3. “Dexion worked closely with Linfox when designing the
system, determining what the best methodologies were
to manage the product, to track, sort and allocate it.”
Arnott’s Biscuits was established in 1865, adopt a new model whereby orders of full
and today operates three manufacturing truck load quantities are delivered directly
sites in Australia: Arnott’s Huntingwood in to the customers’ central warehouses. The
Sydney; Arnott’s Marleston in Adelaide; customer then undertakes the secondary
and Arnott’s Virginia in Brisbane, the latter transport task of delivering individual store
of which was officially opened in 1988 after orders from their own DC’s.
relocating from Coronation Drive in Milton.
The new Virginia Finished
Arnott’s products have achieved a status Goods DC:
with Australian consumers that most
brands can only dream of, and the company
rivals Vegemite for the title of the best- System design, installation
known and loved Australian brands of all and commissioning.
times. The biscuits, including Tim Tam, In order to facilitate the new distribution
Shapes, Mint Slice, SAO, Vita-Weat, model and consolidate its storage of
Salada and Tiny Teddy are sought out by finished goods, Arnott’s commissioned
millions of consumers each day, and thus Linfox to construct a new warehouse
stock-outs are simply not allowable. adjacent to its Virginia plant that would be
Until recently, products have been shuttled able to receive, palletise and store finished
from the factories to various smaller product directly from the plant. Dexion
worked closely with Linfox when designing
distribution centres, from where Arnott’s
the system, determining what the best
many familiar red vans have been plying
methodologies were to manage the product,
the route trade, delivering the products
to track, sort and allocate it.
direct to stores. In 2004, however, the
company undertook a strategic review of World’s best practice was adopted to
its distribution operations and decided to minimise the impact on production,
Dexion Case Study – Linfox Arnott’s
4. “Currently Arnott’s is sending up to 3,900 cartons
per hour to the system, so the design provides
plenty of expansion to production capacity.”
and ‘best-of-breed’ technology has been What makes this system outstanding is the
implemented throughout the facility. degree of innovation, the unique concepts
This includes: implemented here, the state-of-the-art
techniques used, their contribution to
• GW conveyors and high-speed
T
sorting equipment. Linfox and Arnott’s, as well as the logistic
industry as a whole.
• ighly innovative post-sort accumulating
H
conveyors leading to the palletising
equipment.
Key features include:
• our high-speed palletising robots that
F
automatically stack the cartons. 1. elt transportation conveyors for
B
quietness and increased reliability.
• he latest four-axis twin servo grippers
T
able to pick multiple cartons in one pick. 2. imited-line-pressure accumulation
L
• n automated high-speed stretch
A conveyors, minimise carton impact
wrapper and labeller. pressures reducing product damage
associated with conveying.
• his high-performance application,
T
capable of handling 6,000 cartons an 3. bility to raise or lower the speed of the
A
hour, is designed to handle future system to reduce wear and tear on
production and to be able to recover
components and minimise energy costs.
quickly after stoppages.
4. our-axis twin servo grippers which
F
Currently Arnott’s is sending up to 3,900
cartons per hour to the system, so the enable more cartons to be palletised in
design provides plenty of expansion to one cycle, reducing speeds and energy
production capacity. usage.
Dexion Case Study – Linfox Arnott’s
5. “With this system, Dexion has helped Linfox
demonstrate that, by integrating further up and right
into Arnott’s supply chain, production line throughput
blockages have been virtually eliminated and
much-needed expansion capacity has been made
available to Arnott’s for other lines.”
5. arameter-driven wrap patterns by
P of Arnott’s four separate sites in and In the distribution centre the palletising A recirculating conveyor loop is provided
SKU, allowing Linfox to minimise the around Brisbane. comprises three main areas: after the shoe sorter so that cartons
amount of wrap needed for export 1. Carton conveying and sorting. waiting to be allocated a lane or, if the
The new facility is 13,600 sq in size,
designated pallets, compared to those containing 14,400 pallet positions featuring required sort lane is full, can re-circulate
requiring higher stability for long- 2. Robot palletising, consisting of four
single and double configurations of Dexion until ready to be diverted.
robots, each capable of servicing
distance transportation. selective racking. Of these, 400 pallet different product types. Should the amount of recirculation
With this system, Dexion has helped Linfox positions are in an air-conditioned section,
3. Pallet conveyors. increase to the point where the main
demonstrate that, by integrating further up which is kept at a constant chilled 18°C to
22°C range. in-feed from product is blocked, then
and right into Arnott’s supply chain, Carton in-feed and sortation. re-circulating product will be sent to a
production line throughput blockages have Arnott’s manufactures 100 different
When the cartons enter the distribution manual palletising/reject lane.
