Booming Scandinavian Logistics driven by flexibilty, automation and new developers

The logistic trends in the Scandinavian markets are naturally following the trends in buyer behavior and the subsequent demands from occupiers, owners and users of the logistics facilities. Of course the technological development plays a significant role in this, having introduced the various variations of e-commerce on the end-buyer side and delivering an array of automation solutions from active shelves to actual robots. Logistics is at the forefront of the technological development.

One of the requirements of modern commerce is that many owners and useres og logistics facilities faces the need to be able to cater a number of different sized targets for their operations; from the individual need of single customers buying online, to delivering whole pallets to resellers. The set-up differs from operation to operation, but one of the trends that is emerging is the need for flexibility. This might mean different types of picks for the same item, or it can be seen in the emergence of logistics centres or parks with flexible wall spacing, that can adjust the storage space for occupiers according to their current needs.

The arrival of logistic parks also marks the arrival of international developers entering the Scandinavian markets alongside with global sales channels like Amazon, but also catering to the opportunities on the existing markets.

Logistics is at the front of several disruptions, from automation to the changes in global buying patterns, like the "Amazon-effect". But the warehouse is still a warehouse, and there is also a more subtle development of the physical formation of the buildings towards more efficient design, more height and a greater focus on sustainability.

We have tried to capture som of the most important trends in this version of Scandinavian Logistics. Enjoy the reading.

CONTENT

COOP - LANGHUS
A warehouse solution for today - that works tomorrow

LANGEBÆK - COOP FAGHANDEL
From concept to commissioning

SWISSLOG
The power of proximity

MG REAL ESTATE
New logistics park points to the future of logistics

BECOSAN
From treatment supplier to solutions provider

AMATECH
Building to double capacity while maintaining day to day operations

STILL
Taking the driver out of the pallet lifter

HANS SCHOURUP
Robots as a service paves way for easy automation 

CLEARVIEWTRADE
Digitizing the document flow for freight and export

KALUNDBORG HAVN
Danish deep water port is expanding

COOP NORGE: A warehouse solution for today - that works tomorrow
Coop Norway currently modernizes their logistics facility in Langhus, south of Oslo, Norway for the retail chains large range of Non-fFod products. A new warehouse building is designed for automated goods operation, which will apply to a majority of items. Automation paves way for a dual-purpose facility, both catering to online shoppers and the chains stores. The solution addresses current need of the retailer, but is also designed with flexibility to fit the future.

By Kim Forum Jacobsen
Coop is a group of cooporatives which are found throughout Europe. Alongside with selling groceries, Coop Norway offers a wide range of Non-Food goods in it’s 1250 stores. While the logistics of food, dairy and grocery has long since been optimized with large automated warehouses, the logistics operation for the non food operation is in need for an upgrade which is happening now at Langhus in Norway.
“The Non-Food division has had significant growth in the later years and that is the most important reason for our vision at Langhus - we have, as a company, reached a threshold, where there is a strong business case for a more efficient logistic set-up,” says Henning Røberg, Project Manager for Coop on the Langhus project.
The “Faghandel”, which is the Norwegian name for the Non-Food product range, , is a separate division within Coop which - even if it is growing - is only a fraction of the sales in the Coop stores.
“You have to understand that Non-Food products only amounts to roughly 20 % of the shop sales in the Coop stores as a whole. That’s why the development of the supply chain and a central logistics hub for this range of products has been prioritised below the grocery business,” says Henning Røberg.

An integrated solution
Within the Non-Food product range the hardware sortiment is the most prominent in Norway - a proud nation of DIY practitioners - followed by sports equipment, like skiing gear, outdoor products, and home electronics. The wide range of products is reflected in the requirements of the solution in the warehouse.
“I would describe the warehouse solution in Langhus as an integrated solution, since we have products like floor boards and large building parts, that are beyond the capability of Euro Pallets and therefore tricky to handle efficiently in a fully automated environment,” says Henning Røberg.
The integrated solution means that Coop will have people who has to operate alongside with the “robots” - the autodrive pallet lifters - inside the new compound. One of the main requirements for Coop on choosing automation and partner for the Warehouse Management System (WMS) was that the provider should be able to handle both the automated and the manual lines in a single system.

