viastore SYSTEMS automates the new logistic center of Andrade Distribuidor in Alagoas

viastore SYSTEMS, a German multinational company that develops projects and manufactures automatized systems to warehouses and intralogistics processes, announces the delivery of the new automatized warehouse to Andrade Distribuidor, located in Arapiraca, state of Alagoas. The company has acted for 35 years in the market, and distributes cosmetics products to the states of Alagoas, Sergipe, and Pernambuco. Already thinking of automating, once it was facing problems in handling and storing products for not having a single picking line – it was subdivided in 3 lines, without an automatic input of boxes, Andrade Distribuidor wanted a new concept of facility.

Another critical point was the continuous replenishment of the picking lines, requiring greater effort of the night shift. The areas available for picking did not meet the demand, requiring manual replenishment and involving several people, delaying the departure of the vehicles on the previous day. Aiming to enhance the business and improve the service to the customer with support of innovation, Grupo Andrade, which the Distributor belongs to, looked for options in automation. In 2016, after knowing a company of the same segment in Brazil that was already benefiting from the automation, a visit of the company’s senior leadership to China in 2018 provided access to technologies that convinced to adopt the solution of viastore SYSTEMS.

“We had already had in our operation a conveyor system with picking by monitor, far from an ideal model to our operation. After the travel of our CEO, Celso Pessoa, to China, we reactivated the development of the project with systems and software that would be able to support our physical, market, and productive growth, with return on the tangible investment”, tells Thales Souza, Andrade’s Logistics manager.

The building of the logistics center, with an area of 8,294 m² and 14 meters of height, got a new organization of the material flows with viastore’s expertise. The operation was divided into full cases and units picking, which passed to be stored in a Miniload and pallet rack structures, moved in a combination of conveyors and sorters. The Distributor adopted as strategy to store and move high movers’ items (curve A) in the Miniload, the medium movers’ items in Flow Racks, and the low movers’ items in shelves, with manual picking. In 2023, more than 95% of the SKUs of cosmetic units within the cosmetic department represent 81% of the turnover. They are in the fully automated picking line, improving the processes and, consequently, providing higher agility and accuracy for Andrade’s orders and deliveries, increasing the distributor’s reliability before its customers.

viadat WMS system, developed by viastore SYSTEMS, controls the complete picking process of units and processes the orders according to Andrade’s business rules. viadat MFC controls the material flow on the conveyors. The orders released by viadat WMS follow through the conveyors for picking. Bar code readers and the picking by monitor support the picking process on the 24 stations, which are equipped with scales – such concept of picking on stations makes checking needless, since the products are read and weighted on every station.

“viastore used an exclusive methodology to design future scenarios based on the volume of orders, movements, types of load (full and unit), as well as profile of the distributor’s orders, and, thus, we understood and indicated the type of automation more consistent with the distribution center”, explains Emerson Lourenço, Operations Head of viastore SYSTEMS in Brazil.

With the initial gains the automation provided, Andrade Distribuidor absorbed 15% in the volume of sales in 2022 if compared with 2021. In addition to the increase of 22% in the first quarter of 2023 in relation to 2022, the collaborators ended up absorbed in such a process.

“We had a great experience with viastore in all stages of the process. The differential in service, the professional qualification, transparency in communication, and presentation of data were essential for the decision making, which arose out of a feeling of broad collaboration and trust between viastore and Andrade”, concluded Thales Souza, Andrade’s Logistics manager.

Andrade Distribuidor, company that is part of Andrade Group, started in 1988 acting in the State of Alagoas. Having the expansion to new markets as a target, they opened its first branch in Sergipe, in 2009. From 2018, it started its actuation in the state of Pernambuco, where today it has units in the cities of Caruaru, Petrolina, and Cabo de Santo Agostinho, serving the state from end to end.

Andrade is a sound, innovative company committed to the success of its clients. Its purpose is to optimize People, Business, and Regions, having as goal to lead in the market where it acts through transforming results in the business of its Customers, Suppliers, and in the Society.

It was based on the valuation of people, commitment, and social responsibility that Andrade has quickly and firmly advancing towards the success. Additionally, it uses all efforts looking for innovation, with the purpose of being increasingly more competitive, through the provision of a quality and differentiated serves always counting on the technology as an ally.

In 2022, through the compilation of the data informed by retail companies and distributors of the whole Brazil, which results in ABAD/Nielsen Ranking, ANDRADE DISTRIBUIDOR LTDA was elected the 3rd in Norhteast Ranking, the 9th in Brazil ranking, and for the 5th consecutive time as the “LARGEST RETAILER AND DISTRIBUTOR IN THE STATE OF ALAGOAS”.