Penske Logistics has put a new automated bakery fulfilment system into operation with Cimcorp at a site in Illinois, in a move the companies say is designed to improve speed, accuracy and safety in the handling of fresh bread and rolls.
The project replaces a process that had depended on manual labour from end to end. According to the companies, trays of bread were previously unloaded, stored and picked by hand, with stacks rising to more than two metres. That created ergonomic...
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strain for workers, along with a greater risk of mistakes in order assembly. The new installation brings Cimcorp’s MultiPick gantry robot technology together with an intelligent Warehouse Control System, allowing trays to be buffered and picked within one automated flow.
Cimcorp says the system is built to pick at tray level and has been designed to deliver complete order accuracy. The supplier also says the platform cuts labour requirements by half and can be expanded to handle future peaks in demand, a feature it argues makes the investment suitable for long-term growth as well as current volumes.
Penske Logistics said the automation should strengthen supply chain performance for bakery customers by improving throughput and reducing the amount of manual tray handling required. Steve Chambers, vice-president of operations for distribution centre management at Penske Logistics, said the technology would augment the company’s workforce while delivering gains in efficiency, picking accuracy and safety.
The move fits into a wider push by Penske towards digitised logistics operations. The company has said that capturing and structuring supply chain data is central to unlocking automation and AI-driven decision-making, and that it is on track to process nearly 1.5 billion transactions in a single year. For Cimcorp, the Penske deployment adds to a portfolio of bakery automation projects that includes work with Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe, Kwik Trip and Fazer Bakeries, underlining continued interest in robotics for high-volume, time-sensitive food distribution.
Source: Noah Wire Services
