ATLANTA – Kroger Co. is working with the intelligent automation firm KNAPP to expand and update its Great Lakes Distribution Center in Delaware, Ohio. The renovation to add state-of-the-art technology is underway and is expected to be complete later this summer.

The distribution center opened in 2003 and currently services 115 stores in central and northwest Ohio, as well as southeast Michigan and the Ohio River Valley region. During the renovation, the facility will expand by 130,000 square feet.

“Kroger’s investment in KNAPP’s latest technology allows the Great Lakes Distribution Center to improve efficiency in replenishing our stores, enabling us to quickly deliver fresh food to our customers,” said Tony Lucchino, Kroger’s vice president of supply chain and network strategy. “The expansion of the facility is part of the ongoing transformation of our supply chain network, and this project will more than double our capacity while delivering innovation and scalability that can grow with demand. This collaborative project will allow us to better serve customers in the region.”

The site uses a combination of KNAPP OSR (order, storage and retrieval) shuttles that deliver grocery cases in an exact sequence to RUNPICK robotic palletizers to “deliver next-generation efficiency and performance increases for Kroger’s supply chain network,” according to the companies.

“The technology investment in the Great Lakes Distribution Center has been designed to add a new level of flexibility to the Kroger supply chain network and deliver a resilient approach to investments in automation,” KNAPP CEO Josef Mentzer said.