A large North American meat-processing facility was the lowest performer among its parent company’s operations. With support from Muratec automation, the facility now offers world-class service capabilities. Murata Machinery USA addressed difficult manual work in coolers, increasingly complex orders, high turnover, and rising demand to improve accuracy and fill rates, double capacity and help retain happier employees.

Some of the nation’s best-tasting beef is processed at this facility. Distribution packed more than 30,000 cases, 24/7 every day. Strong customer demand and proliferating SKU counts revealed critical problems with managing inventory and filling orders. Employees memorized SKU positions in the coolers and pulled cases manually, moving heavy boxes of meat from flow racks. Extensive overtime with little time off created high turnover and labor costs. Accuracy and fill rates were an unacceptable 90 percent.

A Muratec mini-load AS/RS system was installed in a new, 50,000-square-foot distribution building. It serves 20 aisles, with 20 cranes and these capabilities:

• Maneuvers quickly to handle inbound and outbound cases with 78,000 storage locations
• Each crane handles two cases at a time
• Functions in cold environments to 0ºF; special cranes for frozen down to -32ºF
• Tracks inventory and manages all processes with customized software, eliminating unreliable bottlenecks and manual picking
• Rotates and traces products automatically—crucial in food production—to maintain product integrity, fill orders quickly and accurately, and meet service expectations

Accuracy improved to nearly 100 percent, with human errors reduced by 2/3. The facility doubled order fulfillment capacity with organized, accurate inventory.

Being able to operate 24/7 meant the distribution center could operate with two employee shifts, resulting in reduced labor and training costs. Employees received more time off. The facility also saw fewer injuries and worker comp claims.