Wincanton

In the first application of shared-user robotics in the UK, logistics services provider, Wincanton, has broken new ground with a multi-million-pound advanced order-picking system from Invar Group that serves multiple ecommerce clients at its shared user, high-volume eFulfilment facility in Northampton. The success of the collaboration between Wincanton and systems integrator, Invar Group, has accelerated customers’ ability to rapidly respond to consumer demand.

Wincanton is one of the logistics sector’s most prominent third-party operators. With a turnover of £1.4bn Wincanton is responsible for managing 17.4m sq ft of warehouse space for many of the UK’s best-known brands and organisations.

As part of its strategy to create sustainable supply chain value through technology and automation, Wincanton recently engaged leading independent warehouse automation integrator, Invar Group, to design and install the UK’s first shared-user, robot-assisted picking operation for multiple clients. The solution, located a Wincanton’s 210,000 sq ft shared user eCommerce site in Northampton, handles over 2,000 SKUs for a number of synergistic customers, including well known and fast-growing brands in UK mid-market eCommerce.

Installed and fully integrated by Invar Group in just a few months – between January and August 2022 – the project involved the close co-ordination of 20 suppliers, bringing together 283 existing racks, 48 Geek+ Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), 10 pick stations, pick-to-light technology, three decant stations, lifts and the construction of a new 50,000 sq ft mezzanine. In addition, sophisticated software engineering and intricate designs for each of the pick stations was required to ensure smooth interoperability of the system for Wincanton’s customers.

Carl Moore, Managing Director – eFulfilment, at Wincanton explains: “Each station is assigned to one contract at a time, so picking activities at that station apply to one contract. However, different contracts can be assigned to other stations simultaneously. For example, across the 10 picking stations at any point in time you could have three dedicated to customer A, three to customer B, three to customer C and one to customer D – all operating at the same time.”

The highly versatile goods-to-person picking operation offers all the flexibility and scalability of AMR technology. Individual robots carry customer-specific racks of product to the picking stations in accordance with instructions from the WMS and Invar’s controllers, with orders coordinated and managed simultaneously across Wincanton’s customers. Robots and pick-stations can be allocated as needed to meet demand over the client base and scalability can be easily achieved by adding further robots – providing the extra flexibility and capacity to cope with peak periods.

“As is typical for eCommerce, orders tend to be small, somewhere between one to three items per order,” says Moore. “The system has been designed to facilitate 120 open orders per station at any one time. The put-to-light system makes it a very straight forward and efficient process, which means it’s an incredibly quick process to train our colleagues.”

According to Moore, the introduction of robot-assisted picking has increased productivity by 200% and has significantly reduced labour costs. The flexibility afforded by this form of automation has greatly reduced dependency on labour and offers provision for meeting peak periods with reduced exposure to risk, enabling the business to take on more clients with confidence.

“Our investment in collaborative robotic technology means we have greater flexibility in our operations for customers, enabling us to better manage the fluctuating product volumes associated with high volume eFulfilment work,” he says.

Wincanton’s eCommerce customers have benefited from high volume throughput in the shared user solution, which can handle up to 70,000 units per day.

Reflecting the close collaborative ties between the two businesses, Moore says: “Overall we were very impressed with the approach and the level of innovation that Invar brought to the project, integrating multiple technologies to produce a highly efficient, robust and cost-effective operation.”

Wincanton has collaborated with Invar on several warehouse automation projects over recent years and in early 2024 the two companies were brought together with the acquisition of Invar Group by Wincanton, where it operates as a stand-alone business. The acquisition of Invar enables both organisations to “deliver more value, faster, to our customers”, says Wincanton Chief Executive James Wroath.

Further independent advice on transforming operational performance in the warehouse can be found at: www.Invargroup.com