New Illinois installation highlights the increasingly close relationship between reusable transport packaging and warehouse automation.
Penske Logistics has gone live with a Cimcorp automated bakery order fulfillment system in Illinois, replacing a labor-intensive operation in which reusable bread trays were unloaded, stored and selected manually. The story underscores an increasingly important role of reusable transport packaging in automated settings. The bread tray is not simply packaging moving through the system. It is the handling unit around which the automated storage and order picking operation is organized.
At a Glance
- Application: Fresh bakery distribution
- RTP format: Reusable bread trays
- Automation: Cimcorp MultiPick gantry robots and WCS
- Reported results: 100% order accuracy, 50% reduction in labor requirements, and elimination of manual handling of tall tray stacks
- RTP significance: Standardized reusable trays function as both product packaging and the physical unit handled by the automated fulfillment system.
The new system uses Cimcorp’s MultiPick gantry robot technology and Warehouse Control System to combine buffer storage and order picking. Orders are selected at the individual tray level, with the system assembling the appropriate trays for outbound distribution. Cimcorp says the operation is achieving 100% order accuracy while reducing labor requirements by 50%.
Before automation, workers handled stacks of bread trays that could exceed seven feet in height. Penske said the process created ergonomic concerns associated with overhead picking as well as opportunities for order errors.
“Automated systems like this one help Penske accelerate supply chain performance for its customers as these systems augment the capabilities of our highly trained workforce,” said Steve Chambers, Penske Logistics Vice President of Operations, Distribution Center Management. “By implementing this system, we expect to see increased throughput efficiency and order picking accuracy as well as safety benefits from eliminating the manual handling of tray stacks.”
The installation provides an example of how standardized RTP can become closely integrated with warehouse automation. Bread and bakery trays have long been used to move fresh products through closed or semi-closed distribution systems.
Their consistent dimensions, stackability and durability make them well suited not only for repeated transport but also for mechanical handling. Cimcorp describes its bakery automation as capable of handling large volumes of standard crates, trays and totes in high-density floor storage, while other bakery automation installations have similarly been designed around industry-standard bread baskets.
That consistency becomes increasingly valuable as warehouses automate. Robots do not have the same ability as a worker to compensate casually for a bent container, irregular footprint or unstable stack. A repeatable package format gives an automated system a predictable interface for receiving, storing, retrieving and assembling product.
Bakery Automation Built Around the Tray
Cimcorp has previously applied the same basic approach at other large bakery operations, giving the Penske installation some useful context. At Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, a Cimcorp system was designed with capacity for 19,000 trays and 66 SKUs. Two gantry robots move tray stacks into approximately 1,300 floor storage positions, then retrieve the trays needed for customer orders, build mixed-SKU stacks and send them to an automated palletizer. Cimcorp has reported throughput of approximately 21,000 trays per workday at the operation.
A larger-scale example can be found at Kwik Trip’s bakery operation in La Crosse, Wisconsin. There, bagged bakery products are stored in roughly 80,000 plastic trays, stacked up to 20 high. Cimcorp’s MultiPick system uses six overhead gantry robots operating in three cells and was designed to process orders for as many as 53,000 outbound trays within 20 hours.
Taken together, those installations show how deeply the reusable tray can become embedded in the material handling process. Bakery trays have always offered familiar advantages such as product protection, stackability and repeated use. In an automated environment, however, their standardized dimensions and predictable handling characteristics become just as important. The tray is no longer simply the package carrying the product. It becomes part of the operating interface between storage, picking and outbound fulfillment.
That, in turn, can influence how the warehouse itself is configured. Rather than placing every unit into conventional rack positions, Cimcorp’s bakery systems can store stacks of trays directly in a high-density floor area beneath the gantry system. The robots then access and relocate those stacks as orders are assembled. The result is a storage and picking method built around the characteristics of the reusable container itself.
For fresh bakery products, that handling speed carries an additional benefit. Time spent in distribution directly affects the amount of shelf life remaining when products reach the store. Penske and Cimcorp say the new installation accelerates order processing while also providing real-time operational information through the warehouse control system.
“This project reflects Penske’s forward-thinking approach to logistics, prioritizing employee safety while continuously investing in technology to drive customer success,” said Adam Gurga, Director of Sales, Cimcorp North America. “Together, we’ve raised the bar for bakery distribution with automation that improves performance today and supports growth tomorrow.”
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Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.