Abstract:
ABC Beverage Company is one of the leading beverage distributors in South African market. The ‘true’ name of the company may not be disclosed due to sensitive information which may not be made public. ABC Beverage Company employs over 900 people and has approximately 10 distribution and depot facilities throughout Southern Africa.
ABC Beverage Company has experienced significant growth in recent years and has thus developed a range of new distribution centres nationally to support its expansion plans. The Pretoria distribution facility is the first new facility to be constructed and serves as the ideal opportunity to develop best practice processes and internal operations designs to be used as a ‘blue print’ for future facilities and operations.
This report focuses on demonstrating the development and evaluation process which was followed to produce a final internal facility layout and material handling selection for the Pretoria Distribution Center.
Key resources from Industrial Logistics Systems (ILS) and ABC Beverage Company where identified for their knowledge of the beverage industry and experience in the field of facilities design.
The design was focused around best practice processes flows and recognised industry standards. The main aim was to ensure efficient, streamline operations flows.
A range of storage and picking systems were evaluated. In the final design block stack was selected for fast moving product. The design provided for slower palletized product to be stored in selective racking with live case picking at ground level. A carton live system was designed for the efficient pick and replenishment of loose units (bottles).
Sprinkler systems were designed within the various storage systems to meet local fire regulations. Support services such as the battery charging bay were designed to enable quick turnaround of lift trucks.
A core component of the design was security of goods inbound and outbound. A range of cages were designed to reduce shrinkage but also enable unobstructed flow.
In addition to the internal layout, external truck flows and turning circles were reviewed and optimised to allow unhindered integration between the internal and external functions.
The outcome of this project was a final internal facility design and material handling specification for the proposed new ABC Beverage Company Pretoria facility.
