Witron begins construction of 189,400-square-foot frozen food logistics center for Spanish grocer

Witron announced the groundbreaking of the sixth fully automated frozen food logistics center for the market-leading Spanish food retailer, Mercadona. Contracts were finalized in early March 2019, and construction began shortly thereafter. The distribution center will be equipped with the latest OPM technology. All logistics processes are optimized in real-time, thanks to intelligent and holistic networking. After the operational start at the beginning of 2021, the logistics center will supply 224 Mercadona stores throughout the autonomous community of Andalusia located in southern Spain. In total, Witron with its mechanized logistics systems will then be responsible for the storage and picking of frozen goods for more than 80% of all 1,630 Mercadona stores in Spain.

The 189,400 square feet DC will be equipped with 7 fully automated COM machines and will pick up to 46,000 cases every day out of an assortment of 550 items at -9 degrees Fahrenheit onto pallets. The DC will have a five-aisle pallet high bay warehouse with 7,000 pallet locations and a 14-aisle tray AS/RS with 62,300 locations are located in front of the COMs. Witron equipment is designed and manufactured to provide 24/7 continuous operation at sub-zero temperatures. Orders will be automatically palletized by store for error free logistics.

The Witron warehouse management system optimizes all material flow processes. This software suite delivers holistic networking and transparency both vertically between all system levels as well as horizontally within the entire supply chain. The result is a high level of “warehouse intelligence”, which means the creation of a real-time logistics network that directly connects all “players” in the overall system. This allows changes to happen dynamically and directly in the logistics processes.