THE FACILITY, just north of Dublin near the airport, was designed and delivered with Moffett Automation as a bespoke system for Dixon’s temperature-controlled operations. The project linked two separate warehouse chambers into a single automated operation, supporting both ambient and chilled storage at temperatures between 2 deg C and 20 deg C.

The system utilises 20 Moffett Taxi pallet shuttles to move stock around the warehouse without manual intervention. Pallets enter via six reversible conveyors that handle both inbound and outbound flows, and every pallet is measured on entry so the system can allocate the most efficient storage location. Vertical transfer units then move loads between levels of racking that rises to around 18 metres, making full use of the building’s height.

The system can handle around 80 pallets an hour inbound and the same outbound, with more than 250 pallet movements per hour across the site.

The warehouse runs as a “lights-out” environment, which cuts energy consumption and improves safety, and is supported by a 1MW rooftop solar installation. Replacing many traditional forklift operations with automation also reduces manual handling and improves product protection.

Tomorrow’s Warehouse, which has run for five years in Coventry and Manchester, will bring its established mix of networking and learning to warehousing and logistics professionals in Ireland alongside the tour.

Vineta Bajaj, group chief financial officer at Holland & Barrett, will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural Dublin event.

Registration opens in December. Anyone interested in speaking at the event should contact Tomorrow’s Warehouse conference producer Simon Duddy at [email protected]