BEYOND THE BUILD: Designing the Next Gen Warehouse
AUTOMATION ON A ROLL West Liberty Foods recently launched a line of pre-assembled deli sandwiches. To streamline distribution, the company integrated its state-of-the-art automated sandwich production line directly into the Tremonton, Utah facility of Lineage Inc., a logistics provider. The integration enables a smooth ow of raw materials into the automated production operation, as well as the ef cient movement of nished products into refrigerated distribution. This is the next generation of a partnership between the companies that started 20 years ago. Lineage inventories the meats, cheeses, and breads that West Liberty uses in its sandwiches. As orders enter West Liberty’s ERP system, they’re transmitted to the Lineage warehouse management system, which then knows which ingredients to move to production. Once a nished goods pallet is full, it rolls on a conveyor directly to Lineage’s cold storage facility, with no driving, loading, or unloading required. “A 15-foot conveyor takes the pallet away from our plant and it’s automatically in Lineage’s site,” says Brandon Achen, president, West Liberty. In addition to the ef ciency boost, employees gain new skills as they learn to operate and maintain the technology. The circular product ow removes legs of the supply chain and helps in labor planning, says Timothy Blazek, head of business development, east region, with Lineage. Two keys to the solution’s success are ensuring that all systems talk to each other and that employees understand how the systems work. Achen and his team worked closely with the equipment manufacturers so that the computerized technology, which sends multiple signals to different nodes and leverages algorithms across the solution, works ef ciently and effectively. The West Liberty team spent about two months training, testing, and debugging the line before ever making a sandwich, Achen says. They also budgeted for a six- month, phased ramp up. boost, learn to technology. removes in Blazek, east success are each understand his equipment computerized
A strategic partnership integrates West Liberty's food manufacturing with Lineage's cold storage, aiming for eciency and enhanced supply chain resilience in producing pre-assembled deli sandwiches.
BETTING ON A WES Codale Electric Supply had been successful in the Las Vegas market. Further growth would require increasing both service levels and product availability, says Blair Healey, supply chain implementation manager with Sonepar, Codale’s parent company. Codale worked with Kardex, a global partner for intralogistics solutions, to consolidate its three distribution
centers in Las Vegas into one facility that ts about 10,000 SKUs into 5,500 square feet, or about one- fth the previous space. The new distribution center, located just off the Las Vegas strip, supports both bulk replenishment and same-day, will- call orders. “These are low-forecasting, quick-turnaround orders,” Healey says. Electricians walk in and typically wait while their orders are lled.
Codale Electric Supply partnered with Kardex to implement an advanced AutoStore goods-to-person system at their new Las Vegas distribution center. This automation, driven by Kardex FulfillX software, significantly improves picking times, accuracy, and operational eciency.
34 Inbound Logistics • May 2026
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