AutoStore Powers Global Growth for Sonepar

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Sonepar is a global, family-owned company that dominates the B2B electrical distribution market and reached €33.3 billion in sales in 2023 while serving customers across 40 countries through 80 different brands.

The company operates an extensive network of 2,400 branches and 180 distribution centers worldwide, employing 45,000 people who distribute electrical products, solutions, and services to industrial, construction, and utility customers. In North America, their largest market, Sonepar has been rapidly expanding through strategic acquisitions, recently adding 89 branches to their operations.

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Sonepar implemented 12 flexible and scalable AutoStore systems with plans to expand to over 20 systems globally. These systems can grow with Sonepar's needs while minimizing energy consumption. The company can now consistently meet demanding service levels, including same-day delivery, without compromising their sustainable business practices.

The Challenge: Competition and Demanding Service Levels

Sonepar faced the challenge of maintaining its competitive edge in the B2B electric distribution market by ensuring same-day delivery and high service levels across multiple regions. The unique market demands of Switzerland, including night delivery bans for trucks, required strategic warehouse automation to improve efficiency and flexibility.

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Beyond immediate delivery challenges, Sonepar needed to find ways to scale its operations efficiently while staying true to its sustainability commitments. The company required a solution that could standardize operations across its global network, reduce energy consumption, and provide the flexibility to adapt to varying market demands — all while maintaining the high service levels their B2B customers expected.

The Solution: Automated Efficiency

AutoStore is the heart of Sonepar’s automated warehouses, integrating seamlessly with conveyor systems, robotic picking arms, and palletizing solutions for an efficient, end-to-end fulfillment process. In this case study we highlight two sites - one located in Zurich and one close to Berlin:

• Grid and Robots: There are 55,000 Bins managed by 70 Robots in Zürich, and 60,000 Bins with 54 Robots in Berlin.
• Ports (workstations): There are 12 Ports in Zürich, including transfer Ports for inbound processes, and 40 Ports in Berlin, including 32 ConveyorPorts for inbound and 8 CarouselPorts for outbound.
• Integration: AutoStore seamlessly integrates with various technologies, including Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), robotic picking arms, automated carton folding, and palletizing, to create a fully automated, paperless workflow.
• Scalability and flexibility: AutoStore offers easy expansion capabilities, integrating with Sonepar's existing infrastructure. Sonepar can expand its operations knowing that it will enjoy the same impressive uptime and performance.

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Key Benefits: Efficiency and Service Excellence

The implementation of AutoStore delivered significant improvements across Sonepar's operations, enabling scalability and enhancing service levels globally:

• Service excellence: Consistent same-day delivery capabilities with 24/7 operations.
• Zero downtime: Sonepar has never had a day where any of the AutoStore systems have had a full stop.‍
• Performance optimization: Processing capacity of 1,200 order lines per hour for the Zurich system, enabling rapid order fulfillment.
• ‍Sustainability: Energy-efficient system powered by on-site solar panels that meet 80% of energy requirements. Ten AutoStore Robots combined consume the same amount of electricity as a single household vacuum cleaner, highlighting their exceptional efficiency.‍
• Future-ready operations: Easy system expansion to accommodate growing inventory and operations without compromising service quality.‍
• Technology integration: Seamless connection with existing WMS, conveyors, and other robotic systems for complete warehouse automation.‍
• Employee wellbeing: Reduced physical strain and improved workplace safety leading to higher job satisfaction.‍
• Global Scalability: Supports Sonepar’s strategic growth with over 20 planned installations worldwide.

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AutoStore Drives Sonepar's Growth Strategy

Sonepar's partnership with AutoStore has transformed their warehouse operations, delivering substantial improvements in both service capabilities and employee satisfaction. Benjamin Ertl, SVP Supply Chain at Sonepar Switzerland, highlights this: "The workplace is much more comfortable, and also, from a safety perspective, it's really safe to work with the AutoStore solution instead of walking in a manual warehouse. Therefore, people are really happy to work here."

The system's reliability and adaptability have proven crucial for Sonepar's expansion plans. "The AutoStore system is really reliable and flexible also in terms of maintenance," notes Ertl. Looking to the future, he emphasizes the system's role in Sonepar's global strategy: "In the future, we will have more than 20 AutoStore installations globally.”

This scalability and flexibility allows Sonepar to maintain their competitive edge by expanding their operations without compromising delivery quality or their commitment to sustainability.

Project Specifications

Zürich:

• ‍Installation type: Greenfield‍
• Robots: 70 Robots‍
• Workstations (Ports): 12 (TransferPorts)‍
• Bins: 55,000 Bins‍
• Integrated technology: Robotic Picking Arm, Automated Carton Folding Machine, Pick-to-light‍

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Berlin:

• ‍Installation type: Greenfield‍
• Robots: 54 Robots‍
• Workstations (Ports): 40 (32 ConveyorPorts; 8 CarouselPorts)‍
• Bins: 60,000 Bins‍
• Integrated technology: Robot Palletizing‍