Retrotech announces North American launch of next-generation PTS, a shuttle-based ASR solution for freezer warehouses

Third-Generation System is Fully Engineered, Designed and Tested Specifically for Harsh Freezer Warehouse Environments

 Retrotech Inc. has introduced the newest line of its PTS, a shuttle-based automated storage and retrieval (ASR) system specifically designed for the severe environments found in freezer warehouses. The newest Retrotech PTS, which is new to North America and became commercially available in late 2014, is the third generation of this freezer product line. It is engineered and tested exclusively for customers looking to address the growing demand for order fulfillment at case — and less-than-case — quantities in frozen goods distribution centers.  

“We’re extremely excited by the potential applications for our new PTS shuttle ASR for freezer warehouses, and for the benefits this system will bring to our North American customers who operate and manage frozen goods facilities,” Retrotech Chief Executive Officer Paul Deveikis said. “This new offering gives Retrotech a full complement of automation solutions for the cold supply chain, which is a benefit for our customers, since many ASR systems being marketed for use in freezer environments are merely non-freezer systems that have been repurposed with freezer-rated components. That’s not the case with the Savoye/Retrotech PTS, which, from the start, has been engineered with one goal in mind — to meet the unique challenges inherent to the extremely cold environment of freezer warehouses.”

Additionally, because the PTS brings the benefits of robotic ASR systems for "case and each" picking to the frozen goods distribution center, it can help reverse a trend that has risen in recent years — increasing levels of costly and inefficient order fulfillment by human personnel in harsh environments.

 “While automated pallet ASR systems have been used in freezer warehouses for some time, the rising popularity of smaller, higher-frequency orders has forced companies to send staff into the extreme environment of the warehouse in order to fulfill these smaller orders — which costs companies money and diverts personnel from doing more productive work,” said Tom O’Dette, Retrotech’s director of engineering. “Retrotech’s PTS provides these companies with a case-level ASR system that overcomes the challenge of small, high-frequency orders.”      

Retrotech, in tandem with its parent company Savoye, fully covers the cold supply chain market. In addition to PTS for case and GTP handling, the company also offers Magmatic load handling devices for automatic storage and retrieval system for pallets. Magmatic maximize a facility’s overhead space to provide organized, compact storage together with a fully automated operation that ensures 98% accuracy of orders filled – and is durable and dependable in a variety of temperatures, including freezer warehouses. Magmatic is ideal for warehouse settings up to 2,000 SKUs. Alternatively, ACTIV — a unique, dynamic storage technology for freezer storage environments that can buffer, sort, and stage palletized unit loads in exact loading sequence — is designed to be used in existing or low overhead clearance buildings. ACTIV is ideal for warehouse settings up to 1,000 SKU’s.