Montague is a family business with over 70 years of experience in the fresh fruit industry. With a commitment to innovation, quality and sustainability, Montague continues to be at the forefront of the fresh produce industry.

In 2019 Montague engaged https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png to review manufacturing, distribution and warehouse automation to be installed in its greenfield 18,000sqm, $66 million automated packaging and export manufacturing processing centre in Narre Warren, Victoria.

Montague subsequently extended https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png’s engagement to support the system design, development and implementation of its highly automated ‘manufacturing to DC’ solution. What started as a one-off project has grown into a multi-year partnership, where https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png has now worked on six projects with Montague. These projects include the automation review, systems solution design, systems integration and testing, user acceptance testing, optimisation review and execution.

The Solution

https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png undertook a complete review of the current production operational workflow and production scheduling. This involved engaging with all Montague teams as required, including production, operations, planning, integrators and external software solution providers. The review was important to understand current operational pain points, existing customer & business rules, bottlenecks and recurring issues. This allowed https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png to develop impact assessments and perform time in motion studies, where issues and bottlenecks were occurring. Based on this review https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png developed value stream maps for the Presizer and Pack Lines and provided recommendations and phased improvements.

The Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) review completed by the https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png team, included the review of the existing apple grading and sorting system. Data volumes, throughput and forecasts were also reviewed in order to calculate system storage requirements. This allowed https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png to develop AS/RS solution assessment criteria and the best fit recommendation.

The system solution design project involved the current state review of the solution from operational, software (ERP, FTS, WMS, PCS, WCS) and mechanical perspectives. https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png designed and developed the system architecture and material process flows. A key component of this was the development and alignment of the user requirements specification to support the build phase.

Some of the software recommendations made by https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png included enterprise resource planning software (ERP), warehouse management software (WMS), warehouse control system (WCS), fruit tracking system and the production control system software. Other areas the solution design focused on were operation, customer and mechanical perspectives, as well as a functional interface and documentation of hardware specs, to help support the build phase.

Post commissioning and go-live, https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png provided the Montague team with continuous improvement and lean thinking personnel to assist with optimising the newly implemented and highly integrated Compac solution, specifically focusing on the pre-sizer & pack lines.

Challenges

With Melbourne swept up in the COVID-19 lockdown, Montague, https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png, suppliers and technology integrators were all impacted. The pandemic presented the most significant challenges to the project implementation.

Montague originally planned to send key staff overseas for first-hand experience with systems and best practices commonly used in Europe and North America, which the company aimed to adopt in Australia, but the COVID-19 pandemic created a roadblock.  https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png mitigated this risk, as they brought this expertise, as they have delivered for various other projects of similar nature.

Benefits

Montague’s greenfield facility was delivered successfully on a COVID-modified timeline in February 2021, despite the impediments and disruptions of the lockdown. Montague’s now has an efficient, automated DC to support future growth, improve its team facilities, and provide a superior delivery experience for its customers.

In recent months https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png has completed the latest optimisation execution project, which has delivered additional efficiencies and operational improvements to Montague.

• The new design also caters for an additional 30,000 bins, bringing capacity to three million 12kg cartons, which equates to 227 million apples each year.
• When fully operational, the new systems will increase Montague’s apple packing capacity by 75 per cent, to approximately 38,000 tonnes per year, with the ability to process 20 tonnes per hour.
• Strong leadership in managing all parties and vendors
• No disruption to Montague’s DC operations during implementation

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“https://threesixtyscg.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GABC-Website-Image-1.png’s partnership approach working through our complex requirements gave them a deep understanding of what our business was seeking in a highly-automated production centre solution. In addition, their coordination of crucial technical design workshops ensured all the different software vendors were aligned.”

Rowan Little, Chief Innovation Officer, Montague

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