PHS Innovate and Automha Americas Partners with Talley’s for a Fully Automated Cold Storage Facility

Talley’s initially approached PHS Innovate to design and implement automated solutions for a new frozen goods warehouse, PHS then turned to Automha Americas for assistance on the full pallet storage and retrieval portion of the project. For Tally’s, moving to a fully automated cold store facility was the next logical step, even though the resulting fully automated cold store was a first in the Southern Hemisphere.

PHS Innovate was responsible for the overall project management and implementation of the automated frozen goods warehouse. This included overseeing the design and configuration of the automated handling system.

Automha Americas worked with PHS Innovate to design and implement a system that scans wrapped and labelled pallets and delivers the information in real time to Talley’s inventory system. The PHS/Automha Americas system stores pallets based on batch and date code for optimized future retrieval as well as maximizing the system’s utilization.

When the product is required, Talley’s inventory system communicates with Automha America’s automated handling system to request specific pallets. The automated pallet storage and retrieval system then retrieves and delivers the requested pallets to a designated area for dispatch.

The automated frozen goods warehouse at Talley’s provides numerous benefits, including:

• Increased efficiency: The system has automated many of the manual tasks involved in the warehouse, freeing up staff to focus on other tasks.
• Improved accuracy: Error rates have significantly reduced because of the automated scanning and profiling of loads.
• Reduced costs: The system has helped reduce labor costs and other operating expenses.
• Improved safety: The system has helped to improve safety by eliminating the need for staff to work in manual handling roles.

The PHS/Automha Americas system provides over 9,200 pallet locations of finished products. Operating entirely unmanned and forklift-free, the new system works 24/7 and has given Talley’s the ability to utilize the cold store space fully.

Tally’s Cold Store System specifications

• 6-level high storage design
• Automha Americas -AutoSatMovers/SuperCap on each level
• Each level can be locked out independently from the other 5 levels, allowing for safe maintenance or other personnel interactions, while the remainder of the system operates.
• Multiple vertical pallet elevators transfer loads to and from all levels and provide built-in redundancy
• Automha Americas Warehouse management (AWMS) system integrates directly with Talley’s ERP system
• Remote access is available, allowing PHS technicians to make adjustments remotely, saving time and money.