E commerce as a design requirement
The integration part of the solution doesn’t stop at combining automated operations with manual labor. The range of products going through the Faghandel are also products which are very suitable for e-commerce which - even if it is fairly well developed in Norway - Coop estimates will grow dramatically. This is reflected in the design of the Langhus facility.
“I tend to use the example of paintbrushes. We need to cater both to our stores, that maybe need a full pallet of paint brushes to their own stock, but at the same time we need to be able to handle a series of private customers who each order a single brush. Furthermore we need to ensure that both supply lines are cost-efficient and not conflicting with each other,” says Henning Røberg adding that the Norwegian market is not large enough to justify separate stock solutions for E-commerce and the shops, so the Langhus warehouse will need to have the versatility within a single compound.

Choosing the right solution
With the dual purposes of providing efficient logistics for Coop’s retail stores - which entails that all warehouse software should work seamlessly with Coop’s shop systems - and growing direct sales via e-commerce, the demands for the solution providers were already complicated, but when you build a complete and new logistics operation from scratch, you have to look to the future as well - in the case of Coop, to the far future “The fall-out scenarios that we are considering goes as far as to 2030, so we are trying to establish a logistics centre that has the flexibility to last at least that long. It may be wishful thinking because you can’t predict shopping patterns that far in the future, but then again we have tried to be as diligent as we can and demand a very high degree of flexibility,” says Henning Røberg, who describes the tender phase of the project as one of “deep consideration” ensuring Coop would find technology that met their demands.
The tender phase also posed reflections about the level of automation operating the compound, software considerations.
“For us it’s not just about automation. It’s very much about the right automation and the correct degree of automation of course with the ability and flexibility to meet future demands. We had to be creative in the design of the solutions, since we had to balance all the parameters of use and calculate some kind of stipulation into the future; how much will e-commerce grow, how many new product lines will be needed etc. So in the end the tender process had a lot of iterations due to the fact, that we needed the suppliers to understand that our needs - and hence our system-demands - were extremely complex,” says Henning Røberg who has the the greatest respect for the work done by the suppliers bidding on the tender - even if not winning - since they put in a lot of work.
At the end of the tender it was awarded Swiss WMS provider, Swisslog.
“In the end - as in any tender - we had some ground parameters scaling the bidders best netto value and the required level of flexibility and scalability. The latter two weighing quite a lot, as we don’t know our future requirements in full. When we added the three factors together we ended up with Swisslog on top,” says Henning Røberg.

LANGEBÆK: Coop Faghandel: From concept to commissioning

Over the past two years, Coop Faghandel (non-food) have planned and prepared for the expansion and upgrade of the warehouse in Langhus, just south of Oslo. To realise the project Coop turned to Langebæk, one of Scandinavia’s leading Supply Chain & Logistics consultancies, who recently helped Coop design and implement the fully automated warehouse for their food warehouse in Gardemoen. In close collaboration with Coop, Langebæk transformed an existing high-level logistical concept into a workable operational solution, steered and supported the tendering process, and project managed the development of the warehouse. From now until well into 2020, Langebæk will assist Coop in the commissioning of the facility.

By Kim Forum Jacobsen
Two years and counting for the expansion and upgrade of a warehouse, even one as complex as Coop Faghandel, is quite a long time for a project of this type. Anyone would be excused for thinking that the project must have been beset by problems and delays, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the unusual timeline was purposefully requested by Coop and the project is progressing at pace and on schedule.

John Carstens, project manager on the Coop project, and a partner at Langebæk, explains: “Coop approached the project with a very high level of diligence, particularly in the early phases, giving a lot of attention to detailed planning and specification. This continued right through the tendering process, which made for quite a long journey, but provided Coop with a lot of added value. First, it allowed them to eliminate a number of risks associated with projects of this size. Second, it provided them with the time necessary to acquire and internalise the knowledge and knowhow required to operate the new and vastly more advanced warehouse.”

