The Challenge
PepsiCo’s products, including Lay’s, Doritos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, and Quaker, are enjoyed over a billion times daily in more than 200 countries, generating over $79 billion in net revenue in 2021. The company aims to strengthen operations by transforming capabilities, reducing costs, and leveraging advanced technologies, particularly in logistics.
At its Rojana facility in Thailand—a key regional hub—PepsiCo is expanding production and logistics capacity to meet growing local demand.
Colin Matthews, Supply Chain Senior Director – IndoChina Foods, PepsiCo, says, "Rojana is one of our biggest plants with production lines for a number of different products. The products made at Rojana are not only distributed nationally across Thailand, but we also send products internationally to Vietnam and other neighboring countries."
One of the key strategies employed by PepsiCo to support growth was the expansion of its production and logistics capacity at the Rojana site. This expansion project has been driven by the vision of a digitalised future, where automation plays a pivotal role in addressing challenges and enhancing overall operational performance.
Charan Techapattaraporn, Logistics Manager, PepsiCo, says "Automation is the perfect solution to take on these challenges, whilst also improving our facility operations across the board."
The Solution
As part of its expansion and automation goals, PepsiCo turned to its global partner Armstrong Dematic, a world leader in providing automated solutions for materials handling and logistics.
"I've now worked with Armstrong Dematic across two business units, firstly here in Indochina and also in Australia and New Zealand," adds Matthews. "I've seen Armstrong Dematic really lean into providing a customised response based on the tailored needs of individual problems."
Armstrong Dematic collaborated with PepsiCo to design a system for the Rojana facility that aligned with business goals and projected growth. To boost capacity and address space constraints, they developed an automation solution featuring an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) directly connected to production and order fulfillment.
Armstrong Dematic has a strong track record of successfully implementing AS/RS solutions across the Asia Pacific region and globally, catering to diverse industries and applications," says Phamondate Rukdee, Sales Manager, Armstrong Dematic Thailand. "The AS/RS is at the heart of PepsiCo's strategy to enhance its production and logistics efficiency at the Rojana facility.
"The AS/RS aids in storing products before they are delivered to customers. It provides an extremely space efficient way to store products in between when they are manufactured and when they need to be assembled and dispatched for delivery to customers."
The AS/RS at PepsiCo’s Rojana facility stores pallets across five double-deep high-bay aisles with over 16,000 locations. Pallets are automatically moved via conveyors and Rail Guided Vehicles (RGVs) from production to storage, dispatch, or pick locations. Armstrong Dematic’s Warehouse Control System manages automation, material flow, inventory, and provides real-time tracking.
Equipped with RapidStore SRMs, conveyors, and RGVs—all designed, engineered, and supported in-house—the system ensures reliability and 24/7 service. Its modular design allows future expansion, with potential upgrades including truck-sized outfeed lanes, paperless picking, and Automated Guided Vehicles, giving PepsiCo flexibility to adapt to changing business needs.
Roll-out, support and training
Armstrong Dematic was on the ground at the Rojana facility during implementation, testing and go live phases to ensure the success of the project, which was delivered on time for PepsiCo, despite the challenging conditions of a pandemic.
"The system was completed on schedule. We are also well supported by both domestic and international Armstrong Dematic teams who are ready to quickly aid PepsiCo in terms of both hardware and software," says Techapattaraporn.
The success of an automated system depends on its operators, making training essential. Armstrong Dematic used a "train the trainer" approach at PepsiCo, equipping supervisors and lead operators with the knowledge to safely and efficiently operate the system and train their teams continuously.
"Our team really embraced the solution that we've put in at Rojana and they really value the investment that we've given them, as we've trained them to get new skills. That training of new skills has helped us with people retention, which is another benefit," says Matthews.
Given the complexity of PepsiCo’s automation, ongoing service and support are vital to maintain uptime, throughput, and efficiency. Benefits include reduced downtime, lower maintenance costs, extended system lifespan, and direct access to Armstrong Dematic, the system’s designer and builder.
"Armstrong Dematic takes care of PepsiCo's AS/RS and machinery 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," says Nipat Kummu, Service Engineer, Armstrong Dematic Thailand. "We have Armstrong Dematic staff on-site to make sure any issues are responded to and resolved quickly."
The Results
The AS/RS provides fully automated high-density, high-throughput storage for pallets. With an AS/RS, stock cannot be lost or forgotten, as the system provides complete and real-time visibility of overall inventory, delivering the highest level of accuracy. With minimum manual handling needed, product damage and the associated cost and waste are also significantly reduced.
"Previously we had a very manual solution that took a lot of time for people to go around and understand exactly what products we had in the warehouse. In contrast, the Armstrong Dematic system is very intuitive. It enables our team to look across the whole of the AS/RS and understand exactly where we have the stock, and they can intuitively and quickly make any adjustments they need. The AS/RS has more than doubled our capacity and the automation takes us away from the very manual operation we had before. This allows us to supply goods to customers with greater efficiency, leaving them very satisfied," explains Matthews.
The Armstrong Dematic solution has delivered a multitude of benefits to PepsiCo, including:
- Improved space efficiency: The AS/RS has more than doubled storage capacity, making the most of the available footprint, which is important in highly urbanised regions.
- Improved productivity: Automation streamlines processes, reducing reliance on manual labour and increasing throughput.
- Fast responsiveness: Automation allows for quick and efficient responses to customer orders and to changing demands.
- Accuracy and tracking: Precise tracking of inventory ensures accuracy in order fulfilment.
- Inventory security: Enhanced security measures inherent to the AS/RS protect valuable stock.
- Modularity and scalability for expansion: The system can grow with PepsiCo's needs.
- Redundancy: Built-in redundancy ensures continuous operation and avoidance of costly downtime.
- Reduced facility energy consumption: Automation helps to minimise overall warehouse energy usage.
- Low maintenance, reliable, and locally supportable: Armstrong Dematic provides ongoing local support for trouble-free operation.
- Life cycle value: A long-term investment that continues to provide value over time.
The AS/RS’s high-density storage lets PepsiCo store far more within the same warehouse space than a conventional setup. It also enhances safety by reducing the use of forklifts and other manual handling equipment, lowering the risk of accidents.
"Our first priority was safety, and the AS/RS plays a crucial role in reducing the occurrence of accidents. Secondly, we were focused on efficiency gains, and this was achieved through reducing the storage footprint. Thirdly, PepsiCo wanted increased accuracy and traceability of products so that the warehouse throughput could be increased," explains Techapattaraporn.
"Armstrong Dematic and PepsiCo collaborated closely to achieve outstanding results. This system will bolster PepsiCo's growth, enabling it to become bigger and stronger, and provide PepsiCo with a solid foundation to build on for the future," concluded Kummu.
