New Generation of Material Flow

V-ZUG

V-ZUG Kühltechnik AG, developer and manufacturer of refrigeration appliances and part of the successful V-ZUG Group, has built a new production facility for refrigerators of all heights and dimensions at its Sulgen site in Switzerland. With the new building in Sulgen, V-ZUG aimed to usher in the era of Industry 4.0 at every level for its entire material flow. The GEBHARDT Intralogistics Group accompanied the development process from the first sketch to the final overall system and realised two intralogistics systems for the new plant.

The plan that V-ZUG formulated for the new building sounded at first like a challenge that would be very difficult to solve. They were looking for a partner who could deliver the high-bay warehouse project with storage and retrieval machines (SRM) for production supply, as well as the conveyor technology and automated guided vehicle (AGV) project for quality control and packaging - processes that had previously been carried out purely manually.

GEBHARDT Reference V-ZUG

Future-proof intralogistics thanks to digitalisation and Industry 4.0

High-bay warehouse and SRM project for production supply

The first system created is a four-aisle high-bay warehouse 51 m long, 31 m wide and 16 m high. On eight levels with different pallet heights, it offers approx. 4,700 pallet spaces. The warehouse has two separate racking pre-zones and a curve-going storage and retrieval machine that can change aisles and thus approach all four.

Project conveyor and AGV for quality control and packaging

The second system consists of a quality inspection zone for refrigerators and a subsequent packaging zone. Both the development of the AGV concept and that of the inspection stations were carried out in close cooperation between V-ZUG and GEBHARDT, whereby the user requirements were worked out and integrated in the best possible way. The stationary conveyor technology from GEBHARDT transports the refrigerators into the test room and transfers them there to five GEBHARDT KARIS ® automated guided vehicles (AGVs).

Conclusion

Thanks to the two systems and the perfect coordination of these with the connecting conveyor technology, V-ZUG has acquired an enhanced, automated solution that has improved the flow of their processes and significantly increased storage and capacities per square metre. The optimisation of costs and the enormous reduction in the workload of the employees, especially in quality control, are further benefits of the solution.

„V-ZUG Kühltechnik AG decided in favor of GEBHARDT Fördertechnik because we found a partner with whom we could develop a customized concept together.“

Clay Hadzic, Head of Operational Excellence

GEBHARDT Implements Future-Oriented Intralogistics Systems for New V-ZUG Location in Sulgen

V-ZUG Kühltechnik AG, developer and manufacturer of refrigerators and part of the successful V-ZUG Group, built a new production site for refrigerators of all heights and dimensions at the Swiss location Sulgen. The GEBHARDT Intralogistics Group accompanied the development process from the first sketch to the overall production system and realised two intralogistics systems for the new plant.