ULMA Handling Systems expands the Acrilex automated system with 100% Brazilian manufacturing
ACRILEX
Acrilex, the largest factory in Latin America in the arts and crafts paints segment and one of the largest companies in the artistic paints, schools and toys segment, is expanding the automated area of its distribution centre (DC) with design and systems manufactured by ULMA Handling Systems in Brazil. The 2,500 m2 DC is located in São Bernardo do Campo, SP,Brasil.
Since 2009, the company, which has been operating in the market for 55 years, has had an unit load automated pallet warehouse equipped with stacker crane and automated box warehouse (Miniload), where around 6,400 pallets and more than 10,000 boxes for the storage of fractional items are stored, respectively. ULMA Handling Systems was responsible for this first project, which also has six picking stations and a sorter for dispatch with nine points of sale.
There will be a gain of at least 25% in productivity in picking and another 20% in separation by routes
Requirements
The decision to expand the system was combined with the strengthening of Acrilex's business: with a line of more than 3,500 products, the company has registered growth of around 10% for three years, and in 2019 that figure increased to 20%. This result required greater capacity and agility to complete the orders that are dispatched regularly to more than 45 countries, including Brazil, Latin America, Africa and Europe.
Proposed solution
In the new project, the Acrilex solution will be 100% integrated within the existing one and will have automatic roller conveyors and smart 90º transfers to determine which exit the boxes should go to. The number of picking stations will be extended, as will the number of sorter points of sale for dispatch, making it easier to operate a larger volume of products and more distribution routes.
"There will be a gain of at least 25% in productivity in picking and another 20% in separation by routes", highlighted Samuel Souza, Industrial Manager of Acrilex and also responsible for logistics management.
For the Industrial Manager of Acrilex, another aspect that was considered when deciding on the new project was that the system would be manufactured in Brazil, allowing its installation and operation to be achieved sooner. "We will have the system fully operational in mid-2020 and we will obtain a reduction in taxes and costs in general", he said.
Marcelo Bueno, CEO of ULMA Handling Systems for Latin America, confirmed that the technical team in Brazil is fully responsible for the project and its management, and that the production of the systems will be carried out at the company's factory, located in the São Paulo region. The Spanish headquarters will be in charge of the adjustments of the warehouse management system (WMS) and other smart systems.
"We have been preparing ourselves in recent years to achieve this independence in the production of systems at the Brazilian subsidiary and the Acrilex project sets a new milestone for ULMA Handling Systems' operations at local level", said Bueno. "We will be more agile in delivering projects, more competitive in terms of costs; we will create greater proximity and collaboration with the customer, our main objective in this environment of logistics 4.0 and innovation".
Result
"With the expansion of the automated system, we will extend our operation to a third shift, we will have 90 people involved in the operation and we expect to complete 400 orders a day", revealed Samuel Souza.
He pointed out that, with the existing automated system, the company has achieved an important competitive advantage in recent years, which it began to establish with 24-hour orders in São Paulo and other places, thus reducing times compared to the manual process. However, with the growth of the business, this period of service began to suffer negative fluctuations, which led to an expansion.
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