“Our investment here in Zeulenroda is a clear sign of trust – in the location, of course, but primarily in our employees,” declared Rainer Berthan, Chief Executive Officer, during the groundbreaking for the expansion of Central Logistics in November. Bauerfeind is investing a total of 30 million Euros.
First, a new building consisting of two parts will be constructed behind the existing Central Logistics. This will start operation at the end of 2027. Then, the old and the new buildings will be connected and Stock Logistics reorganized – while all remain in operation. If everything goes according to plan, the expansion of Central Logistics in Zeulenroda will be completed by early summer 2029.
The technology
The new construction project includes two structures: a shuttle warehouse (the high building) and an incoming goods building (the low structure). The shuttle warehouse measures 740 square meters and can store 48,000 containers. It is a steel racking construction with three aisles which looks similar to our current automatic small-parts warehouse (ASW) with 38,000 storage places – but only at first glance. Compared to the ASW, it is not six large masts on rails that go back and forth in the shuttle warehouse to store and remove boxes, but more than 100 shuttle vehicles. They look like small lawn-mowing robots that move in parallel. “That makes us much more flexible and faster,” explains Julian Musiol, Head of Logistics, who is also in charge of the project for the expansion of Central Logistics.
In the incoming goods building, there will be 12 picking work stations over an area of 1,200 square meters. The work will be carried out on two levels. Additionally, a fully automatic packaging machine will be incorporated. It has been designed to package a great number of boxes. Outgoing goods areas have been connected for package service providers via three loading bridges. Boxes that are stored in or removed from the shuttle warehouse are moved up or down via a spiral conveyor. This looks a little like a flume, with the conveyor belt snaking around in a spiral.
In total, there will be more than one kilometer of new conveying technology which will connect the existing building to the new structure. The existing building will house a new incoming goods area and four new work stations for bulk packaging. As soon as the new structure as well as the renovation and connection of the existing building have been completed during their ongoing operation, the last step will be the manual reorganization of the pallet warehouse.
A multi-layered project
“This project is complex. It entails construction, logistics, and IT at the same time. That’s why we’re taking each step deliberately, requiring the kind support of all colleagues from Logistics and the other departments that are involved,” emphasizes Julian Musiol.
It took more than three years for the Project Team to go through many different versions and designs with several logistics planners. To make sure that everything works in reality just as it has been planned, colleagues simulated the project using software. It shows: New technologies allow Bauerfeind to continue to deliver quickly and reliably to customers all over the world – with the increasing demand having been considered in this undertaking.