 Forklifts in use at Foster's |
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Fosters, Australia’s largest alcohol company, will pilot a Laser Guided Vehicle (LGV) installation over the next six months to automate materials handling at its wine facility in Karadoc, Victoria.
The installation will be provided by Elettric 80, a global provider of end-of-line automation solutions. The contract, worth an estimated $4.95 million, will entail the provision of 12 LGVs.
The solution has been designed to primarily transport finished goods from the various production lines to the storage areas. Two types of LGVs will be used at the site; a dual fork (twin tyne) version will take two pallets at a time to a block storage area and a single fork high-lifting reach LGV will store products up to eight metres high in a racking system.
The facility includes both block storage areas for stackable products and rack-based storage for non-stackable. The design of the Elettric 80 solution takes into account that the majority of finished product will be stored in racks. Rules and regulations surrounding rack-based storage have been included in the design.
The LGV vehicles will also bring finished goods from the store and picking areas to the various shipping positions for transportation to Foster's worldwide client base. In addition, LGVs will supply the production lines with empty pallet stacks and dry goods and remove waste materials.
The Karadoc facility will use Elettric 80's own Warehouse Management System (WMS) for the physical automation of products within the warehouse, whether it concerns taking pallets directly to the shipping area or storing them. In essence, the Elettric 80 software will work alongside Foster's existing WMS system and will automate the store, traffic and shipping management process.
The pilot will be significant for the company as forklifts play an important role, with some 418 units leased across its operations.
The Victoria-based company, which last week released its financial results, operates three distilleries, two cideries, six breweries and 16 wineries, and comprises three business divisions: Australia, Asia and the Pacific; the Americas; and Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Within the Australasian region, it employs around 6,200 people and sells over 120 million 9lt equivalent cases, with export brands growing swiftly in key markets such as Japan, China and India.
Forklifts are used throughout the production cycle from fruit handling and processing at vineyards and wineries, to warehouse logistics for finished goods. A specially designed attachment that lifts 18 kegs at once is utilised in the keg handling section.
Its forklift fleet is leased from three main dealers, TMH, Adaptalift and United Equipment, and comprises a combination of petrol/diesel used in viticulture sites as well as LPG, battery electric forklifts and intrinsically safe electric units which are used when bulk spirits are handled.
Last week’s financial results revealed that Foster's, whose products include Penfolds, Rosemount and Lindemans wines and beer brands Victoria Bitter and Foster's Lager, had a net profit of $966.2 million for 2006/07 - down 17.1% on the $1.17 billion bottom line in the prior year.
Annual net profit after tax, before significant items and self-generating and regenerating assets (SGARA), was up 16.8% to $716.2 million.
Foster's bottom-line result for fiscal 2007 included a $131.5 million after-tax gain on the sale of the Kent brewery site in Sydney. Bottom-line profit in fiscal 2006 included a $704.9 million gain from Foster's sale of breweries in Asia and beer brands in Europe.
Foster's revenue for the year to June 30 rose 5% to $4.76 billion.
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