Arla Foods in Götene, Sweden
Arla Foods uses an AGV system that has expanded over time in a dairy warehouse.
Arla Foods in Götene, Sweden, started their automation journey in 2007 with four AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles). The system has grown over the years, and automation is now a natural part of their production environment.
It was 2007 and Arla Foods in Götene was facing a real challenge. In one section of the dairy, the new conveyor system was not in operation as planned and the operators had to drive pallets back and forth with manual trucks instead. Arla Foods decided to do something about the situation and started to evaluate different automation solutions. AGVs were considered the best alternative, as they could remove the bottlenecks and give a return on investment in less than two years. The possibility to easily change the system in the future was also important. Arla began with two AGVs, delivered by Jungheinrich with an automation kit from Kollmorgen, and they added two more AGVs before the end of the year. Four years later, Arla expanded the system by adding five new AGVs and soon after that another one. All the AGVs work in chilled areas. Here is an overview of the system:
- First installation. Pallets with ripened cheese from warehouse to processing.
- Second installation. Pallets with packaged cheese from processing to warehouse.
- Third installation. Pallets containing cheese, butter and spreads from warehouse to dispatch area.
“Our AGV system has worked fine, and it gets a lot done at a low cost,” says Anders Jonsson, logistics manager at Arla Foods in Götene and part of the project from day one. “Initially, it took some time for the operators to getting used to having AGVs around in the working area. This is not a problem anymore, but a good takeaway for companies considering AGVs is not to underestimate the importance of change management.” Arla Foods also run AGVs in other dairies in Sweden, as well as in Denmark and Great Britain. “The more you run AGVs, the better you get at it and the more you get out of it,” says Anders Jonsson. “And with the inherent flexibility of AGVs, you are always free to realize the productivity improvements you opt for.”
Kollmorgen, a leading manufacturer of driverless control technology, and Jungheinrich, a leading AGV system supplier, are strategic global partners in applications for automated ransportation based on Kollmorgen’s AGV controls technology. Kollmorgen control solutions are used in more than 17,000 AGVs around the globe. Kollmorgen’s AGV control solution promises lower total costs for system integrators and end-users. It is applicationindependent and scalable and works with all AGVs, from the small and simple to the big and complex. It is also easy to integrate with host systems and material handling systems, and because the same platform is used everywhere, the same engineering skill set applies for all types of applications.
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