Coop VZ Bern - Intelligent site restructuring to maximise efficiency in empties logistics
Coop is one of Switzerland’s largest retail and wholesale companies. IE Food resolved the capacity constraints at the Bern-Brünnen empties centre through an intelligent restructuring of the site layout.
Refurbishment and expansion of Coop’s empties centre at the Bern-Brünnen distribution centre
Project
General planning and project management — from preliminary and concept studies to design, tendering and execution.
Client
Coop distribution center Bern-Brünnen
Key Data
Working Together for Project Success
Services provided by IE Group
Project successes
- Targeted master plan based on several preliminary and feasibility studies
- Maximum utilisation of the existing site footprint
- Strong combination of industrial construction expertise and planning flexibility
- Optimised reorganisation of all functional areas
- Implementation without interruption — enabled by integrated construction and operations planning
- 3 years from master plan to completion of all measures
Challenges & Solutions
More space despite a constrained site
More capacity for receiving and dispatch
Conversion during ongoing operations — including peak periods
The Project in Detail
As one of Switzerland’s largest retail and wholesale companies, Coop is committed to sustainability and has long been reclaiming and recycling returned materials such as empties, packaging and scrap. In 2019, the Leergutzentrale (LGZ) at the Bern-Brünnen distribution centre reached its capacity limits. Coop therefore faced the challenge of creating additional space for empties logistics on a densely built-up site.
Through an intelligent restructuring of the site layout, a smart extension of existing buildings and an optimised process layout, IE Food mastered this task - from feasibility study through to successful implementation during ongoing operations.
The challenge
The key architectural task was to create more space for empties logistics despite the limited site area and to integrate existing structures as effectively as possible. In particular, the different characteristics of returned goods required additional loading docks to increase receiving and dispatch capacity, accelerate truck unloading and improve overall efficiency. However, the site could not be expanded to provide additional areas.
In addition, all restructuring measures had to be carried out while operations were ongoing - including peak periods such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, when return volumes increase disproportionately.
The success factors
Based on several preliminary and feasibility studies, IE Food developed a robust restructuring concept that met all requirements. By relocating garage operations to a nearby workshop building, the former garage building adjacent to the empties centre was dismantled, creating space for a state-of-the-art extension. The existing empties centre was fully refurbished and integrated with the new extension.
The resulting functional unit of existing and new buildings created the ideal basis for a redesigned process layout: existing systems were upgraded and partially replaced, and sub-processes were automated wherever possible - all implemented in carefully coordinated phases and without interrupting ongoing operations.
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