Ospelt Food Sargans Cold Storage Automation

Project Overview

Ospelt Food AG, a leading food manufacturer founded in 1958 as a family business, operates five branches across Switzerland and Germany with headquarters in Sargans. The company employs approximately 2,000 people across the organization, with 320 working at the Sargans location. As a food industry company focused on continuous improvement of internal processes, Ospelt faced challenges with their manual forklift-based material handling systems.

The increasing efficiency of production facilities created bottlenecks in the flow of goods through the existing manual solution, necessitating an automated approach to material handling. A critical requirement for Ospelt was maintaining the cold chain integrity, which plays a crucial role in food industry operations particularly for temperature-sensitive products.

The company decided to partner with GEBHARDT to optimize pallet transport to cold storage facilities, addressing both efficiency improvements and cold chain maintenance requirements in their food production operations.

Technical Solution

AGV System Implementation

GEBHARDT implemented an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system that convinced Ospelt with its efficient space utilization and faster, more efficient operation compared to the previous forklift-based solution. The system includes enclosed AGV designs that enhance transport safety while meeting food industry requirements.

Key Features

The AGV system provides efficient space utilization compared to traditional forklift operations, optimizing facility layout while enabling faster and more efficient material transport throughout the multi-floor production environment.

The transfer area between uncooled and cooled storage zones with refrigerated product prioritization ensures uninterrupted cold chain maintenance, addressing one of the most critical requirements in food industry logistics.

The enclosed AGV design enhances transport safety while meeting food industry hygiene standards, providing protected material movement that minimizes contamination risks in food production areas.

Results & Benefits

Manual forklift-based processes have been successfully replaced with automated AGV transport, addressing the bottleneck created by increased production facility efficiency that could no longer be handled by manual solutions.

Uninterrupted cold chain maintenance has been achieved through the specialized transfer area design and transport prioritization system, ensuring food safety and quality standards are maintained throughout material movement.

Continuous process improvement goals have been met through the implementation of faster, more efficient transport compared to forklift operations, supporting Ospelt's commitment to operational excellence in food manufacturing.

Challenges & Solutions

The challenge of manual forklift-based processes being unable to handle increased production facility efficiency was addressed through the implementation of GEBHARDT's AGV system, which provides more efficient space utilization and faster operational capabilities.

Maintaining cold chain integrity during product transport was solved through the design of a specialized transfer area between temperature zones with prioritization of refrigerated products, ensuring temperature-sensitive items maintain proper conditions throughout the logistics process.

System Integrator

GEBHARDT served as the system integrator, supporting Ospelt from the sales phase through planning and realization of the automated transport solution. The joint solution development process was described as a great experience by Ospelt, with collaborative problem-solving addressing specific requirements like temperature zone transfers and transport prioritization. The partnership successfully delivered a system that meets food industry standards while improving operational efficiency in cold chain logistics.