Just outside Falkenberg, Södra has built and established its new facility. The facility covers an area of 7,500 m², of which 6,000 m² consists of a state-of-the-art freezer warehouse. Here, 40 million forest seedlings will be stored for approximately eight months before being delivered to Södra’s members and eventually enriching Sweden with new forests.
Why Radioshuttle™?
Södra's calculations indicate that electricity consumption will be reduced by up to 20% in the new premises, thanks to the efficient cold store solution with Radioshuttle™.
The storage capacity target was set at 13,000 pallet spaces, with the potential to expand by an additional 3,500 as demand grows.
When Södra's existing warehouse equipment was inspected, much of it was found to be in excellent condition. This allowed 75%, or 150 out of 200 tons, to be reused in the new installation.
Flexibility to handle varying volumes
Tailored facilities
In 2010, warehouse equipment, including standard racking and a Radioshuttle™ system, was delivered to Södra’s rented premises in Gislaved. Large parts of this storage system have now been relocated to Södra’s brand-new facility outside Falkenberg—a warehouse designed to serve Södra’s 52,000 members with top-quality forest seedlings.
“We felt the need to own our facilities and tailor them more specifically to our operations. Before deciding to build a new site, we conducted a study to determine the best location for ensuring the delivery of strong and healthy seedlings to our members. It quickly became clear that Falkenberg was the optimal choice. By placing our new warehouse here, we would achieve significant synergies—reducing transportation significantly while also improving quality control by having both the nursery and storage in the same location,” says Tord Barone, Logistics and Marketing Manager at Södra.
FILO principle
Planning from the inside out
When planning the new facility, the focus was on warehouse management, flexibility, and the working environment.
“We started from the inside out. That is, by designing our warehouse down to the smallest detail to achieve the highest possible efficiency and flexibility. A top priority was also to create a good and safe working environment for our employees. To a large extent, our warehouse is based on FILO, meaning that the plants that are loaded in first are the ones that come out last. We begin loading the plants into the freezer in week 44 and continue delivering plants until week 13.
We also need flexibility to handle varying volumes of different plant varieties. We solved this by enabling loading from both ends of certain warehouse shelves, which gives us great flexibility,” says Marcus Eklund, Lead Project Manager at Södra Byggprojekt.
“We conducted thorough research on the available market solutions for warehouse interiors that could meet these requirements and concluded that EAB, which supplied the warehouse in Gislaved, could also provide an excellent solution for the needs of our new warehouse.”
75% reused warehouse equipment
“We inspected the racking system in Gislaved and found that approximately 75% of the equipment was still in nearly new condition. This meant we could reuse 150 out of a total of 200 tons of equipment. We dismantled the racking, replaced any damaged parts—mainly the front uprights on the pallet racks—and made necessary modifications, such as extending the height of existing uprights by one meter due to the higher ceilings in the new premises.
We then supplemented the system with new racking and additional Radioshuttle™ machines to meet the storage capacity target. Initially, this involved 13,000 pallet spaces, with the potential to expand by another 3,500 if needed,” says Daniel Eliasson, Project Manager for Södra’s project at Radioshuttle™.
+ 3,500
extra pallets if needed
Cold storage for better control and quality
Freezing forest seedlings in this way is an efficient method for maintaining full control over the supply chain. Providing seedlings with the right conditions from the start ensures they are of the highest quality when delivered for reforestation.
“Forest seedlings are stored frozen during the winter season to enable efficient logistics and ensure the delivery of strong, healthy plants throughout the spring. By lowering the temperature to around -4°C, we eliminate conditions for fungal infections and other risks. Demand for forest seedlings from our members is high, and we expect it to continue growing. Our new freezer warehouse allows us to expand while maintaining quality and control, ensuring that we can supply even more and even better seedlings to our members up until delivery and planting,” says Tord.
More green advantages
In addition to reusing existing warehouse systems and significantly reducing transportation between the nursery and storage, the new facility offers several other environmental benefits.
“Another important goal with our new warehouse was to make it as energy-efficient as possible, which is crucial given the large area—approximately 6,000 m²—that needs to be kept at freezing temperatures for about eight months a year. Our calculations indicate that electricity consumption will be reduced by up to 20% in the new premises. We have also installed solar panels adjacent to the building,” says Marcus, adding:
We are incredibly pleased with the end result, and the facility is now one of Sweden’s most modern warehouses for this type of operation. We have already received inquiries about study visits from both within and outside our industry, from organizations interested in our approach to warehouse layout and efficient space utilization. Radioshuttle™ has been highly responsive and proactive throughout the project, creating a great working relationship. Adjustments and changes always arise along the way, but the entire process has gone very smoothly.
