Mercadona has opened a logistics platform in Huevar

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Mercadona has opened a logistics
platform in Huevar (Seville), from where
it supplies its supermarkets in Seville,
Huelva, Cadiz, Badajoz and the Canary
Islands. The centre combines drive-in
and conventional pallet racking systems
(at room and freezing temperatures),
with a roll docking system for high
turnover products.
A LOGISTICS
CENTRE FOR
46,000 PALLETS
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LOGISTICS PLATFORM
T
he supermarket chain Mercadona has invested
60 million euros in the construction of a new
logistics centre in Huevar (Seville) which currently
supplies one hundred shops which the company owns in
Seville, Huelva, Cadiz, Badajoz and the Canary Islands.
The new facility has more than 77,000 m2 of built-on
surface area, most of which is taken up by warehouses
dedicated to the different types of products sold by the
company in its network of supermarkets: frozen, refrigerated and non-perishable products, along with fish,
meat and fruit and vegetables. A bread manufacturing
line, not yet in operation, and a free 641m2 kindergarten
for the worker's children complete the new infrastructure of the Valencian firm in Andalusia.
The warehouse for non-perishable products, with
approximately 39,500 m2 has a new storage system: roll
docking, which enables it to speed up the management
of the 67 products with the highest turnover in
When deciding which storage system to install,
the main factors taken into account were
the days which goods are to be stocked,
the product turnover, the handling methods
and the temperatures required
Mercadona. With this type of docking, the haulier deposits the pallets from the suppliers directly on one of the
67 roller conveyors (one for each product) which run
along the width of part of the non-perishable products
warehouse. The roller conveyors function in sections so
that the haulier can operate them in order to leave new
pallets just behind those which are already stored. At
the other end of the conveyors are the dispatch bays:
the products go from the lorry to the roller conveyors
and, from here they are sent to the dispatch docking
area where the orders are prepared.
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In the rest of the non-perishable products warehouse,
the flows of goods are also lineal, so all the routes are as
short and fast as possible. Next to the roll docking area
there is an area for placing half pallets with 553 lanes of
drive-in racking with five load levels. This facility
houses references which are also of high turnover and
which are not handled in any way (they are served
complete to the shops).
Next to the drive-in racking, the products of medium
turnover are stored. These are organised in two distinct
areas; one for reserves and one for picking. Preparation
is carried out here with order picker machines equipped
with a radio frequency terminal, while storage and
replenishment is carried out with VNA turret trucks
which can reach up to metres high. In this facility
6,000 references are stored in conventional pallet racks
(77 aisles) with six load levels and a total capacity for
33,000 pallets (two per storage space of racking).
Finally, in the area for low turnover products (cosmetics
and spare parts, among others) the company also has an
area of tray racking with three vertical paternoster
carousels.
Refrigerated warehouses
The warehouse of perishable products, which needs to be
maintained at a controlled temperature, has around
33,000 m2 of surface area divided into five areas: refrigerated, frozen, fish, meat and fruit and vegetables. The
warehouse houses 600 references and has 39 loading and
unloading bays, through which 800 pallets are moved a
day.
The warehouse for refrigerated products occupies a surface area of 9,000 m2 distributed in two large interconnected chambers which are kept at a temperature of
between 0º and 5º (cold meats and milk products) and between 10º and 14º (bakery and hams, among others).
A total of 1,300 references are stored here. With respect to
reception, the goods are identified with a barcode and
their entry is confirmed by radio frequency. Then, they are
stored in the warehouse. In order not to break the cold
chain, the dispatch area is kept at a temperature of 5º.
From this warehouse, which has 15 loading and unloading bays, 450 pallets are dispatched a day. The frozen food warehouse, for its part, has 5,000 m2 and 400
references (ice-creams, frozen vegetables and fish,
etc.) distributed in four load levels of conventional pallet racking (the two lower levels are for picking). It is a
single space and is maintained at -23º. There are seven
loading bays, several of which are used for reception
and are connected with conveyor belts. In function of
the turnover of the product, the computer system
indicates the conveyor to be used. The bays used for
dispatch communicate, in turn, with two exit conveyors.
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LOGISTICS PLATFORM
In this warehouse electric pallet trucks, opus (radio
frequency order collectors) and reflex (acclimatised
locator machines) are used. 220 pallets are dispatched
from the frozen food warehouse a day.
Zero stock in fish and meat
In the warehouses for fish, meat and fruit and vegetables, which in total occupy a surface area of 10,700
m2, the zero stock method is followed, that is, every day
the only goods which enter are those that are to be sent
to the shops. Thus, as goods are received from the sup-
pliers, these are prepared through an aisle "sweep"
system and are placed in the dispatch area. The warehouse for fish (1,000 m2) serves 80 pallets in a single
working shift (from ten in the evening to six in the
morning) and, after dispatch, the premises are cleaned
and disinfected. For its part, the warehouses for meat,
and fruit and vegetables serve an average of 250 and
375 pallets a day, respectively.
Logistics network
Mercadona has five logistics platforms, located in
Ribarroja (Valencia), Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (Barcelona),
Antequera (Malaga) San Isidro (Alicante) and Huevar
(Seville). The company's logistics network is complete
with five satellites warehouses, located in Getafe
(Madrid), Mercapalma (Palm), Güimar (Tenerife), Hospital de Órbigo (Leon) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
(Gran Canaria). The Valencian firm has plans to open
three new logistics centres, one in Ciempozuelos
(Madrid), another in Villadangos de Páramo (Leon) and
a third centre in Grandilla de Abona (Tenerife).
The Huevar centre was set up in stages between May and
July 2004. In order to decide which storage system to
install, the main factors taken into account were the
days for which goods are to be stocked, the product
turnover, the handling methods and the temperatures
required. The traffic of lorries in the facility is currently
around 300 vehicles a day, but in the future this will rise
to 600.
Mercadona closed the 2004 fiscal year with 862 supermarkets, distributed throughout Spain, and a workforce of
49,600 permanent employees. Last year, the company invoiced more than 8,770 million euros and earned an
approximate net profit of 153 million euros.
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