Customer

Netto Marken-Discount is a German grocery discount chain headquartered in Maxhütte-Haidhof (Bavaria) and part of the EDEKA group. With approximately 4,350 stores and over 87,000 employees, Netto is one of Germany’s largest discount chains.

The product range includes approximately 5,000 items, including many private-label and brand-name products, in the categories of food (fresh, processed foods, frozen foods, baked goods, organic, beverages, etc.), drugstore items, household goods, and non-food items, as well as promotional items.

Logistics are organized through 20 central warehouses across Germany, which enable efficient, nationwide delivery to stores. Netto continuously invests in digitalization, logistics, and sustainable store concepts to strengthen its competitiveness in the German food retail sector.

Project

After more than 20 years of operation at the headquarters, it was time to replace the empty container sorting system we had originally supplied with state-of-the-art technology. The concept, developed in collaboration with the operator, calls not only for a higher degree of automation but also for a high level of system flexibility and, in particular, a virtually seamless transition to the new sorting technology with uninterrupted sorting operations during the installation and commissioning phases.

Modern crate detection, featuring redundant, high-performance cameras on both sides, minimizes false detections, analyzes data more quickly, and processes larger data sets. The large sorting volume (A-grade items) is now not only automatically detected and diverted, but also automatically palletized and secured before being conveyed to the return container yard along with the manually palletized pallets.

Technical Specifications

• Two floor-level feed roller conveyors for pallet loading by truck drivers
• 2 stations for manual depalletizing with automatic removal of empty pallets
• Sorting capacity: 3,000 crates per hour to 76 destinations (items or item groups)
• Empty pallet management system for supplying sorting areas as needed
• Breathing pallet storage system with two pallet storage units and the ability to compensate for demand
• Video system with two-sided box logo recognition, dimensional measurement, and 3D side scanning
• Sorting destination control with a high-performance diverter and 76 pneumatic destination ejectors
• 64 B/C-Series Box Storage Conveyor Systems on Two Levels for Manual Palletizing
• Box conveyor with merging section and collection belt for situation-dependent overflows
• 12 automatic A-grade crate stackers with storage zones for individual crates and stacks of crates
• Automatic palletizing of A-grade items using a duplex tower palletizer
• Automatic pallet securing (Bornbinder)
• Pallet conveyor system with storage capacity and forklift dispatch at the return container yard
• Extensive fencing system with various gates, secured access points, and service platforms
• Two SIMATIC S7-15xx F safety controllers and an industrial PC for box detection
• Various touch panels with system visualization and data analysis at relevant control stations