Swisslog to deliver a second frozen high bay warehouse project for Magnavale

Swisslog has been appointed as automation partner for Magnavale’s new frozen storage facility in Avonmouth, Bristol in the UK. The project, known as Magnavale Bristol, will be the second frozen high bay warehouse delivered by Swisslog for Magnavale (Sadel Group).

Magnavale’s first automated frozen high bay warehouse at Easton in Lincolnshire became fully operational at the end of 2024. That project established a framework agreement under which Magnavale plans to construct up to eight frozen high bay warehouses across the UK and EU, with the goal of becoming the market leader in frozen pallet storage.

Shane Faulkner, Swisslog UK Managing Director, said: “Winning a second project with Magnavale is a strong signal of the trust they place in Swisslog’s technology and our ability to deliver. With plans for up to eight frozen high bay warehouses across the UK and EU, this is a partnership with real long-term significance, both for Magnavale’s growth and for Swisslog’s position in the UK cold storage market.”

Swisslog’s engineering and design teams drew directly on their experience at Easton to shape the Bristol solution, bringing the same technology to the Avonmouth site while incorporating targeted enhancements specific to Magnavale Bristol. Simulation modelling played a central role early in the design process, allowing Swisslog to test and validate throughput levels across a range of operational scenarios, including resilience modes, well before finalising the system design. Working closely alongside racking and cladding suppliers from the outset, Swisslog’s teams coordinated the detailed interface between the low bay and high bay warehouse environments.

The technologies and automation strategies deployed at Magnavale Bristol are directly relevant to cold chain operators across Australia and New Zealand, where demand for frozen and temperature-controlled storage continues to grow across the food, beverage, retail and export sectors.

“The project reflects broader global trends toward high-density automated cold storage, helping operators improve throughput, reduce labour dependency, maximise land use, and maintain operational resilience in challenging environments,” said Steve Dimitrovski, Director of Sales, Swisslog Australia and New Zealand.

High-resilience solution for extreme conditions

The Avonmouth facility can operate down to –28°C within an approximately 45 m-high clad-rack structure housing 90,000 total pallet locations across the site. There are 10 Vectura stacker cranes that will manage pallet movements throughout the high bay, comprising two manual dual load handling device cranes and eight double-deep dual load handling device cranes. A two-tiered monorail system and approximately 1500 m of ProMove conveyor across two levels will support product flow, with all operations orchestrated by Swisslog’s SynQ Warehouse Control System, delivering real-time stock visibility, intelligent load sequencing, and FEFO/FIFO stock management.

One of the key features of the solution is Swisslog’s commitment to guaranteed minimum throughput rates in the event of a monorail disruption. This resilience requirement, built into the system design and validated through simulation, gives Magnavale the operational confidence to fulfil customer commitments even during periods of disruption.

“Across Australia and New Zealand, cold chain infrastructure investment is accelerating as food producers, retailers, importers, exporters and third-party logistics providers seek greater efficiency, resilience and capacity within temperature-controlled supply chains,” Dimitrovski said.

“High-density automated storage systems are increasingly being implemented as a way to address rising operational costs, support business growth, reduce product-handling risks and improve energy efficiency within refrigerated and frozen facilities.”

Image: Supplied