been virtually eliminated and much-needed product lines in the Virginia bakery next centre they are scanned. This scanner is
expansion capacity has been made door, which are delivered across the Four palletising robots are at the end of
used as the audit point, to transfer the
available to Arnott’s for other lines. air bridge to the distribution centre inventory from the factory to the Linfox the sort lanes, with each robot able to
24 hours-a-day, five and six days per week. system. handle three different palletising positions.
By adopting the latest technology and
automation, Linfox has been able to deliver Both Linfox and Arnott’s scan cartons The carton in-feed conveyor, barcode In addition, because the pickup head of
to very tight and rigorous key performance either side of the airbridge. The Linfox scanner, shoe sorter and recirculation loop the palletising robots can pickup multiple
indicators (KPIs) with product loss due to scanner is connected to the Dexion are all mounted above floor level enabling cartons, up to half a layer at a time, the end
damage in palletising markedly reduced. Real-time Distribution System (RDS). This working areas underneath. of the sort lane is built with right-angled
provides a preview of products coming
The cartons then pass to a 13-way transfers to assemble the required number
Linfox Virginia: into the distribution centre, allowing RDS
shoe-sorter, where they are sorted by of cartons, consistent with the pallet-build
to use this data to dynamically allocate
product to feed both the automated schedule for that product.
products to the palletising lanes.
palletising robots and any manual palletising
The system in detail. This is used to determine when a palletising positions. Allocation of products to the sort RDS controls this function, and
Before constructing the purpose-built site lane can be closed for a product and the lanes is controlled by the RDS, based on communicates to the palletiser when an
in Virginia, Linfox was operating on behalf lane reallocated. parameters of run size and throughput rate. assembly is ready for pickup.
Dexion Case Study – Linfox Arnott’s
6. “The RDS downloads information on what product
is on the accumulation line and the robot software
then determines the configurations of the pallet.”
Palletising robot optimisation. When a pallet is full RDS controls the
The system retains a table of pallet release of the full pallet and the loading of
configurations for each product, covering a new empty pallet. If for any reason, the
such specifications as carton assembly pallet build cannot be completed, RDS
pattern, number of layers, carton height, instructs the robot to pickup and place
and total number of cartons for a full pallet. whatever cartons are left on the pallet and
then release the partially completed pallet.
The RDS downloads information on what
product is on the accumulation line and The installation uses four of the latest
the robot software then determines the Motoman EPL300 palletising robots from
configurations of the pallet. This is Robotic Automation. These robots feature
downloaded each time a new product is the latest in technology, having the largest
allocated to a sort lane, which equates to working envelopes in the world and one of
a palletising position. A manual allocation the fastest cycle times available for a
or reallocation facility provided through the palletiser in their class.
RDS Visual ensures robot capacities are In this application, Linfox has opted for
not exceeded. Motoman’s four-axis servo type grippers,
The RDS controls the assembly of cartons which are able to handle the full Arnott’s
to be picked up by the robot head, and product range. In addition, operators can
communicates to the robot when the configure a number of palletising variables
assembly is ready for pickup. In turn the such as carton dimensions, gripper
robots communicate with RDS requesting allowances, robot speeds, and all while dispenser adjacent to the robot shuttle shuttle picks up empty pallets from the
cartons in the appropriate configurations. transferring cartons to the pallet. in-feed assembly, where they are arranged dispenser. Having delivered an empty
It also keeps a count of cartons picked up in stacks. Pallet stacks are loaded onto pallet, the shuttle will always retrieve
and placed by the robot for each of the Pallet handling system. the empty pallet in-feed conveyor by another empty pallet from the dispenser
three palletising positions. Empty pallets are transported to a pallet forklift. An automatic empty pallet in-feed and return to the home position.
Dexion Case Study – Linfox Arnott’s
7. “The GUI is web enabled, so it can be used by
supervisory staff to monitor conveyor system
performance, investigate errors, and to reset alarms.”
