various types of packaging, store-friendly delivery to brick and mortar stores is a done deal. KiSoft Pack Master calculates the ideal packing pattern. This is how RUNPICK works automatically, filling customer orders.
RUNPICK at a glance
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Robotics for e-commerce
Tomatoes, bananas, eggs. With so many different types of foods to pick, gentle handling is a must. Our Pick-it-Easy Robot gently and reliably picks up a variety of groceries and carefully puts them down, working 24/7. Thanks to intelligent Vision systems for object recognition and grip point specification, the robot learns as it works. It continually teaches itself the new articles and improves its performance. Machine learning is the key to the Pick-it-Easy Robot’s ability to know how to best pick up an item, automatically selecting the right gripper and grip point. The robot is flexible, delivers consistent high performance, and can ideally be integrated into existing concepts.
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A few years ago, we were sure that we’d be able to process 15 percent of items for food e-commerce using KNAPP’s Pick-it-Easy Robot. We now know this figure is closer to 50 percent. I believe that we could use the robot not just in the picking area, but also in the decanting area.
Pick-it-Easy Robot at a glance
Automated store delivery
Solutions for brick and mortar retail
The secret behind full shelves
The bagel for your breakfast, ingredients for your weekend meals or utensils for spring cleaning: We can find everything we need on a daily basis at our neighborhood supermarkets. But what goes on behind the scenes to keep those shelves full?
Our solutions for brick and mortar food retail are ideally suited to meet the requirements of the retailer and include semi- to fully automatic concepts. Each store has individual requirements for order fulfillment. The following criteria play a role:
- Store-friendly delivery
- Customer-specific sequencing
- Packing parameters
With Flexible Case Picking and FAST Picking, our solutions for store delivery, we offer ideal solutions for brick and mortar retail.
At a glance
Deliveries to brick and mortar retail must be adapted to the store layout. The sequence on the load carriers is the important factor. With our solutions, order fulfillment is flexible and makes the work for employees easier both in the warehouse and at the stores.
Automation solutions tailored to every requirement
Flexible Case Picking gives you the agility to handle fluctuations well. Retailers can achieve the maximum in flexibility and reliability. Despite its semi-automatic nature, the system performs at the same level as a fully automatic solution.
Core components of Flexible Case Picking:
Flexible processing of standard handling units
The fully automatic FAST Picking solution makes fast, economical and error-free order fulfillment in different standard handling units possible. Employee strain is reduced to a minimum.
How FAST Picking works:
Complete flexibility for store delivery
SPAR makes store-friendly deliveries to more than 200 stores from the Ebergassing distribution center. The warehouse is one of the most innovative and environmentally friendly of its kind. SPAR had particular requirements for the adaptability and scalability of the concept which would enable them to respond to fluctuations. Manual tasks also had to be reduced to a minimum. Our automated systems provide the ideal support to the employee, allowing a rapid increase in throughput. The picking sequence is tailored to each individual store.
KNAPP has been our reliable partner for over 25 years, and we are convinced that they can create the ideal solutions for our requirements.
Flexible, space-effective processing of standard handling units
Dagab delivers fresh groceries to more than 600 stores and small distribution centers from its DC in Jönköping. With our fully automatic FAST Picking solution the broad assortment is processed economically and without errors. This means efficient, on-time delivery to the stores.
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Empties management
Sustainable logistics for reusables
Efficient empties management
The trend in beverage packaging is clearly moving towards reusables. With our solutions for empties management, we complete the circle in food industry. Sustainability and efficiency take top priority: It starts with sorting and recognizing individual bottles and continues on to stock management, to cleaning and finally to the deposits.
From the receiving of empties at the reverse vending machine to the pick up by the producers – all processes are transparent and completely traceable. All the processes that take place after the point of sale are designed efficiently and save resources.
Bottle and crate sorting
Unsorted empties from grocery retail are prepared for further use by our Reusables Management Solutions (RMS). Our modern technologies quickly sort the returned empties, so they are completely unmixed when returned to the producers. The degree of automation can be adapted precisely, and solutions can be manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic. Different kinds of sortation are available because the type needed depends on the turnover rate of the empty bottles, crates or handling units. Along with bottles and bottle crates, standard reusable handling units are also relevant. We also have the right concept for these, from cleaning them to providing them in unmixed stacks for reuse. In bottle sorting, we provide bottlers with crates of sorted bottles. Bottle sorting robots process the bottles fully automatically.
RMS at a glance
EDEKA Rhein-Rhur and t-log rely on RMS for empties management
In 2010, when the solution at EDEKA had its go-live, it was already considered one of the most modern sorting systems in Europe. Image recognition and robot technology automated the processes. The returned empties are quickly sorted and provided to the beverage producers as single varieties. Central to the solution is KiSoft RCS, our handling unit software. Material flow, empties management and the correct booking of the goods are all managed by the software. The solution is continuously updated to make the allocation of beverage crates to the areas even faster and more reliable. This also allows also to save both time and costs as well as manual post-processing.
We are very satisfied with how we implement projects with KNAPP. Everything always runs smoothly – from project planning to installation to startup. The results often exceed our expectations and it is often possible to achieve higher performance than planned. We are looking forward to future projects with KNAPP.
Solution highlights
Long-standing partnership in empties management
Cleanaway Österreich sorts reusable handling units from the SPAR supermarket chain at ten locations – all with the help of our Reusables Management Solution (RMS). Our semi-automatic sorting system separates standard handling units automatically and provides empties as unmixed stacks for further use. The system really takes the strain off the team. Cutting-edge image recognition technologies mean that the exact deposit values are booked for each store. The system features the KiSoft Reusables Control System (KiSoft RCS). As the central element in the solution, KiSoft RCS coordinates complex material flows, manages all empties and books them quickly by store.
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We are using a KNAPP empties solution at ten of our locations. The solution benefits the food retailers, since the empty handling units are fully traceable. It’s a plus for the manufacturers too, who at the end of the process are supplied with unmixed empties, ready for further use.
Solution highlights
Have we sparked your interest?
We look forward to hearing from you.