Dematic powers WesTrac Tomago spare parts warehouse

WesTrac has successfully implemented a Dematic Automated Piece Picking System at its Tomago warehouse in NSW.

As one of the world’s largest authorised Caterpillar® equipment dealers, this new picking system along with its Autostore™ system (resembling a large Rubik’s cube) supports the mining and construction industries in WA, NSW and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

WesTrac warehouse operations manager Natalia Trewin says its Tomago warehouse is the central distribution centre for 17 regional branches, as well as the seven main workshops on site.

“The Tomago facility is a high-volume operation, storing 80,000 SKUs and we pick 40,000 lines a week here,” she said.

The previous WesTrac warehouse was constructed a decade ago. It was operated manually and, over time, WesTrac had seen a 30% increase in inventory and customer base growth, resulting in a surge in orders to fulfil.

“We needed to maximise the use of our existing floor space and to diversify our storage solutions, so we looked at what we could do to manage more inventory within our existing space,” Ms Trewin said.

The system features an AutoStore automated storage and goods-to-person (GTP) picking system run by the Dematic Software, with one picker achieving the work of four to five manual pickers.

The AutoStore system is also one of the most sustainable warehouse automation systems today, with its robots using power regeneration technology to reduce energy consumption, while typically consuming less power than a toaster.

Featuring 15,350 segmented bins, 24 robots, four inbound conveyor ports for replenishing products into the system and six GTP workstations, Autostore optimises space efficiency and accelerate parts distribution for WesTrac.

“We’re already exceeding our initial throughput targets, which were to be picking over 500 lines per hour or 30% more with our existing headcount,” Ms Trewin said.

“Previously, with the same amount of people, we were only able to pick 300 lines.

“The speed and density of the solution means that we can get urgent orders out to customers within five to 10 minutes if needed.

“Our customers rely on us to ensure they can keep doing the work that they need to do, so it’s really important that we’re able to step up our service.”

Dematic business development manager Seth van Dijk explains the system.

“When customers place their orders, the WesTrac warehouse management system (WMS) software sends those orders to the Dematic warehouse control system (WCS) software,” he said.

“The WCS then directs the robots for maximum efficiency to retrieve all the items needed to fulfil those orders, and the robot delivers those items to the GTP workstations.

“Screens at the workstations instruct WesTrac operators which items to place into the order totes.

“Operators place completed totes on the conveyor, which brings them to a sorter.

“At the end of the sorter, orders are packed and dispatched for delivery.”

From a storage density perspective, the Dematic solution has significantly increased WesTrac’s available space by 1,000 square meters.

The AutoStore system’s uniquely scalable solution means the grid can be easily expanded with minimal interruption and progressively filled with bins as storage demand grows.

“One of the great features of AutoStore is that we’re able to expand the system without interrupting operations,” Ms Trewin said.

“It’s very easy to put more robots on the grid to, for example, have more throughput over a weekend.

“Additionally, the system is designed for us to add more grid and totes so we can grow storage.”