Automation of the Pickup point for “Epicentr K”
“Epicentr K” is the leader of non-food retail in Ukraine. Group of companies includes 66 shopping centers, 52 INTERSPORT stores, 10 hypermarkets “New Line”, own production of ceramic tiles and wood processing, logistics center “Kalinovka” with the total area of 100 thousand m2, fulfillment center “Viskozna” with the area of 20 thousand m2, agricultural direction “Epicentr Agro” and 14 modern grain elevators.
Each year, over 51 million purchases are made at Epicentr K national chain. Customers pick up more than 50% of their online orders from Pickup Centers located in 48 cities across Ukraine. Recently a new shopping center “Epicentr” with a total area of 25 800 m2 was opened in Vinnytsia. There are more than 200 000 SKUs in 15 different areas, from building and auto parts to sports and children products.
To make order pickup faster and more convenient for the customer, Epicentr turned to KAPELOU to find the best solution to improve warehouse processes.
We were faced with the following tasks:
- automate the transportation of boxes to the point of pickup;
- ensure lifting of goods to the second floor of the warehouse for storage;
- automate descent of orders from the second floor;
- reduce manual movement of goods.
The new Pickup point is a modern and technological facility. They are placed at the edge of storage areas – in the sales area, or in the product pickup and shipping ramp areas. For temporary storage of orders from the online store, racking structures placed on the mezzanine are installed in the warehouse.
With all these nuances in mind, the KAPELOU team developed a complete solution that significantly reduces the time for issuing online orders and automates routine processes. We used modular conveyor equipment made by KAPELOU® in the project and carried out the installation and commissioning work.
For the automation of the Pickup point, we have installed:
- high-speed vertical conveyor with a maximum load of 35 kg, which transports boxes to the storage area;
- straight and rotary driven roller conveyor with a speed range of 0.2 to 1.0 m/s, which transports goods to the distribution zone;
- operator panel (HMI) to control the system operation.
Thanks to this technological solution, each warehouse employee works only in the area assigned to him and does not need to move the goods around the warehouse. This significantly increases the accuracy of operations and reduces the time to issue online orders from 10 minutes to 3.
Thanks to the “Epicentr” network for many years of cooperation, always interesting tasks and the opportunity to implement innovative solutions.