The full pallet outfeed shuttle, having picked only very lightly wrap the pallet to hold it
up a full pallet, delivers it to one of two together, because that wrap will be
outfeed points. One is for full pallets and coming off and the cartons hand-stacked
the other for part pallets and reject pallets. into containers. There are also further
Again, RDS co-ordinates and controls both settings available of which Linfox use two
shuttles’ movements in conjunction with – one for a product that needs a very tight
releasing pallets from the robot palletisers. wrap, and one for normal.
Since RDS monitors all functions of the After the wrapper the pallet passes to the
robot palletisers, it is able to predict the label printer applicators, of which there are
release of a full pallet and have the shuttles two: one on each opposite side of the pallet.
in position to do the changeover. RDS generates the SSCC pallet label and
controls the action of the printer-applicators.
Processing after palletisation.
Wrapped and labelled pallets are finally
RDS keeps the carton count and tracks unloaded from the conveyor via forklift
the pallets leaving the palletisers. When a – with all operation from then on managed
pallet is unloaded from the output shuttle via Linfox’s SAP warehouse management
it is moved to be stretch wrapped, and a system (WMS).
scanner verifies the product on the pallet.
Any incomplete pallets released from the
The stretch-wrapper is a rotating head palletisers are automatically sent to the
type, where the wrapping head rotates reject line with the RDS knowing the pallet
around a stationary pallet and is slowly is incomplete. No wrapping, printing or Manual palletising. and applying the labels. The carton count
raised to accommodate the pallet height. checking is done and the pallet passes Cartons sent down the manual sort lane of is then entered so that pallet inventory is
The stretch wrap machines have a degree straight to reject. All actions relating to less the shoe sorter are placed on pallets by updated correctly – all functions executed
of inbuilt intelligence. For example, if the than full pallets loads are managed via product. The operator then finalises the on the WMS.
pallet is being prepared for export it will SAP WMS. pallet by stretch wrapping, and printing
Dexion Case Study – Linfox Arnott’s
8. “When an order is picked, to reduce the incidence
of errors, the Linfox system ensures that a cycle
count is conducted after the product is picked.”
Dexion RDS features. stop and resume many parts of the customer requirements are adhered to. move on. If the operator counts incorrectly,
Dexion’s control system provides a operation. Conveyor graphics and control Product is never released until instructed the system allows a second attempt. If the
web-based ‘visualisation tool’ providing of the system are via a touch screen panel by Arnott’s and if any product is restricted, count is incorrect a supervisor is called to
the following functionality: situated on the operator’s platform. the system blocks the pallets. These check the pallet.
systems are in place to ensure the product
• graphical representation of the sorter
A It might be that an extra carton was
Put-away in the warehouse. remains in peak condition and Arnott’s QA
and infeed/outfeed conveyors. incorrectly placed in a previous order and
Each pallet has had two SSCC labels rules are adhered to.
the carton is found there. The system also
• Stop and start controls. applied, used from the point of pick-up, The Linfox distribution centre is driven by identifies those pickers who constantly
• Conveyor status. where the forklift operator picks up the a wireless Radio Frequency (RF) system make errors, so they can be moved to
pallet and scans the labels. These labels running under SAP. another area of the operation.
• Jam alarms. are used right through to the movements
within clients’ distribution centres. Over a period of three to four weeks, every
• Lane full status for each outfeed lane. Managing stock in the warehouse.
position within the warehouse is counted,
• E-stop notification. Once the SSCC is scanned, the Linfox When an order is picked, to reduce the with the pick face counted on average
warehouse management system (WMS) incidence of errors, the Linfox system every day.
• Scan status. determines where the pallets are to be ensures that a cycle count is conducted
• Critical PE cell status. stored and Arnott’s inventory is updated. after the product is picked. The picker is
Fastest moving product is placed on the directed to a pallet via the RF unit, the
• Alarm history. lower parts of the rack, medium in the location is scanned to ensure it is the
Dexion Graphic User Interface (GUI) facility. centre, and the slowest in the top positions. correct location and the required number
of cartons are picked.
The GUI is web enabled, so it can be used SAP WMS also places products for export
by supervisory staff to monitor conveyor in a specific section of the warehouse, Linfox adopts a ‘Keep It Simple’ (KIS)
system performance, investigate errors, while part pallets are guided to areas approach to picking, under which the
and to reset alarms. The panel-view where they’ll be used according to rules picking operator will count the layers and
control system shows the system status in set up by Linfox and Arnott’s. The system the cartons remaining, and then if they’ve
real time and can be used to suspend, also ensures that correct date rotation and got it correct the system allows them to
Dexion Case Study – Linfox Arnott’s
