The Swiss Association for Temperature-Controlled Logistics' visit to the "cheese bunker" of Fromco SA in Moudon involved a great deal of knowledge and know-how transfer, an overview of the Lean & Green initiative and the robotization of cheese ripening and storage.
Switzerland exported 74,000 tons of cheese in 2023, representing a turnover of 705 million Swiss francs. Of this, 15,000 tons, as SVTL Managing Director Christian Pauli outlines the overall economic share, was Gruyère – an increase of 7% compared to the previous year. 45 dairies supply Fromco in Moudon, which was 60% acquired by Emmi in 2003/2004.
Careful maintenance: washing, styling, cleaning
In the former brewery cellar, whose environment—with a constant temperature of 12 to 14 degrees Celsius and 92 to 96% humidity—proved ideal for the care and careful maturation of cheese over 100 years ago through the collaboration of several family businesses and local cheese dairies, up to 150,000 of the hefty wheels of cheese are now cared for in 2 km of sandstone caves covering 20,000 square meters. This involves weighing, storing, turning at least once a week in their storage location, brushing with salt water, random taste tests, and then removing them from storage after up to nine months of maturation. The caves have been expanded and renovated several times.
After a briefing by operations manager Christian Zürcher, the approximately two dozen SVTL visitors participating in the excursion were greeted by a pungent odor upon passing through the entrance area. A single wheel of Gruyère cheese, the size of a wagon wheel and weighing 35 kg, consumes 2 to 8 liters of oxygen per day. In return, it produces 2 to 8 liters of ammonia and CO2.
An "emission value" that – although not up for further discussion here – also brings to mind other gaseous waste products that are causing headaches in connection with the global climate debate. Globally, humanity produces a surplus of 16.9 billion tons of CO2 – Switzerland a comparatively marginal 35 million tons (with a good prognosis for actually achieving the "net-zero target" by 2050 through hydropower and proactive energy supply). This prompts a brief segment with Tim Robel from GS1, who will present data and facts on the "Lean & Green" initiative, which GS1 manages in Switzerland, and repeatedly highlight remarkable CO2 savings achieved by well-known companies in the transport sector.
EXV SF 20: The journey is the destination
Internally, however, the focus at the cheese bunker in Moudon is less on climate issues and the all-encompassing aroma in the caves, but rather on the demanding personnel effort required over decades to turn and process the world-famous product.
Since the ripening and storage of «Gruyère» is a standardized process, an opportunity was seen here, with the help of Still and Dematic, to install a robotic storage system that should be able to handle all cycles from weighing to washing the pallets with up to 124 transports per hour.
Philipp Hoops from Dematic is on hand to explain the key features of 15 Still EXV SF 20 automated guided vehicles (AGVs) (stainless steel version with shortened fork carriages), which, in addition to ten existing industrial trucks of various brands, relieve employees of heavy physical labor. Three employees have been trained to operate the AGVs.
The start of the automation project unfortunately coincided with the Covid pandemic. "That wasn't easy for us," says Hoops. But they managed to install the project in nine months. Commissioning took place in 2023, initially at 40 to 50% capacity, with final acceptance now scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024.
“Process control in cheese dairies is unique,” says Hoops. After all, it involves 4,660 storage locations on up to 18 levels in an “operationally dynamic scenario.” The equipment is designed for a maximum load capacity of 1,700 kg. And the ultimate responsibility still rests with the individual employee.
Navigation is done via laser scanner. In front of the large number of visitors, Christian Zürcher repeatedly demonstrates the reliability of the industrial trucks, which "predict" the route using a blue guide beam.
Photos: klk.
The EXV SF 20s stop precisely when someone is in the way, but also "speak up" with another warning sound if someone lingers on the track for too long and does not contribute to the transport of goods.
For the SVTL participants, who are then invited to an evening "apéro riche" with tasting, this is an impressive example of the successful transfer of manual and "historically grown" work processes and procedures into a largely automated system.
