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MAJ0R NEW LOGISTICS CENTRE FOR FINNISH SHOE MANUFACTURER

Finnish shoe manufacturer Urho Viljanmaa Oy in Jalasjärvi, suppliers of the Jalas® brand, has completed a major investment in a new, fully automated logistics system for the enhanced handling, storage and order picking of boxed shoes which is directly connected to their production line.

According to Kyösti Viljanmaa, Vice President of Urho Viljanmaa Oy; "The automatic storage and order picking system, delivered by Vesme Systems Oy of Kauhajoki, Finland, has been in full production in Jalasjärvi since autumn 2006 handling a daily output of 4000 pairs of shoes. It both carries stacks of shoeboxes directly from the production area to a designated section in the storage area and automatically picks the individual boxes of shoes required to fulfil each order. Conveyors then carry these selected shoes to the packing and dispatch area."

"The individual orders, which may be a single pair or many pairs of shoes, are visible on screen and the dispatch documents are printed out when the order is complete. The system delivered by Vesme has met all our demands and we are really satisfied with it," concludes Kyösti Viljanmaa

Storage by stack: Order-picking by box

Vesme Systems Oy were responsible for the design, manufacture, installation, electrification and data management capabilities of the entire centre at Urho Viljanmaa, which is believed to be the first of its kind operating in the shoe industry in Europe.

The Vesme system handles three different sizes of shoebox. Boxes are delivered to the storage area in stacks of identical boxes; when order picking, selected boxes are retrieved individually from the storage area. Identification data on the individual boxes coming from the production line are read and the storage program determines the vacant slot where they are to be stored. An unusual feature of the system is that shoebox picking takes place at the shelf location, but it is the stacker crane, which operates in the x, y and z axes, that sends the selected boxes to the collection lines for despatch. Data from the sales database controls the collection of the chosen boxes, which are carried by conveyor to the despatch department where the ID is double-checked prior to despatch.

Project management

The new logistics centre is housed in a building measuring 60m long x 15m wide x 15 metres high. The total length of the roller and belt conveyors is 600 metres and the installation also includes more than 300 electric motors. The system has a storage capacity of up to 140000 boxes.

The order was placed with Vesme by Urho Viljanmaa Oy; in the autumn of 2005 and installation commenced within 9 months - during the summer of 2006. The complete system was not only installed but also tested for potential system bugs and possible production bottlenecks and commissioned within the following 3 months

90 years of progress

Urho Viljanmaa Oy was founded in 1916 by the great-grandfather of the present managing director to produce footwear and it is still a family-run company . It was the first European shoe manufacturer to be awarded ISO 9001 certification. Today, the company specialises in sports shoes and the Evolution Collection of occupational and safety footwear employing the latest developments in materials technology and design.

Further information from:

VESME SYSTEMS Oy
Enontie 2
FIN-61850 Kauhajoki,
Finland
Tel: +358 20 7570400
Fax: +358 20 7570430
vesme@vesme.com
www.vesme.com