Platform for the food and beverage industry
The extremely rapid progress of technology opened the door for numerous innovative concepts. Especially in the field of logistics, where fully automated high bay warehouses are becoming increasingly popular. This solution is also at the heart of "The Barry Callebaut Chocolat Box". Thanks to SSI SCHAEFER, global player and pioneer in this field, it has become a strong piece of technical ingenuity. We talk about this project with Steve Vercammen from SSI SCHAEFER in Belgium.
Barry Callebaut is the world's largest manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products. With more than 12,000 employees in 63 factories worldwide, the group supplies chocolate in 143 countries. In 2018, Barry Callebaut decided to build a new warehouse in Belgium. From this location, millions of tons of chocolate will be delivered worldwide. This required a huge warehouse area that had to be optimally equipped. In addition to intralogistics, sustainability was important to Barry Callebaut in every aspect of the project. The building ultimately received a BREEAM Outstanding certificate, achieving the highest sustainability score for logistics buildings.
SSI SCHAEFER supplies and implements complete intralogistics solutions with state-of-the-art systems and support services for manual, dynamic or fully automated warehouse solutions. "Our strength is that we can handle complex and extensive projects," says Steve Vercammen, Sales Manager Automated Solutions at SSI SCHAEFER in Belgium. "We have the know-how in-house and also produce all products in-house. We do this at six different sites. From racking, conveyors, cranes to the software. The big advantage of in-house production is that we can guarantee the quality of the products. This makes us a strong partner for intralogistics solutions."
SSI SCHAEFER is particularly strong in the area of fully automated high bay warehouses. In Belgium, La Lorraine, Lantmännen Unibake, ECS, Begro and Roger & Roger, among others, have already called on the intralogistics expertise. "With 'The Barry Callebaut Chocolat Box,' we have added a special reference," says Vercammen proudly. "After all, this is one of the most extensive projects we have recently completed in Belgium."
"We built the 124 x 100 m silo for Barry Callebaut with a height of 40 m. It is a so-called 'clad rack' building where the racking also serves to mount the side walls and roof. The high bay warehouse has thirteen aisles providing double-deep storage capacity. This allows this fully automated warehouse to accommodate 73,495 pallets," said Vercammen.
For the realization of this project, sixty employees were deployed with an ambitious assignment: the distribution center had to be operational in less than 2 years. Vercammen continues, "This was not an easy job given that we were in the Covid-19 period and had to contend with extreme weather conditions. In addition, there had to be continuous coordination with numerous other contractors on the site. Thanks to good communication and planning, we managed to deliver this challenging project on time as well."
"As an additional service, service was an important part of the contract," Vercammen cites. "Meanwhile, we keep the system running with our own Resident Maintenance Team (RM Team) on site. The RM Team provides timely scheduling and execution of maintenance work. In addition, the RM Team looks at further process optimizations with the customer. In this way, the RM Team unburdens Barry Callebaut and ensures optimal uptime."
