The Customer

METRO AG, headquartered in Düsseldorf, is an international wholesale company. Through a dense network of over 600 wholesale market locations, key customer groups—such as hotels, restaurants, caterers, bars, cafés, and cafeteria operators, as well as small grocery stores and kiosks—are served professionally.

Project Description

During the construction of the new central warehouse in Kirchheim an der Weinstraße, a vertical conveyor system was installed in two of the five halls to serve as an automated connection between the two levels. Both systems are designed so that a centrally located vertical conveyor can be used simultaneously for transport in both directions.

The storage capacity of the feed lines on both sides of the systems allows for maximum decoupling of workflows on each floor.

To secure high-value pallets (e.g., tobacco), the fully fenced system offers a mode in which pallets can only be retrieved using an RFID tag, thereby making unauthorized access to these goods more difficult.

Technical Specifications

• Flush-mounted loading/unloading conveyors for use with electric hand pallet trucks and forklifts
• Double-pallet loading using a high-speed conveyor from the ground level
• Low-profile design without pits for vertical conveyors or feeders
• Conveyor capacity: 120 pallets per hour in full-duplex operation (60 pallets per hour in each direction)
• Each facility is secured with a machine safety fence and four combinations of high-speed doors and safety light curtains (for the protection of people and goods)
• RFID Tag Reader for Authorizing and Approving High-Value Shipping Orders
• Siemens SIMATIC S7-315-2DP Controller
• Touch panel with system visualization at each control station