44 n FOOD AND BEVERAGE September 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com Automation ensures that fulfilment centre is not a dog’s dinner Butternut Box is a subscription service that delivers fresh food for dogs. The company wanted to increase the throughput and optimise end-of-line efficiencies at a new fulfilment facility to meet increasing demand for its products and to plan for future growth in a scalable, modular way. It needed a system that could handle goods movements that take place partially inside a freezer, as well as being able to transfer products to and from conveyors that operate at different heights. The system also needed to work safely and efficiently alongside Butternut Box’s fulfilment staff. The company worked with the automation specialist Reeco to create an optimised layout and system design covering critical stages of the fulfilment line. They used CAD drawings to map out the area in which AMRs (automated mobile robots) would be able to operate, including calculating distances and heights to simulate and verify the desired movement of goods. This was followed by physical testing using the initial simulation overlaid on the physical layout of the production environment to create a plan to ensure reliable AMR traffic movement. At the start of the process, six Reeco RB2000 depalletisers unload crates of fresh dog food, which are then transported by a fleet of 18 Omron AMRs to fulfilment stations, where operators pack customer orders. The AMRs have customised top modules supplied by the Finnish mobile and collaborative robotics specialist, Dimalog. These allow products to be collected and delivered at different heights. The fleet of AMRs is managed via a single interface and is integrated with an on-site ERP system to manage product demand and delivery. For orders heading to mainland Europe, a Reeco palletiser with EasyStack software transfers goods onto Euro pallets, ready for shipping. The automated product-handling system has helped Butternut Box to scale up its capabilities and improve efficiency at the fulfilment centre. It has also reduced the need for manual handling, allowing staff members to be redeployed to higherskilled activities. “Reeco has been a brilliant partner, working closely with us through the entire process right from design, through to installation and maintenance,” says Marc Crossfield, head of engineering and capital projects at the dog food firm. “They’ve delivered an excellent localised automation solution, which puts us in an excellent position for future growth in a modular fashion.” n The fresh dog food supplier Butternut Box has commissioned a fleet of AMRs, working with in tandem with depalletisers, to increase throughput and efficiencies at a new fulfilment centre. The fleet of AMRs is integrated with Butternut Box’s ERP system to manage demand and delivery at the fulfilment centre
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=