Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

APPLICATIONS

Automating for quick turnaround

A robotic order picking system is helping convenience-store chain Kwik Trip seamlessly handle demand surges—including last year’s pandemic-driven order spikes.

Kwik Trip's robotic order-picking system

A 2018 warehouse automation project is making good on its promise to give Midwest convenience-store chain Kwik Trip the flexibility to handle spikes in demand—something the coronavirus pandemic put in full focus a year ago. 

The Wisconsin-based company automated the product handling and order fulfillment processes at its La Crosse, Wisconsin, baking facility with the help of material handling systems manufacturer and integrator Cimcorp, which designed a warehouse solution around its MultiPick robotic order picking system. Today, the system is helping Kwik Trip manage growing demand for its self-produced bread and buns, which it delivers to more than 700 Kwik Trip stores each day.


“The warehouse is one of the most critical points in the La Crosse facility’s end-to-end process, as the bread and buns that come in from production and packaging are held for no more than 48 hours before being sent to our stores,” explains Eric Fonstad, facility director for Kwik Trip’s bread and bun plant. “From receiving to storage, through picking and dispatch—these products have to flow seamlessly and quickly to guarantee their maximum freshness for our customers.”

The system also needs to be flexible enough to respond to changing consumer demand without missing a beat, Fonstad says, adding that, “Cimcorp’s automation is central to enabling this efficient product movement and is therefore pivotal to our bakery business.”

NEW WAREHOUSE, NEW SYSTEM

Kwik Trip opened the 200,000-square-foot La Crosse baking facility in the fall of 2018 in response to growing demand for bread and buns across its store network. The company’s goal was to produce and distribute four times the volume produced at its previous baking facility—a feat that would require a considerable amount of automation, according to Fonstad. Cimcorp stepped in and designed a system that automates the majority of the production, packaging, warehousing, and outbound distribution processes in the 87,000-square-foot warehouse portion of the facility. The system features a space-saving, high-density layout and custom automated material handling equipment that can seamlessly manage 80,000 trays of fast-moving bakery products and process orders for 53,000 outbound trays for delivery daily. 

Cimcorp’s overhead gantry-based MultiPick product is at the heart of the solution. When orders come in from Kwik Trip’s stores, the data are transferred to Cimcorp’s warehouse control system (WCS), which then controls and directs the MultiPick system to pick orders based on store and route. The robotic system retrieves the required trays of products from stacks up to 20 high across the warehouse floor. Computer control ensures that orders are picked with 100% accuracy and that Kwik Trip follows first-in/first-out (FIFO) inventory management practices, according to Cimcorp. 

The system is also helping Kwik Trip make strides in surge capacity—a challenge that was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Surges are a common challenge in bakery distribution—where warehouse managers and employees must keep products efficiently moving out the door amid spikes in order volume. These are often seen seasonally but can also occur due to other external market factors. For instance, at the onset of Covid-19, Kwik Trip saw demand nearly triple in a single week,” Derek Rickard, Cimcorp’s director of sales, explains. “But thanks to the rapid handling and adaptability of our MultiPick system, the La Crosse facility was able to maintain the same product flow and level of order accuracy as its normal daily operation. From the beginning, it was important that our solution offer such flexibility, as well as scalability, to meet Kwik Trip’s warehousing needs as the company sets its sights on continued growth ahead.”

The Latest

More Stories

Trucking industry experiences record-high congestion costs

Trucking industry experiences record-high congestion costs

Congestion on U.S. highways is costing the trucking industry big, according to research from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), released today.

The group found that traffic congestion on U.S. highways added $108.8 billion in costs to the trucking industry in 2022, a record high. The information comes from ATRI’s Cost of Congestion study, which is part of the organization’s ongoing highway performance measurement research.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

From pingpong diplomacy to supply chain diplomacy?

There’s a photo from 1971 that John Kent, professor of supply chain management at the University of Arkansas, likes to show. It’s of a shaggy-haired 18-year-old named Glenn Cowan grinning at three-time world table tennis champion Zhuang Zedong, while holding a silk tapestry Zhuang had just given him. Cowan was a member of the U.S. table tennis team who participated in the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan. Story has it that one morning, he overslept and missed his bus to the tournament and had to hitch a ride with the Chinese national team and met and connected with Zhuang.

Cowan and Zhuang’s interaction led to an invitation for the U.S. team to visit China. At the time, the two countries were just beginning to emerge from a 20-year period of decidedly frosty relations, strict travel bans, and trade restrictions. The highly publicized trip signaled a willingness on both sides to renew relations and launched the term “pingpong diplomacy.”

Keep ReadingShow less
forklift driving through warehouse

Hyster-Yale to expand domestic manufacturing

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling today announced its plans to fulfill the domestic manufacturing requirements of the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act for certain portions of its lineup of forklift trucks and container handling equipment.

That means the Greenville, North Carolina-based company now plans to expand its existing American manufacturing with a targeted set of high-capacity models, including electric options, that align with the needs of infrastructure projects subject to BABA requirements. The company’s plans include determining the optimal production location in the United States, strategically expanding sourcing agreements to meet local material requirements, and further developing electric power options for high-capacity equipment.

Keep ReadingShow less
map of truck routes in US

California moves a step closer to requiring EV sales only by 2035

Federal regulators today gave California a green light to tackle the remaining steps to finalize its plan to gradually shift new car sales in the state by 2035 to only zero-emissions models — meaning battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid cars — known as the Advanced Clean Cars II Rule.

In a separate move, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also gave its approval for the state to advance its Heavy-Duty Omnibus Rule, which is crafted to significantly reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from new heavy-duty, diesel-powered trucks.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshots for starboard trade software

Canadian startup gains $5.5 million for AI-based global trade platform

A Canadian startup that provides AI-powered logistics solutions has gained $5.5 million in seed funding to support its concept of creating a digital platform for global trade, according to Toronto-based Starboard.

The round was led by Eclipse, with participation from previous backers Garuda Ventures and Everywhere Ventures. The firm says it will use its new backing to expand its engineering team in Toronto and accelerate its AI-driven product development to simplify supply chain complexities.

Keep ReadingShow less