Künzelsau. With the new Distribution Center West, Adolf Würth GmbH und Co. KG continues to invest in its Künzelsau-Gaisbach site, and points the way to the future of the company. The new building provides the logistic basis for future growth at the company’s headquarters. After the laying of the foundation stone on 06 December 2011, the inauguration of the new distribution center was celebrated today.
“With our investment in the new logistics center, AW KG also clearly confirms its commitment to the Künzelsau-Gaisbach site. Our new building stands for high environmental standards, ergonomic workplaces and an even better service for our customers” Norbert Heckmann, Chairman of Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG, said on the occasion of the official opening ceremony. “In the course of the next months, both our customers and our employees will benefit more and more from the building. It will make their everyday work easier.” Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group’s Family Trusts, and Günther Oettinger, EU Energy Commissioner, addressed the guests and expressed their joy about the inauguration of the new distribution center.
With the new distribution center, Würth expands its picking and storage capacities. With additional capacities of 60,000 order lines per day it is now possible to react even more quickly to our customers’ wishes. The new building with a storage space of 17,000sqm (floor area) is linked to the existing distribution facilities by means of a connection bridge. This way, a total of 40,000 orders can be picked every day.
The new Distribution Center West has been equipped with the latest technology to allow for an error-free and automated picking. We use mobile data terminals for the entire warehouse process and have a fully automated palleting. Furthermore, our logistics staff now work with two systems called pick-by-voice (voice-controlled picking; pick orders are voice-transmitted via headset) and pick-by-light (light-controlled picking; picking done without any paper where both the quantity to be picked and the retrieval location are displayed).
Apart from the integration of the latest technology, Würth also placed high emphasis on an ergonomic design of the workplaces, which have been developed together with Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO), Stuttgart. In the shuttle warehouse, for instance, the principle of “goods to person” is used. A container warehouse with over 96,000 containers supplies goods to ergonomically designed retrieval places in the warehouse feed area. Moreover, the construction plans of the new distribution center also included environmental aspects. For instance, 80 % of heating demands are provided by a biomass heating system run by wood chips. A heat recovery system in the ventilation system also contributes to saving energy in the operation of the building. Further measures that allow, for instance, for an energy-efficient cooling of the building in summer allowed to do completely without an energy-guzzling air conditioning system.
The building was designed by the Munich-based architects office Allmann Sattler Wappner. Heidelberg-based planning office io-consultants GmbH & Co. KG was in charge of the conceptual planning and process design. The capital expenditure volume totals about EUR 70 million. Furthermore, the logistics infrastructure of the site was improved by building a truck waiting area in the front area of the distribution center.
via Press release.