“Going back to the beginning,” he continues, “Coop approached us very early on in their decision process, when all they had to work with were some high-level logistics concepts for the future warehouse. Our first task was to validate these concepts through highly detailed analyses of their inventory, volumes, and flows and taking into account their expectations for future growth. Based on these, we were able to recommend adapting the concepts, finalise the design, and create detailed specifications which became the framework for the tender, that included the necessary technologies from high-bay cranes and mini load system to warehouse management software.”

“One of Langebæk’s unique strengths is that we have the competences and capacity to help clients throughout the duration of a complex project such as Coop Faghandel. Not just at the strategic level, , but at the operational level as well. This is important in many ways – in creating detailed designs and plans from concept solutions, in turning specifications into tender documents and negotiating contracts, in managing the construction and installing the chosen solutions, all the way through to commissioning the finished facility, be it a distribution centre, a warehouse or production line. And it is absolutely critical when, as in this case, developing the future operation whilst at the same time making sure that the existing one is running optimally.”

One of the key objectives of the project was to ensure that Coop through the expanded and upgraded warehouse would be able to continue to service its own retail channel while simultaneously allowing for the continued growth of their online business. “The two channels are very different in terms of their functionality requirements,” continues John Carstens. “Put simply, it is the difference between picking one product item bought via the web shop to be delivered to a single customer as opposed to picking 100 of the same product item to be delivered to a particular store. That necessitates a lot of flexibility in the chosen solution. This dual purpose is apparent in the design of picking and packing stations, which are capable of handling orders from both the e online shop and retail stores.

Technology and the human factor
The required flexibility posed a challenge in preparing and managing the tender process. To overcome this particular obstacle, Langebæk recommended a functional tender, which gives technology partners the freedom to develop the best possible solution. “Innovations in logistical technologies and automation solutions are coming thick and fast and have been for the last five years or so,” says John Carstens. “Under these circumstances it makes a lot of sense to involve the supplier in the design of the final solution. The chosen supplier – Swisslog in this case – will be a key partner for Coop for years to come, and involving them early on, gives them a stake in the successful operation of the solution they propose.”

Another technology challenge was getting the level of automation right. The warehouse handles a number of large – so-called oddsized – items, which are not easily automated, and, more often than not, the business case for automating them just isn’t there. Additionally, the integration between Swisslog’s WMS (SynQ) and SAP required the development of several interfaces.

In the end, projects of this magnitude will, inevitably, affect employees. Communicating with employees and helping them to cope with large and small changes alike, is important to a successful commissioning of the facility, and to the effectiveness of the operations overall. Often Langebæk are asked to provide advice towards and support the change management activities that are put in place to ensure the human factor is addressed properly.

“Coop’s approach to this particular challenge is reflected in the way they chose to assemble the team for the project. Instead of appointing the traditional project manager, with experiences in completing building projects, they selected people with experience from operations management. The idea of letting the very people who will eventually be operating the facility take the lead on the project is actually very clever. It puts the knowledge of how the system works as a whole, right where it is needed the most. The trade-off is that you need extra resources to guide and train these employees, so that they become effective project managers in their own right. Coop excelled in this regard, helping employees to acquire new knowledge and skills right from the beginning of the project,” John Carsten concludes.

About Langebæk A/S
Founded in 1977, today Langebæk A/S is the leading Supply Chain & Logistics consultancy in Scandinavia. Having completed more than 3.000 projects for over 300 clients in approximately 30 countries, the breadth and depth of the company’s expertise and experience is hard to match. From offices in Denmark and Sweden, consultants serve clients such as: Arla, Axfood, CPH Airports, Danfoss, Elektroskandia, Elgiganten, Jysk, Novo Nordisk, Matas, Mekonomen, Mestergruppen, Rockwool, Salling Group and Vestas, not to mention Coop in both Denmark and Norway.

