ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — WITRON announced its new SRS Shelf Replenishment System, which provides automatic shelf replenishment in retail stores.
"From a technical point of view, the new system is absolutely matured and a first pilot installation is on the way," said WITRON authorized signatory Ulrich Schlosser. WITRON is currently in contact with existing customers and a shelf producer, and the first practical use of SRS in a store is planned to start in 2009. The goal is to determine the acceptance by the end customer, the availability of the solution during the daily business, the reaction of the system on different situations of a shopping day, and the verification of profitability. "For us, this is the vision of expanding a mechanized supply chain through to the racks of a shop," said Schlosser.
All sales items in SRS are carried and pushed carefully by means of slat conveyors, belt conveyors or push-off devices. The goods are silently transported by shuttles in a replenishment aisle that is directly integrated into the shelf and therefore invisible to the customer. The sales front consists of passive shelves without sensor technology with a specific drive system. The shelf stock is automatically registered by means of a scanner that is located on the shuttle, allowing the system to directly determine the replenishment volume in the shelf. Replenishment is carried out by the system without human intervention and without the customer's awareness.
