MS Direct implements the first AutoStore project in the Swiss canton of Thurgau. The AutoStore facility will be part of a new, modern fulfillment center that MS Direct is building on a total area of 20,000 m² directly on Lake Constance. MS Direct commissioned intralogistics expert and global AutoStore partner Kardex to plan and integrate the AutoStore solution, which is scheduled to be fully operational by early summer 2023.
“The comparatively high order volume of our customers requires additional capacities and highly efficient processes – an automated solution that simultaneously stores the items very densely was the logical consequence here,” says Dr. Luca Graf, CEO of MS Direct.
Performance, availability, scalability and volume utilization were critical to MS Direct’s choice of provider. AutoStore is the fastest order fulfillment system per square foot on the market, provides high-density storage, and can be expanded on the fly as needed. With an average availability of 99.6 percent across all systems installed to date and “built-in” redundancy, AutoStore is the world’s most reliable and efficient storage system.
"Speed and competence - that's how Kardex convinced us in developing a solution that is precisely geared to our requirements," continues Dr Luca Graf. "With AutoStore, we are excellently positioned to be able to flexibly handle volumes in online trading and to raise both logistics and service to a completely new level."
Luca Graf, CEO MS Direct AG
Maximum space efficiency and highly efficient processes.
With the best storage density ratio of all automated storage systems, AutoStore achieves very high space efficiency. The flexible aluminum grid system, in which the container stacks are stored without gaps, maximizes storage density and enables four times the capacity with the same footprint compared to conventional manual storage. The AutoStore solution implemented by Kardex for MS Direct is set up in a hall flooded with light. Thus, employees benefit from plenty of daylight at work.
In the first expansion stage, the AutoStore facility offers space for a total of 30,000 containers and further expansion potential in the hall for up to 60,000 containers. For the handling of the containers, 48 battery-powered robots are used, which move along the rails of the grid. The robots pick up totes, sort them and make them available for replenishment and picking at nine ergonomically designed workstations – eight of which are Carousel Ports and one Conveyor Port. The AutoStore solution serves as a backbone for efficient fulfillment operations and other innovation projects planned by MS Direct, such as pick robots or autonomous mobile robots (AMR).