SWISSLOG: The power of proximity
The leading Norwegian retailer Coop Norway selected Swiss-headquartered Swisslog as partner for the extensive development of their distribution center in Langhus, south of Oslo, Norway. Key factors for the choice was the ability to provide flexibility and scalability in a fair-priced solution. But, since the tender also included a full service agreement, Swisslog’s full and permanent organisation in all the major Nordic countries also paved way for the collaboration.
Af Kim Forum Jacobsen

The relation between day-to-day operations of a full scale logistics compound and the provider of an intelligent Warehouse Management System (WMS), control systems and automation hardware is mission critical. This is even more so when you are in the process of designing and constructing a new site as is the case with the Langhus project that Coop Norway is currently building south of Oslo.
“In a way Coop and Swisslog has entered into wedlock, since the relationship necessarily has to last and work for years to come. Being responsible for nearly 100 % uptimes on a complex system with a huge number of components, means that we have to have a very hands-on approach especially in the first years,” says Lars Hultén, CEO Swisslog Nordics.

Knowing that the relationship had to be close, meant that the availability of a local team was a factor in the process that lead to Swisslog being chosen as provider of the logistics an automation solution.
“The cooperation will also include a system operations contract providing Coop with a combination of on-site engineers as well as software support expertise. Our team will take responsibility for the ongoing technical performance and maintenance of the intralogistics operation, so I think it was essential that we already for many years have had a full Nordic organization in place with offices and technical staff in both Norway, Sweden and Denmark,” says Lars Hultén, who is proud that Coop Norway decided to choose Swisslog as their automation partner for a central project of utmost strategic importance.
The collaboration with Coop also includes work on continuous improvements to ensure that the system develops in line with the business’s evolving requirements.

The solution
The high-bay warehouse with ceilings spanning 30 meters, is already in the construction phase. The automation and IT systems will be implemented from autumn 2019 allowing the new distribution center to be in full operation at the beginning of 2021, meeting Coop Norway´s rapidly growing retail and e-commerce sales within the non-food segments such as building materials, sports, electronics and home products.
“Our concept has been designed to utilize all the available areas in the building in the best possible way. The automated warehouse solutions consists of an automated high-bay warehouse with 48.500 pallet locations, Vectura stacker cranes, ProMove conveyor systems, pick locations/stations and an automated high-bay warehouse with Tornado miniload-cranes serving 75.000 carton locations,” says Tom Jarle Dehkes, Country Manager, Swisslog, Norway.
The operation will be able to handle small, large and over-sized items through a combination of manual and automated processes, but this does not change Swisslogs approach to the task.
“We have the same approach to logistics regardless of it being automated or not. It’s all about flow and securing flow, minimizing the number of operations, and securing that the operator only needs to handle the item once. This is a comparatively large installation in a Nordic context, but this is more a matter of having the right WMS with interfaces for all kinds of operation,” says Tom Jarle Dehkes.
The entire solution will be controlled and supported by Swisslog’s modular SynQ WMS. The SynQ software is designed to control both manual and automated processes, including; order strategies, store-friendly palletizing, extended cockpit functionality and yard management.

Seasoned in the Nordic markets
Swisslog is an integration company providing WMS and full logistics solutions for primarily the retail market. Having been present on the Nordic market since the seventies it has reached a position as top tier on the Nordic market and among the three largest providers on said market.
“I am certain that our market position is due to our proximity to the customers and our ability to offer a local service organization. We mainly concentrate on larger retail customers - like Coop Norway - since our solutions are scaled to provide greater benefits in larger installations, and this means that we are building and servicing installations that are core to our customers business,” says Lars Hultén, who stresses that regardless of selection method the ultimate aim is the same for both provider and purchasor; it is necessary to build and maintain a good and trusting relationship.

FACT: About Swisslog Logistics Automation
We shape the future of intralogistics with robotic, data-driven and flexible automated solutions that achieve exceptional value for our customers. Swisslog helps forward-thinking companies optimize the performance of their warehouses and distribution centers with future-ready automation systems and software. Our integrated offering includes consulting, system design and implementation, and lifetime customer support in more than 50 countries. Swisslog is a member of the KUKA Group, a leading global supplier of intelligent automation solutions with more than 14,000 employees worldwide.

