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YELLOWCUBE
SWISS POST
YellowCube
A NEW LOGISTICS PLATFORM FOR E-RETAILERS
Click&Pick FOR PERFECT E-COMMERCE LOGISTICS
An increasing number of consumers prefer built around a compact, fully automated IN-DEPTH PLANNING PHASE
the comfort of shopping online and having storage and picking system, would allow
the ordered goods shipped directly to their even smaller and medium-sized shippers to Based on this concept, approved by Swiss
homes. Swiss Post profits from this trend; benefit from marketable logistics structures. Posts senior management, Patrick Stucki
last year, the logistics company's package YellowCube gives online retailers the ability and Swisslogs Andreas Reinhard began to
volume reached a record high of 114 million to fully focus on their core business of flesh out the solution design in the spring
units. product sales, states Stucki. of 2012. After weighing all the possible
scenarios, a town in Aargau, Switzerland
Over the last several years, growth in With YellowCube, Swiss Post is able to add was selected as the site. The idea was to
e-commerce has climbed steadily by customer goods to the fully automated build the system as closely as possible to
between 4 and nearly 10 percent in AutoStore facility implemented by Swisslog. our existing package distribution center,
Switzerland, explains Patrick Stucki, Head The facility accepts orders via a link to its from which YellowCube packages could
of Business Development at Swiss Post. The own ERP system, and delivers the ordered be distributed as quickly as possible,
growth in online and multi-channel sales items to online shoppers without making explains the YellowCube project manager
has placed greater pressure on logistics a detour through the retailer. The order at Swiss Post. But the sites proximity to
operations, prompting Swiss Post to invest is completed much quicker thanks to the the autobahn ultimately made it the perfect
in its own solution. The goal was to offer automated storage and retrieval process, choice for transportation. The chosen site
companies a full-service logistics package allowing next-day deliveries even if orders also offered enough room to expand the
for e-commerce business, continues Stucki. are placed late in the day. Return processes AutoStore facility if necessary.
are another important part of the concept. If
Speed and order picking quality, vital to a recipient wants to return an order, it goes Initial steps toward design planning began
e-commerce, were the top priorities. Swiss directly back to YellowCube, where Swiss in the summer of 2012. The Swisslog
Post decided to launch this e-commerce Post checks the items and returns them to project team first faced the task of facility
project in cooperation with the specialists at storage. dimensioning and preparing cost and
Swisslog. The YellowCube logistics solution, scheduling information. The subsequent
design develop
case study DELIVER
| YELLOWCUBE design develop DELIVER
detail planning phase was devoted to 4 320 cubic meters of space enough for Patrick Stucki. First, we were already using
fine-tuning the material flow concept they 32 000 AutoStore bins. 35 robots quickly SAP throughout the company and wanted
had developed. The team toured existing and efficiently transport stored items to ten to leverage our existing expertise. Secondly,
facilities, conducted real-time simulations picking and packaging stations attached to the Swisslog team was able to connect the
and specified all the components. During this the sides of the grid structure. This ensures a SAP EWM system directly to the AutoStore
planning stage they also defined all future state-of-the-art storage and picking solution Control System.
processes from goods receipt and storage which is capable of processing late orders
to picking, packaging, and returns processing for next day delivery and is fully scalable
as well as the interfaces between material for future expansion. In just seconds, the PROVEN SAP CONNECTION
flow control, warehouse management, and AutoStore robots equipped with grippers and
the online ordering system. Visiting several a lift system retrieve the items from the grid, The challenge facing Swisslog was by
reference sites during the analysis phase where the plastic bins are stored directly no means trivial. For the first time in
had already given us a good idea of the on top of each other for maximum space an AutoStore project, we had to map a
dimensioning possibilities, states project utilization. third-party logistics provider in SAP, says
manager Patrick Stucki with satisfaction as Res Bernhard, Senior Consultant for IT &
he recalls this important aspect of the pilot In the current expansion stage, we are Process Planning at Swisslog Switzerland.
phase. Based on internal discussions with achieving 70 bin movements per hour and On the one hand, this required the ability
marketing and Swisslogs assessment, we picking station. If the system proves itself to find flexible and reliable solutions for the
were able to very quickly define the facilitys and we decide to go to the next expansion wide variety of needs of Swiss Post and its
required initial size. stage, we could increase its performance to customers. On the other hand it required
240 bin movements per hour and picking very specialized know-how for integrating
station, explains Stucki. functions not needed until some future date
THE Click&Pick SOLUTION into the software quickly and reliably.
Unlike many of the other AutoStore projects
At Swiss Post, Swisslog implemented completed by Swisslog, one of the most In addition to special tasks such as
AutoStore as part of the Click&Pick solution important requirements for the Swiss Post implementing an SAP-based invoicing
concept. Click&Pick is tailored to the logistics project team was interfacing the YellowCube system for billing shippers for YellowCube
requirements of e-commerce. Built over facility to the SAP EWM (Extended services, the main task of the Swisslog IT
the course of one year, the initial expansion Warehouse Management) system. We chose experts was mapping all the processes in
stage of the YellowCube facility offers SAP EWM mainly for two reasons, says such a way that no deviations from the
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