Fast moving goods that are produced to serve a "want it now" consumer driven, on demand marketplace create their own set of logistical problems. Add to this the fact that these goods can sometimes be time sensitive and in need of ambient or chilled storage then an exacting, hygienic material handling regime has to be in place.

In early 2007 dairy goods specialist Petmol, a division of Unimilk, Russia's second largest dairy goods producer, finalised details for an upgrade at its St. Petersburg facility. With the support of its parent company Petmol was keen to source a new material handling solution that would be world class and meet all of its hygiene, safety and throughput needs in a flexible yet regimented manner.

A massive consolidation

Unimilk is the result of a massive consolidation of 11 dairy companies and has over 30 dairy production plants throughout Russia and Ukraine. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Moscow. This is where the decision was made to work with Actiw, an international material handling solutions specialist, on the Petmol St. Petersburg project.

Actiw already has an established reputation within the Russian material handling market sector, the potential of which was book-marked early in the current decade.
Jari Vartiainen, Actiw's sales director explains.

"We made the decision to go to Russia several years ago as we considered it to be rising as a notable market sector for automated material handling systems. We started with an office in St. Petersburg with a sales manager and have been recruiting more personnel as needed.

"We got a lead that Petmol Unimilk was planning a dairy project and was considering the implementation of a complete automated storage solution. The project was realised in close operation with a Dutch company CSi industries B.V. The order was to implement a large material handling system from palletising to dispatch. Cooperation was seamless and the customer was happy to receive one complete project delivery. During this delivery Actiw and CSi set out their own delivery scopes in order to deliver the complete system.

"It is a strength and proof of Actiw's flexibility that we can work in cooperation with other suppliers, to supply a more competitive total project for the benefit of our customer."

Unimilk keenly observes both environmental and hygiene issues in its plant and surrounding neighbourhood and this made the purchase of an Actiw system a logical choice.

The ACTIW material handling and management system brings cost savings both in the utilisation of the existing material handling space and in the control of the whole operation chain including rack supported buildings.

"The fact that Petmol made the decision to buy an Actiw storage system for their existing facility, made for a perfect fit for the Actiw concept," adds Vartiainen.

A flexible solution

At Petmol the nature of the dairy goods handled dictates that there are two storage areas within the hub, one operating at +4 degr. Celsius and one at 20 degr. Celsius. These are run on one single operating system. Currently the Petmol hub has a handling capacity of 4,450 pallet positions with 120 pallets an hour being shipped into the warehouse. After throughout the hub handles an exit of 150 pallets per hour thanks to the maximised space utilisation within the building.

The ACTIW system's design flexibility makes it uniquely suitable for the handling of a variety of materials, as it is not restricted to a certain unit load size or form making it ideal for the multitude of products handled in a dairy goods production centre such as the Petmol facility.

Through its modular structure the system is capable of meeting the growing needs of customers and can be easily extended whilst running helping producers, such as Petmol, cope with the future growth.