MG REAL ESTATE: New logistics park points to the future of logistics
A new logistics center is being built near the freeway in Greve south of Copenhagen. 40,000 square metres is already available in what is to become a 100,000 square metres logistics park. Builder is Belgian developer MG Real Estate who has the ambition of creating a number of modern logistic facilities throughout the Nordic region.
The new logistics park MG Parc - GDC Greve is being built as an answer to the Zealand-regions future logistics needs. The needs and demands of occupier customers are increasing so the demand for new, intelligent warehouses continues to grow. E-commerce is continuously increasing, resulting in a higher demand for larger and more efficient warehousing possibilities.
Instead of trying to utilise existing buildings, Belgian MG Real Estate has been building the park from scratch to be able to offer the possibilities and modern services of an international logistics park. This means - among other things - that the warehouse buildings have higher clear height.
“Generally the trend in logistics buildings around the world is to have roofs around the 12 meters. In Denmark the main bulk of the existing logistics buildings have quite low roofs - typically around 8 meters. This is one of the reasons we see potential for our proven solutions on the Danish and Nordic markets,” says Anton Van Vlerken, Chief Country Officer, Netherlands and Nordics, MG Real Estate.

Park design offers flexibility
The new logistics park will offer storage space for up to ten customers in a flexible setup where wall can be moved to enhance or reduce the space needed.
“We believe in parks because it gives customers flexibility to scale their logistics operation, according to the demands of their business. At the same time a well designed and modern logistic park also offers additional opportunities for the customer, like office space with good parking,” says Anton Van Vlerken.
MG Parc - GDC Greve is designed to fit the needs for future flexible warehousing facilities with premises from 10,000 to a total of 100,000 square metres on a land area of approximately 230,000 square metres.

Location, location, location
MG Parc GDC is located close to Copenhagen and gives you access to Denmark in its entirety. It connects Greater Copenhagen, Zealand and the South of Sweden. The logistics park is situated near a major highway and nearby bus, train and ferry terminals. Moreover, Copenhagen Airport is only 24 km away.
“You can access all of Denmark, and still be close to Copenhagen so MG Parc - GDC Greve is ideally located, connecting Greater Copenhagen, Zealand and the south of Sweden,” says
Anton Van Vlerken.

Sustainability is the new normal
The MG Parc GDC is being built with a number of sustainable solutions. All lighting in the building are powered by LED’s and the building will sport a number of solar panels to contribute to the buildings energy supply.
“We always search for sustainable and energy saving solutions, both for the sake of the environment, but also because it makes business sense - energy savings brings down costs and give our customers an added value, because all industries are facing demands of showing responsibility towards the environment. Sustainability is a new normal,” says Anton Van Vlerken.

Facts about MG Parc - Greve Distribution Center GDC

Located in Greve near Copenhagen with half of the population of Denmark within an hours reach
Logistical surface approx. 100,000 square metres
Office space approx. 5,600 square metres
Generic warehouse solution - multi purpose rentals can be combined from 5,000 square metres to 87,000 square metres
Ample parking space
Ramps and gates produced to customer specification
Offices and staff rooms to customer specification
Cieling free height: 12.20 meter

BECOSAN: From treatment supplier to solutions provider
Becosan is an established supplier of unique concrete floor treatments, making the floors impermeable to water and eliminating dust emissions. Now the Danish company is moving focus towards offering full floor treatment solutions, directly to end-users. The business proposal is cleaner warehouses with lower maintenance cost.
By Kim Forum Jacobsen

