Oslo, 4 July 2017. There are 500 metres of distance across multiple levels separating goods receipt at Oslo Airport from the two Heinemann Duty Free Shops located in the departure area of the international terminal. The shops are operated in a Norwegian joint venture in which Gebr. Heinemann has a 50 per cent stake. As part of the terminal expansion completed this spring by airport operator Avinor, the travel retailer doubled its sales area in Oslo. Now Gebr. Heinemann is using a tailored transport solution to supply its shops: the world's first "driverless transport system" at an airport. In addition to a high level of efficiency, reliability and flexibility, this system uses special technology to ensure compliance with the "secure supply chain". This was a central requirement for Gebr. Heinemann, which as one of the top players on the international travel retail market also has a global logistics network. The company has invested almost one million euro in the ground breaking project.
Together with its project partner E&K Automation, the industrial engineering team at Gebr. Heinemann logistics conceived of this new transport system based on the needs of the Heinemann Duty Free Shops and the infrastructure of Oslo Airport. As experts in automated, laser-controlled AGVs (Automated Ground Vehicles), E&K Automation configured the forklifts for the system. Gebr. Heinemann was responsible for the overall concept planning and for the software with requirements for steering, navigation and safety that made an AGV into an SAGV, a Secured Automated Ground Vehicle, – the first of its kind.
The two new Duty Free Shops in the departure area of the airport – now supplied by the SAGVs – have an area of 4,600 square metres and are continually supplied with around 11,000 articles such as cigarettes, confectionary, wine and spirits, perfume and cosmetics as well as accessories.
Large volumes of goods and long distances are a job for SAGV
"We developed the SAGV solution for Oslo because of the demanding logistical requirements there and because the airport meets the structural requirements for this kind of innovative system,” explains Marco Rebohm, Director of Logistics at Gebr. Heinemann. "Every day we move a large volume of goods over the long distance of 500 metres and across different levels. We adapted the SAGV to this requirement. This increases our productivity and ensures the secure supply chain from the logistics centre to our shops. It also spares our employees particularly physically demanding work. We were able to incorporate their know-how into our technical planning and they can now take on new assignments in the shops and providing service to our customers.”
Up to nine lorries with goods from the Gebr. Heinemann logistics centre in Hamburg-Allermöhe are delivered to Oslo Airport every day. The articles which are pre-commissioned on pallets, are manually unloaded at goods receipt and brought to 18 storage spaces equipped with sensors. These sensors then send a signal to the SAGVs, six of which will be used through the final expansion stage. The specially designed transport control system maintains constant contact with the vehicles at every point in the system. This ensures both optimal transport processes and the flow of materials. After receiving the signal, the SAGVs pick up the goods and bring them to the shops where they are unloaded at a holding area by employees and brought to the sales area.
In order to increase reliability, particularly regarding adherence to delivery schedules, the SAGVs' transport control system is also equipped with bottleneck resources on the transport route. This means that the vehicle is networked via its software with the lift and security gates. Both are located in the logistics structure away from the area accessible by passengers, and are used by both employees and vehicles alike. These bottleneck resources will be reserved with priority for the SAGV when necessary.
Sensor light grids protect goods in the secure supply chain
The pallets on the SAGV are protected by an innovative sensor solution with a 360 degree light grid around them that detects and reports any access to the goods during transport through the supply channels. If access is reported, the SAGV moves to one of the control points on the route so that the appropriate measures can be taken by a specially trained employee. The secure supply chain is ensured between the Gebr. Heinemann logistics centre in Hamburg to the Heinemann Duty Free Shops at Oslo Airport.
Now that the SAGV transport system has been successfully introduced at an airport, the Gebr. Heinemann logistics team are already planning the next steps. Marco Rebohm looks ahead: "By the end of the year, we will also supply the Heinemann Duty Free Arrival Shop via the SAGVs.” The newly opened shop, expanded to a surface of 4,000 square metres last year, is the world's largest Arrival Duty Free.
"Gebr. Heinemann has extensive experience in innovative logistics. We use standards like the newest developments in technology and digitisation and are able to do this in our projects with our own engineers and technicians. This allows us to develop individual, effective and specialised solutions for the airports where we operate,” adds Marco Rebohm.
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