Arco adds bulk storage facility

The project will enable product to be transferred from receiving in NDC2 to the pick location in NDC1. The solution will include carton conveyor, mezzanine, pick tower modifications with a full upgrade of Reflex with Analytex. The project, which is in response to Arco’s strategy for growth, is due to go live in October 2019, and will improve system resilience and increase storage capacity.

Logistex has also successfully completed major enhancements to an existing order fulfilment system at the Arco NDC in Hull. The project was completed within the agreed time frame and without any significant disruption to the Arco day to day NDC operations.

The DC in Hull has 27,796 sq m of storage space, holds almost 22,000 products in stock and operates 24 hours a day, 5 days a week shipping over 20,000 picks per day. Arco approached Logistex to develop a list of enhancements in order to increase the throughput capacity of a system that was approaching its limit within a confined space.

Arco’s divisional director for Logistics, Neil Griffiths, says: “Our core objectives – improved reliability and increased capacity, with no disruption to the live operation – have been successfully achieved, with a 30% uplift in potential capacity. There’s a lot more flexibility built into the system so we can more easily cope with any downtime. We are currently completing around 17,000 picks and shipping 8,000 parcels and pallets per day.”

Features included: 

• New mezzanine floor built over the existing packing area to support a new packing area
• 18 new packing stations with integrated conveyors
• New bypass conveyor links to create ‘Shortcut routes’ for totes, minimising order processing times and conveyor loading
• Additional automatic order consolidation buffers (50% increase over existing)
• Conveyor ‘SCADA’ type visualisation system to monitor the additional equipment and maintain high levels of uptime