One of the biggest maintenance costs for building owners with concrete flooring is cleaning. Irrespective of business, cleaning will always be a significant drain on resources. Depending on the environment it may be necessary to clean a floor multiple times each day, so the cost mounts up. In this context it is of interest, that one of the biggest drivers of the production of dirt is likely to be the floor itself. “There are two problems with untreated concrete floors; absorption and disaggregation. Any water poured onto an untreated concrete floor is absorbed into the concrete itself making the cleaning process inefficient and wasteful of water. Furthermore untreated concrete will itself begin to disaggregate, i.e. to crumble and become dust. So as a result your floor is creating dust,” says Gary Miles, strategic advisor at Becosan. Becosan has for years been marketing the Becosan floor treatment chemicals that solve the durability problems with concrete floors. The Becosan treatment is an environmentally friendly system, especially when compared to epoxy-coated floors. Furthermore waterproof floors, that do not emit dust, saves water and has low-maintenance costs. But the real environmental benefit from treating concrete floors with Becosan comes from the fact, that it prolongs the life of the floor. “A concrete floor being hardened and polished will have an extremely long life expectancy compared to other flooring solutions. Treated concrete floors will keep for many years into the future,” says Gary Miles.

Three step process
The solution entails a three-step process, first grinding the floor to obtain a very fine micro structure, then adding the Becosan treatment, that reacts chemically with the lime in the concrete, creating a hard, waterproof surface, at the end the floor is polished and finished of with a sealant. This process has for years been done by separate companies with Becosan acting only as supplier of the chemicals. But now Becosan has changed their strategy. “We have moved towards a more direct market approach, where we often are not only the supplier of the chemicals, but also conducts the application ourselves. This is because we want to have more control of the quality of the solutions based on our product,” says Gary Miles.

Replacing epoxy coated floors
To mitigate the problems with concrete floors epoxy coating is sometimes used to seal in dust and facilitate easy cleaning - especially in the food service industry. But epoxy coating only lasts a few years before needing replacement, a process which involves the use of highly toxic chemicals with drying times of up to a week, closing down production. This was the case for Frutas Monsota on their 76.000 m² epoxy floored fruit storage near Malaga. Here Becosan is involved in a gradual replacement, which up until now has resulted in replacing 10.000 m² of epoxy-coated floor with concrete floors treated with Becosan. “The Becosan system doesn’t have the drawbacks of epoxy. No toxic chemicals are used and floor work can be done alongside the building's normal function. The floor does not deteriorate with time and can continue to be used for many years,” says Gary Miles.

Facts about Becosan

Becosan is a Danish company providing treatment solutions for floors, roofs and walls, with offices in a number of European and Asian countries.
Apart from the Becosan concrete floor treatment, Becosan also markets a number of solutions for roofs and walls.
The solutions are unique and patented by Becosan and based on research done by Becosan.
Becosan has their own teams to do the Becosan treatment to ensure quality and guarantee the end result.

AMATECH: Building to double capacity while maintaining day to day operations
Tasked with doubling the capacity of an already large logistics operation while maintaining full production on the existing logistics site, the contractor, danish Amatech A/S had to deploy several levels of planning and collaboration with the builder. It’s been a job that demanded confidence and intense, daily collaboration between the parts. Early in the project builder and contractor began to have daily planning sessions securing the operations for the day.
Af Kim Forum Jacobsen

The demands of the market has long been stressing the capacity of the Hørkram logistics hub near Sorø, Zealand. Hørkram is one of Denmarks largest Food Service suppliers, and following the growing market, the current approx. 30.000 m² is undergoing a dramatic augmentation, doubling the capacity. And it has to be done around a hub in full operation.
“We knew in advance how complex this project would be, having worked with the builder on the project definition and the design. So very early we decided on a project organization with daily planning session with operations on the plant. This way both parties have complete knowledge of what we have to deal on the given day,” says Torben Knudsen, CEO, Amatech.

Serial and parallel building
Making the new functional buildings over 30.000 m², including a complete fish processing factory, 8.000 m² cool storage and a 14.500 m² cooled operating area and 70 new loading dock gates, required a serial production where Amatech for example would build a distribution section including ten new loading docks and launch them into operation, so they could shut the ten existing docks down for building next distribution section. In the same manner a completely new cooling system has been built to service the entire Hørkram 70.000 m2 Plant in Sorø, while the existing cooling system has to be kept running with 200 cargo trucks coming in every day.
“It’s an interesting project and has been since we began the initial project design. The number of possible conflicts with the production is way beyond normal, and we had to have solutions for every single one of them,” says Torben Knudsen, and adds:
“We are contractors because of projects like this. We made Amatech because we like to build, and especially the difficult and demanding projects, where even the CEO has to put on the Wellingtons and be on the site.”

