Eight-aisle mini load
automated buffer with 23,600 storage locations.
Two-level conveyor
system with shoe sorters
for transporting boxes to storage buffers, accumulation
lanes, and loading docks.
20 accumulation conveyor lanes for pallet loads.
Two automatic palletizers and shrink wrap stations.
Four floor-running Sorting Transfer Vehicles (STV)
for transporting pallets to and from the unit load buffer.
Computer Control System
Windows NT-based client/server architecture with distributed controls and a relational database.
Control software directs all aspects of system operation in real time.
Orders are transmitted from the host computer, and may be modified at any time prior to being released for filling.
Material Flow Process
Input
Primary cuts of beef are Cryovac-wrapped and packed in boxes.
Boxes are bar code labeled with the product cut, grade, and net weight.
Boxes travel across a skyway conveyor from the processing plant into the distribution center.
A bar code scanner reads the label on each box as it enters the distribution center.
Control software determines the location for each box, depending on the type of beef cut and grade.
High-volume products are immediately sent to accumulation conveyor lanes for palletizing.
Medium- to low-volume products are sent to the box buffer until there is a full pallet of the same product and an accumulation lane is available for palletizing.
Boxes that are part of mixed-pallet orders are stored in the mini load buffer until there are enough boxes in that customer's order for a pallet load. Boxes are then released to the accumulation lanes.
Individual box orders are stored in the mini load buffer.
An input shoe sorter directs each box into one of two conveyor lanes.
Roller and belt conveyors deliver boxes to input/output stations at the mini load or box buffer or to the accumulation conveyor lanes.
An output shoe sorter sends boxes to one of two conveyor levels for delivery to the accumulation lanes or the floor loading area.
Palletizing
When a full pallet is accumulated on the conveyor lanes, the boxes are released to another conveyor, which delivers them to an automated palletizer.
Pallets can be created in several different stacking patterns, depending on the product type and box size.
Palletized boxes are stretch-wrapped for stability.
A Sorting Transfer Vehicle (STV) picks up the wrapped pallet and delivers it to the unit load buffer.
Output
Pallet loads are retrieved from the unit load buffer and delivered to an STV.
STVs deliver pallets to output conveyors, where lift trucks pick up the pallets and load them onto shipping trucks.
Individual box orders are retrieved from the mini load and sent to the output conveyor.
The output conveyor delivers boxes to one of four floor-loading dock areas for loading directly onto shipping trucks.
