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Aug 27, 2020 at 7:00 AMSwisslog AG supports its customer, the online retailer Competec/BRACK.CH, even during an extraordinary growth phase. To manage the high demand since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, a system of three AutoStore facilities was quickly expanded.
(Buchs/AG) The Swisslog customer Competec/BRACK.CH is an online retailer in Switzerland experiencing disproportionate growth. The Corona pandemic has significantly increased business once again. To meet the demand, a system of three AutoStore facilities was expanded in a very short time.
Covid-19 has further fueled sales and thus enormously increased logistics needs: The Competec Group, headquartered in Mägenwil, Aargau, is considered the most successful independent e-commerce company in Switzerland and has been a customer of Swisslog AG, Buchs, for many years. After the initial installation of the then world’s largest AutoStore facility in 2012 by the Swiss logistics automation provider, a second and a third AutoStore system have followed, which together offer 375,380 container storage locations and are operated by 318 robots. To meet the current pandemic-related order boom, this capacity has now been further expanded by 40,000 containers and 48 robots – an investment of 1.65 million Swiss francs (around 1.53 million euros).
Robots Operational 14 Days After Order
“I have been in online retail since 1994, but I have never experienced a situation like this,” says Roland Brack, founder and owner of Competec, emphasizing, “I am very glad that Swisslog supported us so quickly and enabled us to meet the extraordinary demand.” Within just fourteen days after the order was placed in March, new robots were already deployed in the existing system. And in a period of only three months, the complete expansion of the third AutoStore facility, including grid, containers, and workstations, was operational. Go-live was in June of this year.
“It was a personal concern for us to help quickly and straightforwardly to maintain Competec’s special delivery capability, especially during Corona times,” says Daniel Hauser, Head of Region Central Europe & Middle East at Swisslog. Services such as the guarantee of next-day delivery if ordered by 5:00 PM the day before should remain in place.
“I am very glad that Swisslog supported us so quickly and enabled us to meet the extraordinary demand.” Roland Brack, Founder of Competec / BRACK.CH
Roland Brack, whose company started in 1994 and has rapidly risen over the years, enjoys a high reputation in Switzerland. He is considered a pioneer in e-commerce and logistics, currently counts among the investors for promising startups in the Swiss version of the TV format “Dragons’ Den,” and will be inducted as a new member into the “Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame” in 2021.
Long-standing Fruitful Partnership
Competec and Swisslog share, according to Hauser, a long-standing fruitful partnership that is an important pillar in the growth story of the online retailer. The Competec Group generates 811 million Swiss francs (around 763 million euros) annually (as of 2019). It sells over 200,000 products to more than 725,000 private and business customers – primarily through its online shop Brack.ch, including for the areas of IT & Multimedia, Household & Living, Supermarket & Drugstore, or Sports & Leisure.
Photo: © Swisslog