Tested and chosen
Amatech won the contract with Hørkram after having done smaller contracts for Hørkram, which turned out to be prequels for evermore complex projects.
“We have been tested by the builder before we were offered this project, and in the same way we have tested the builder and found them to be serious and demanding, but also reasonable and realistic. I’m looking forward to be working with Hørkram again,” says Torben Knudsen.
Amatech’s next project with Hørkram/Citti could be in Germany where Hørkram is headquartered, the invitation being based - according to Torben Knudsen - on the fact that Amatech has delivered six recent building projects for Hørkram, including the one in Sorø, have been delivered on time, on budget and without interfering in the daily operation.

About Amatech
Amatech is a danish contractor based in Aarhus, Jutland.
Amatech is specialized in dealing with complex contracts for demanding customers including Saint-Gobain, Vestas, Billund Airport, and Hørkram/Citi.
Working solely as a Main-contractor Amatech has op to 160 employed workers on one of the Building Projects.
Amatech works predominantly in Denmark but has been doing projects for their existing customers abroad.

STILL: Taking the driver out of the pallet lifter
The market for Auto Guided Vehicles (AGV’s) is rising. It is now much more likely to see a pallet lifter driving around without a driver than it was only a few years ago. The AGV’s have been the forefront of the automation wave and the estimation from Still Denmark A/S - one of the leading suppliers of intralogistic solutions and automation devices in Denmark - is that certain types of warehouses will see even more automation in the future.
By Kim Forum Jacobsen

Pallet lifters are a common sight in any warehouse. Even if the design has changed slightly, the basic shape of the vehicle has been unchanged for many decades. But there has been a significant change in who is at the controls of the pallet lifter.
“Still Denmark has, as part of the Kion Group, been delivering and producing intralogistic solutions with self driving pallet lifters or AGV’s since 2000 - and we are seeing a rapid growth in interest,” says Ole Lambrecht, Head of Advanced Operations at Still Denmark.
According to Ole Lambrecht Still Denmark’s development into delivering automation systems had grew out of the companies existing market position.
“It is our core business to sell pallet lifters, that is our way into the automation market. The development from manned pallet lifters to our solution, where the pallet lifter is unmanned is a large leap in terms of workforce administration, but technically it’s a pallet lifter mounted with our self drive package, that effectively makes it a robot,” says Ole Lambrecht.
From the development of the AGV’s Still Denmark now delivers a full range of automation solutions including full WMS systems as well as project management and counselling on automation projects. Although delivering a full range of the most sophisticated equipment, Still Denmark has a very pragmatic approach to automation.
“There is no reason to design an overly sophisticated solution to a simple problem. If a simple AGV can do the task, there is no need for advanced navigational abilities in the robot,” says Ole Lambrecht.

Keep it simple
The classical customer for the AGV’s that Still Denmark produces has a series of simple logistics operations that are repeated on a regular basis.
“Typically customers are running double or triple shifts, so they have sufficient need for uptime to reward an investment in automation. This might be a production facility or a Pharma warehouse. In these cases we can demonstrate return of investment typically within two years,” says Ole Lambrecht.
The most common solutions involves making a building layout with pathways for the AGV’s and chose tasks for the lifter. Not every operation is necessarily automated, since Still Denmark in the project phase is very keen on the right scale and automation level for the solution - aiming at long term customer satisfaction rather than selling as many units as possible.
“Our approach is somewhat conservative. We recommend to an automated solution only if we can demonstrate a good business case. We are sticky about our promises but we stick to what we promise,” says Ole Lambrecht, who underscores that automation is a heavy investment for most customers, and requires the customer to have their logistics basics in place before considering automation.
“The development of automation may seem as a revolution, but for a provider, such as ourselves, of both automation and more traditional solutions, the development is more of an evolutionary one. Companies grow into automation in sync with the technological development. That said, it is also true that solutions that were advanced three years ago are pretty mainstream today,” says Ole Lambrecht.

