In Växjö, Sweden, Atea ASA is building a new site for their life cycle management, distribution, and production. Atea has witnessed growing volumes and expects continued growth, meaning larger and more modern premises are necessary to make the lifecycle management, distribution, and production more flexible and efficient. Atea has selected a KNAPP OSR Shuttle system to meet these demands.

Atea is the leading Nordic and Baltic supplier of IT infrastructure and one of the top five distributors of IT products from global vendors. Atea has 6,900 employees and 87 offices in the Nordic region and the Baltics. Besides being a large distributor of IT products, Atea’s operations also include an innovative configuration and recycling business which gives them a unique position within this field.

With the KNAPP solution consisting of an OSR Shuttle, Atea will benefit from an agile and fast distribution process, and at the same time be able to support recycling and configuration.

Goods will be stored triple-deep in plastic totes in the OSR Shuttle solution, all smoothly handled at decanting stations before being transported automatically into the OSR Shuttle. The Pick-it-Easy work stations guide the picker intuitively, preventing errors. Being able to pick into both paper cartons and plastic totes ensures maximum flexibility. If an article (from the supplier) is already in a high-quality carton and ready for distribution, these will be transported directly to dispatch, thereby saving a lot of effort involved in packing as well as material.

These workstations will be used for picking to distribution as well as for serving the production area with material, as required.

Packing can take place at the Pick-it-Easy stations (with low flows of goods, mainly) and also in a separate packing area. Goods can then be packed both manually and semi-automatically using automatic carton-closing equipment for handling both smaller and larger packages. A transport label is applied automatically and the goods are then sorted automatically to the right dispatch ramp.

The recycling and configuration production area will receive material quickly from the OSR Shuttle as and when it is needed and can also return the material or store it for later use. This makes production incredibly agile, with possibilities for reloading and quick retrieval of goods from the OSR Shuttle system.

Ulf Henrikson, Sales Manager for Group Sales at KNAPP Nordics: “Together with the Atea team, we have developed a highly-efficient and expandable automation solution based on the specific requirements of Atea. We are looking forward to the successful implementation of this project and a long-lasting partnership.”

Niklas Lundström, Logistics Manager at Atea points out, “We have really appreciated KNAPP’s efforts as a very flexible supplier as we looked to find the optimal solution for Atea. When we build our new cutting-edge logistics centre, it is important for us to work with the very best. We want to benefit from technology and services from market and technological leaders in logistics. This is why we have chosen KNAPP as our partner.”

The startup of the new central warehouse is scheduled for early in the 2^nd quarter of 2019.

KNAPP AB
KNAPP AB is located in Åstorp, part of a group that works with world-leading technology and operates internationally in warehouse automation and warehouse logistics. We are a team of around 130 employees. Globally, the KNAPP Group consists of 3,400 employees across 35 offices. KNAPP supports customers around the world.