Warehouse automation extends life of cheese DC by a decade

Innovation is the pillar of Sargento Foods. As one of the largest cheese manufacturers in the United States, the family-owned company has introduced America to a range of products over the last 65 years. Originally specializing in Italian cheese varieties, Sargento has continued to diversify its product offering, pioneering pre-sliced cheese, vacuum packaging, resealable packaging, and production of shredded cheese and shredded cheese blends.

It’s no surprise that in addition to pride in product innovation, Sargento is continuously working to improve operational processes—most recently implementing warehouse automation to support storage and distribution.

The storage and distribution of cheese can be a complicated process. Challenged further by rising demand and warehouse constraints, Sargento knew they needed a better solution to extend the life of their current distribution center and increase capacity.

“One of the challenges we were facing was the amount of expansion we needed within our distribution center and the amount of storage needed to support our growth,” says Bruce Wisnefske, director of advanced manufacturing operations at Sargento. “Another challenge was implementing the system in an existing facility.”

With nearly 60% of the warehouse operations revolving around layer picking and full pallet handling, the cheese manufacturer needed a system that could support both. It also needed to be implemented without stopping operations or creating a gap in order fulfillment.

Sargento worked with an integrator (Westfalia Technologies) to develop a two-phased approach that achieved these goals. Phase 1 included building and installing an automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) by adding a conventionally constructed high-rise cooler. In Phase 2, a conventional, low bay AS/RS, layer picking system, and order staging system was installed in the space previously occupied by the inventory now stored in the high-bay AS/RS. The entire solution is run by Westfalia’s Savanna.NET warehouse execution system (WES).

“With the warehouse execution system, Westfalia provided a one-stop solution that automates and controls order handling within the distribution center,” says Wisnefske. “Savanna.NET controls our fulfillment, the pick missions, and getting all materials to the order staging area so that it’s prepared and ready for trucks.”

With the addition of Westfalia’s automation solution, not only has Sargento increased the storage density of its warehouse, but Wisnefske said they have extended the life of their current DC by up to a decade. By coupling AS/RS technology with production, Sargento was also able to eliminate manual pallet handling labor and the need for case picking.

Additionally, the installation of the AS/RS dramatically increased floor space in the existing warehouse. Now, Sargento can turn trucks much faster on the loading docks and ensure product is not handled manually until loading.

“Our warehousing operations were dated, and we needed to look toward the future to prepare for growth,” says Matt Schaub, senior manager of logistics at Sargento. “Westfalia’s automation solution has provided us with the warehouse capacity to sustain our long-term growth.”