About Still Denmark A/S
Part of Kion Group.
Full range intralogistics provider.
Within automation Still Denmark provides full solutions including WMS, but also deliver much simpler solutions with interfaces to existing software.
has a full range of intralogistic products such as pallet lifters to work in non-automated warehouses

HANS SCHOURUP: Robots as a service paves way for easy automation
Robots and automation are disrupting the logistics industry. But automation is costly and the outlook to lengthy transitional periods and straining production efficiency restrains a large part of the industry from making the move towards automation. Now Danish provider of warehouse hardware, Hans Schourup A/S is introducing Robots as a Service (RaaS), where self navigating robots of a proven design can be leased. Using this type of advanced robots effectively cuts introduction time and since the robots are leased, the initial investment is much smaller, paving way for automation.
Af Kim Forum Jacobsen

The robots are coming. That message has been heard throughout the logistics industry for years. And indeed the robots have been coming both in forms of self sorting shelves, VLM’s, self driving trucks and even more sophisticated combined systems - so the technology is known and proven.

But there are still factors that stands in the way for making automation and robots ubiquitous.
“A lot of our existing customers could benefit greatly from automation, and robots. But for many the costs have been prohibitive. Furthermore it is a widespread misconception that it is necessary to establish more rigid procedures, sacrificing flexibility,” says Troels H. Jensen, CEO, Hans Schourup.
Hans Schourup has for many years been supplying the logistics industry with stock hardware - from shelves and stacking equipment to semitrailers and hand trucks, but now they have added self driving solutions on lease contracts to their product line.
The quick implementation, that enables RaaS is made viable by using robots with a higher degree of navigation and mapping abilities than normal stock automation robots.
The robots are from US robots provider Fetch.
“Seeing the obstacles for our customers we now offer “Robots as a Service” (RaaS) providing a range of autonomous robots on lease contracts. Using an available solution with robots with high level navigation and the ability to self map their work environment, we can introduce automation to our customers in hours or days rather than months or years,” says Troels H. Jensen.

Smart robots equal quick implementation
The robots from Hans Schourup have their own navigation, and interact with the surroundings in real time to avoid obstacles, find alternative routes etc. This makes implementation of the robots into the workspace very straightforward.
“Customers only have to unpack the Fetch robot and connect it to the WiFi. Then the robots need a map of the workspace, which is made by walking them around the premise. After that it’s just a matter of creating destinations and tapping in routes and start creating workflows,” says Troels H. Jensen who adds that it only takes a couple of hours from unpacking before the equipment can be doing real work on site.
The robots come in a range of sizes from package picking aids to heavy lifters that can transport loads up to 1.5 tons - with a flexible range of different tops to support the required use. This makes them versatile and suitable for complex warehouse facilities that can benefit from combined robot/manual environments.

Many uses
Customers for the solution from Hans Schourup are workplaces where robots shall work alongside people as an aid in their work - for example webshops or hospitals. Used in this type of workflow these robots are generally known as “cobots”.
“You can use the robots - or cobots, as we prefer to call them - to undertake a lot of the “walk and wait” fetching tasks, effectively freeing staff from more menial tasks. This is compliant with the needs of those with manual warehouses or stocks, like mid sized webshops or other package handlers,” says Troels H. Jensen, who mentions that also hospitals could benefit from robotic aid, having a lot of low level fetch and drops like bed linen, equipment and even paperwork.

FACTS
About the Fetch robots
The robot uses a combination of LiDAR (2D laser distance measurements) and 3D cameras to navigate safely and precisely in unpredictable warehouse environments – a technology that is also used in self-propelled cars.
Speed up to 1.5 m/sec. (5.4 km/h).
Can travel more than 32 km per day.
Can work for 9 hours on a full charge
Charging time 1 - 2 hours

About Hans Schourup
Has existed since 1870
One of Denmark’s leading suppliers of storage solutions
Is owned by non profit fund Vilhelm Kiers fund.