The Client
The client for this project is one of world’s largest international health and beauty retailers with over 16,500 stores in 28 markets, primarily in Asia and Europe including many well-known UK high street brands.
Their modern, advanced warehouses are the beating heart of their logistics operation in The Netherlands and Belgium and this project was based at their e-fulfilment centre which handles thousands of parcels every day.
The Challenge
The site was already operational, but the client was looking to improve the performance and capacity of the site by innovating a new solution to add to their existing manual picking process.
After detailed planning, engineering and analysis their decision was to implement a new robotics solution using goods-to-person robots. The Automated Mobile Robots (AMRs) would run on their existing mezzanine floor and so a new floor surface was required and Hi-Tile ticked all the boxes as the perfect solution.
The Criteria
The criteria for the new flooring needed to cover both short- and long-term goals for the client.
Short term, they had a tight deadline for follow on implementation of the robotics solution so the flooring needed to be available for delivery and installation within a very quick time frame.
Long term, Hi-Tile was chosen for its durability and, should it be required at a later date, the ability for individual tiles to be replaced as needed. This was a big factor in the decision on the floor covering that was chosen. The client could foresee the benefits of being able to replace tiles on high-traffic robot routes without large expense or the need for long periods of downtime where their operations would be disturbed.
Specifications
- Over 2700m2 of Light Grey Hi-Tile flooring with matching edging trim.
The Result
The installation of the Hi-Tile flooring was completed in December 2023 and following testing and implementation of the robotics systems, the new picking operation went live in April 2024.
More than a year on since installation and the tiles are performing perfectly with not one tile having had to be replaced even on ‘highways’ (the paths where the AMRs travel most frequently).
With an average of 300 orders picked per hour, per station and more than 90 robots running at any one time the benefits of the right flooring and robotics solution are proving to be a huge success.
Testimonial
“We are very pleased with how the Hi-Tile flooring is performing and are confident that our decision to opt for this solution will continue to be successful over the coming years.
The flooring was available within the timeframe required of our project and the installation team completed the works quickly and professionally.
We have been happy to recommend Hi-Level and this solution to other companies looking for a similar product.”
Project Coordinator, Supply Chain Development – Health & Beauty Retailer
