Dematic wins Robotics - Warehouse Award

Dematic's cutting edge order fulfillment system for Bolloré Logistics’ Blue Hub operations leveraging on the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and automation to further improve Bollore agility and responsiveness to meet a growing customer demand.

Acknowledging the organisation's ability to develop a solution that provides sustainable architecture and energy management systems in the warehouse industry, Singapore Business Review (SBR) has decided to award the accolade to Dematic's highly automated system for Bollore Logistics’ Blue Hub, a sustainable and innovative Distribution Centre located close to the new port of Singapore.

Standing 8-storeys tall and occupying 50,000sqm of floor space, Blue Hub is Bolloré Logistics' newest distribution centre which caters to the perfume and cosmetics sector. From the get go, Blue Hub was intended to be "an icon for sustainable architecture" in the warehouse industry.

Blue hub is equipped with an energy-management system that leverages on Internet of Things (IoT) for predictive building analytics and smart lighting control. It’s other initiatives include rainwater recycling, solar power harvesting, food digester for a zero-waste canteen, and chemical-free landscape management.

With a strong focus on innovation and productivity, Bolloré employed the services of Dematic to design and implement a highly automated order fulfillment solution that could help them service multiple client operations in the DC. These requirements should meet the following:

• It services multiple clients on multiple floors
• It should support both retail and e-commerce channels,
• It should provide space-efficient storage capacity
• It must adopt robotics and automation to maximise productivity and reduce manual processes

The Blue Hub Goods-to-Person System

To fulfill these requirements, Dematic designed an integrated Goods-to-Person (GTP) order fulfilment system with a central storage and order picking area, with customer-specific Value Added Services (VAS) and packing and sorting areas arranged on different levels of the building.

The GTP system comprises seven high rate Dematic RapidPick stations and an eight-aisle Multishuttle system. Servicing both B2B and e-commerce distribution channels, the system can handle a large range of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) in a minimum footprint.

An intelligent order tote and carton transport conveying system includes energy-efficient Spiralveyors to link the central order picking area with the client-specific operational areas. At over 40m tall, these Spiralveyors are amongst the tallest installed anywhere in the world.

The system delivers not only very high-rate, accurate and ergonomic picking, but also efficient order packing and processing with automated carton assembly, lidding and labelling.

A Flexible, Modular, Scalable System

The Dematic GTP solution is flexible, modular and scalable, with subsystems that can be integrated to suit the various storage and order fulfilment needs. As more customers are introduced to the business, the system can be extended with the introduction of additional Multishuttle aisles, RapidPick stations and customer-specific processing areas.

New Innovation - Robotic Unit Picking

Bolloré Logistics are working with Dematic to introduce robotic picking into their operations in its drive towards higher levels of automation and adoption of new technologies. This technology will allow Bolloré Logistics to transform the goods-to-person stations into goods-to-robot cells that can operate 24/7 without pickers.

The robotic picking cell has been installed in Bolloré Logistics’ Innovation Centre to allow testing with actual products from their clients' range, then subsequently integrated into the operational system.

The Technology Excellence Awards, presented by Singapore Business Review, was held via studio award presentations and video conferencing sessions throughout the second and third week of April.

This year’s nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Daryl Pereira, Head of Cyber at KPMG; Cheang Wai Keat, Partner, Consulting at Ernst & Young Advisory Pte. Ltd.; Henry Tan, Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Nexia TS; Sivakumar Saravan, Senior Partner at Crowe Singapore; Cecil Su, Director, Head of Cybersecurity of BDO Singapore.

If you would like to join the 2022 awards and be acclaimed for your company’s exceptional technological innovations, please email Jane Patiag at [email protected].