Westfalia’s AS/RS and WES Automates The Glenmore Distillery’s New Distribution Center
Facility is using Westfalia’s automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) and warehouse execution system (WES) to efficiently store and retrieve goods
YORK, PA – April 28, 2016 – Westfalia Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of logistics solutions for manufacturers and distributors since 1992, announces the opening of The Glenmore Distillery’s new distribution center, which features the company’s warehouse automation technology. With Westfalia’s automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) and Savanna.NET® warehouse execution system (WES), the 223,000 square-foot distribution center is more efficiently storing, retrieving and managing pallets of finished goods.
Occupying 136,836 square feet inside the Owensboro, Kentucky, distribution center, Westfalia’s high-bay AS/RS contains four tandem storage and retrieval machines (S/RMs) which operate in four aisles. Storing pallets seven levels high, the two outside blocks hold between one and eight pallets deep, while the middle blocks hold up to 10. Each crane can induct/output 90 pallets of finished goods per hour, with a total of 360 pallets moving within the system. The AS/RS contains 52 pallet staging lanes, holding up to 416 pallets. The system also includes an automated layer pick system from Cimcorp, capable of moving 150 layers per hour and storing 255 SKUs. Westfalia’s Savanna.NET® WES powers the AS/RS and layer picking system, providing optimal control of material flow, order picking and inventory management.
“We’re pleased our business has grown enough to support such a highly advanced distribution center,” said Chris Stout, plant general manager, The Glenmore Distillery. “We look forward to being able to serve our customers in a more efficient manner and being prepared for potential future growth.”
A $45 million investment, construction of The Glenmore Distillery’s distribution center is part of parent company Sazerac’s $71 million investment in the state of Kentucky at its three distilleries. Westfalia’s AS/RS is also featured in a new Buffalo Trace Distillery facility, which opened in July 2015.
Dan Labell, president, Westfalia Technologies, said, “With a growing, diverse number of SKUs, seasonal products and complex orders, beverage alcohol distributors can most effectively manage inventory and material flow with automation technology. Westfalia’s AS/RS, integrated with our Savanna.NET® WES, will help The Glenmore Distillery achieve these benefits, while providing additional operational efficiencies, cost savings and a competitive advantage.”
To see a short video of the construction of the distribution center and installation of the AS/RS visit: https://youtu.be/Q_SNuqA5Wlw.
About The Glenmore Distillery
The Glenmore Distillery has been a fixture in the Owensboro Community since the late 1800s. Originally called the Monarch Distillery, James Thompson re-named it The Glenmore Distillery after the Glenmore Castle near his birthplace in County Derry, Northern Ireland. During Prohibition, The Glenmore Distillery was fortunate enough to be one of four distilleries in the country allowed to operate on a limited scale for medicinal necessity.
Surviving tragedies such as flood and fire, the distillery went on to fill its two millionth barrel of whiskey in 1946. In 1973 it was producing 540 barrels a day. Although distilling operations ceased in 1973, bottling and warehousing continued at The Glenmore Distillery.
In March of 2009 the Sazerac Company purchased the Distillery and reprised the name The Glenmore Distillery. The Distillery boasts one of the largest and most modern bottling facilities in the country and continues to be a sizable employer in the city of Owensboro, KY. For more information visit www.sazerac.com.
