Artist's impression of the REMA 1000 facility

Dematic has secured a flagship new contract with Reitan Distribution in Horsens, Denmark. Reitan supplies groceries to more than 900 stores throughout Denmark, including more than 340 of the chain's own REMA 1000 stores and convenience stores, including 7-Eleven. Dematic was tasked with designing a high-performance automated solution to facilitate and enable increased delivery frequency and service levels to stores, while supporting Reitan's growth strategy over the next few years. "This project has been all about providing better service for merchants, an improved customer experience and creating optimal working conditions for employees to achieve higher efficiency," says Ole Thomsen, Logistics Director at REMA 1000. Reitan's current logistics centre at Marsalle is approximately 57,000 sqm. In recent years, the business has grown to such a degree that it has become necessary to expand in the form of new and more modern storage facilities. The extended warehouse has since added a further 30,000 sqm which includes high bay pallet storage. Measuring 26 m at its highest point, it is one of the largest commercial facilities built in Horsens. Built adjacent to the existing warehouse with a bridge between them, the new facility - purpose-designed to house Dematic's automation solution - runs 21 hours a day, six days a week and serves over 400 dry goods orders a day. Approximately 130,000 cases are picked, packed, and distributed every day from the new system, with robotic systems handling a significant proportion of daily operations. The automation solution works to increase the delivery frequency of the 600 most popular products to the REMA 1000 grocery store franchisees and reduces overall costs by improving operational efficiency. "REMA 1000 has gone from strength to strength in recent years. Like everyone in the grocery space, REMA 1000 needs to invest now to stay ahead. This state-of-the-art automated warehouse we've created has provided the scalability and flexibility necessary for our business to achieve significant growth over the past decade, which is something we are incredibly proud of," says Thorsten Beck Hansen, Director of Sales, Nordics, at Dematic, Once complete, the new facility is expected to include automated pallet storage, automated case depalletising, buffering, a picking system, as well as semi-and fully automated palletising technology. The new warehouse facility is expected to commence operations by early 2023.