Heineken Netherlands Supply Chain is a key global supplier within the Heineken network, brewing around 30% of all Heineken beer worldwide and exporting approximately 60% of its production. The company operates highly automated breweries in Zoeterwoude and Den Bosch, supported by large-scale warehouse operations that handle significant volumes of finished products every day.
To support global distribution while maintaining efficiency and speed, Heineken has invested heavily in automation and advanced warehouse management technology. Central to this setup are Astro WMS® and Astro WCS® from Consafe Logistics, which together orchestrate warehouse processes and automation across the sites.
Handling very large production volumes while maintaining low stock levels was one of the key operational challenges.
The breweries needed to ensure that products moved efficiently from production into distribution while avoiding unnecessary storage and manual handling. Managing the flows from multiple production lines also required precise coordination to ensure that pallets were routed to the correct areas in the warehouse and prepared for shipment without delays.
To achieve these goals, Heineken required a solution capable of managing high-speed automated flows and ensuring that goods could move seamlessly between production, storage, and outbound logistics.
Solution
Heineken selected Astro WMS® and Astro WCS® from Consafe Logistics to manage and control its automated warehouse operations.
The combination of both systems from the same vendor provides a unified architecture, where warehouse management and automation control work seamlessly together. This approach enables a single business logic across the entire operation, ensuring consistent process control and greater operational transparency.
Astro WMS® orchestrates warehouse processes while Astro WCS® steers the automation systems, ensuring that pallets from different production lines are routed correctly and efficiently through the warehouse. The systems also provide a unified interface for warehouse staff. This streamlines operations and improves visibility across the automated environment.
Having both solutions from the same provider also simplifies system updates for Heineken and creates a single point of contact for support and maintenance. This reduces operational complexity for the team and ensures a flexible setup that enables customization and integration with a wide range of automation technologies.
Today, the system enables highly efficient flows. Big amount of export products now goes straight from production to containers in just 15 minutes, bypassing storage entirely and accelerating the distribution process.
Heineken also chose SaaS as the delivery model for Astro WMS®, enabling the company to benefit from high system availability and simplified IT operations.
With uptime exceeding 99%, the SaaS model ensures stable operations while removing the need for internal infrastructure management. Regular upgrades, enhanced security, and continuous improvements are delivered automatically, allowing the Heineken team to focus on their core business instead of IT maintenance.