Novità

Finland's leading grocery chain opens the first micro-fulfillment center in the Pirkanmaa Region – developed by Swisslog

23.08.2024

Pirkanmaa Cooperative Society (Pirkanmaan Osuuskauppa), a regional cooperative of the Finnish S Group, opened the first micro-fulfillment center (MFC) for online grocery shopping in the Pirkanmaa Region, in August 2024.

The center has beendeveloped in cooperation with Swisslogand has been built from scratch, next to the Prisma hypermarket, entirely based on the principles of automation.

»The center utilizes the Prisma hypermarket’s infrastructure. Products from the basic selection will becollected from the warehouse with the assistance of robots, and the order will be supplemented, if necessary, with products from the adjacent Prisma hypermarket, such as fresh food, bakery items, frozen products, and daily consumer goods. Robots make the collection process more efficient and faster by rapidly bringing the products to the warehouse staff. However, employees will continue to ensure the quality of the products and pack the order for pick-up,« says Ville Jylhä, COO of the Pirkanmaa Cooperative Society.

The center serves customers in the Pirkanmaa Region withincreasing demand foronline grocery shopping, which grew by 27 percent last year compared to the year before. In the first half of 2024, sales have increased by almost 30 percent from the previous year. For the customers, the center will meanmore order time slots and faster deliveries.

»The new center will enable us to double our online grocery sales capacity compared with last year. In recent years, across the S Group, we have systematically invested in the development of online grocery shopping to meet customers’ needs. I believe there will be demand forat least two new micro-fulfillment centers in the region in the near future. Buying food online is undoubtedly a simple way to make daily life easier,« says Ville Jylhä.

Swisslog, a pioneer in market-proven e-grocery and automated order fulfillment solutions, has delivered Pirkanmaa Cooperative Society’s automation solution.

»We are very happy that Pirkanmaa Osuuskauppa chose us as a partner for their first micro-fulfillment center. Our work has gone according to plan, and we look forward to thecontinued operation of this innovative and efficient facility,« says Tero Mäki, Sales Manager, Swisslog.

The new center is 1,400 m² and consists of 40AutoStore-robots, employing around 50 people in various roles. With this solution, e-grocery deliveries will be faster, more precise, and much more efficient.