L.I.T. LOGISTICS CENTER LLC IV IS OPERATIONAL
A major step towards digitalization and automation thanks to the AutoStore system:
the new L.I.T. warehouse in the GVZ Bremen
L.I.T. LOGISTICS CENTER LLC IV IS OPERATIONAL
They say that all good things come in threes. Or perhaps four, we thought, and put our fourth logistics center in the Bremen freight village (GVZ) into operation. And this after only half a year of planning and construction. We are now using the 25,000 square meter hall for Contract Logistics and extensive value-added services. In doing so, we are taking another important step towards automation and therefore equipped one of three areas with the compact automatic small parts warehouse AutoStore in the second quarter of 2019.
With this automation solution, we are optimally positioning ourselves for the future – especially for customers from the E-Commerce sector. This is because the system stores small-part assortments in a very confined space. Robots travel on the surface of the system and automatically access the goods when an order is received. They then bring the products to the picking stations. Here, our employees take over, pick the items from the bins, and pack them. Meanwhile, all relevant data flows automatically into our Warehouse Management System. This allows us to provide our customers with information about the current status of an order at any time. An additional plus: We can scale the capacities of the AutoStore system even during ongoing operations. "This means we are prepared for future growth," says a pleased Rico von Hollen, Assistant to the Commercial Management of L.I.T. Lager & Logistik GmbH.
The other two hall sections are already equipped with high-bay warehouses with 25,000 pallet spaces and block storage areas. "By combining the different storage types, we can react quickly and flexibly to individual customer requirements," says von Hollen regarding the reasons for equipping our new logistics center. Currently, in addition to our E-Commerce customers, we are also active there for the consumer goods and entertainment industries. "But ultimately, the warehouse can be used for any industry," says von Hollen. However, we do not limit our service portfolio in our new building to storage alone. Extensive value-added services such as picking, assembly, display construction, quality controls, and product finishing are also part of our repertoire in the logistics center.
For display construction specifically, we have built a second floor, for example, so that there is sufficient space for their construction and regular operations in the warehouse are not impaired. The handling of returns management is also possible here. For this, we need qualified personnel. We are therefore all the more pleased to welcome numerous new employees from the commercial and industrial sectors. They ensure that each of our customers receives exactly the services they need and that these also meet the desired quality. We achieve even more flexibility in the LLC IV by equipping each of the three areas with its own ramps for loading and unloading. In this way, goods can be delivered or picked up in every hall section, eliminating long and cumbersome transport routes from the warehouse to the ramp.
Another great advantage of our new logistics center is its location in the Bremen freight village (GVZ). According to the Deutsche GVZ-Gesellschaft, this remains the most popular of its kind in Germany, and it ranks second across Europe. It impresses not only with its convenient transport location but is also in the immediate vicinity of the seaports within the North Range. "Due to the optimal connection, the hall is also excellently suited for intermodal transport," says von Hollen. "In cooperation with our Air & Sea division, we thus offer our customers variable transport options." Including the new building, we now have four logistics centers in the Bremen freight village and another hall in the Bremen industrial area. This gives us a total of more than 120,000 square meters of storage space available.
With this automation solution, we are optimally positioning ourselves for the future – especially for customers from the E-Commerce sector. This is because the system stores small-part assortments in a very confined space. Robots travel on the surface of the system and automatically access the goods when an order is received. They then bring the products to the picking stations. Here, our employees take over, pick the items from the bins, and pack them. Meanwhile, all relevant data flows automatically into our Warehouse Management System. This allows us to provide our customers with information about the current status of an order at any time. An additional plus: We can scale the capacities of the AutoStore system even during ongoing operations. "This means we are prepared for future growth," says a pleased Rico von Hollen, Assistant to the Commercial Management of L.I.T. Lager & Logistik GmbH.
The other two hall sections are already equipped with high-bay warehouses with 25,000 pallet spaces and block storage areas. "By combining the different storage types, we can react quickly and flexibly to individual customer requirements," says von Hollen regarding the reasons for equipping our new logistics center. Currently, in addition to our E-Commerce customers, we are also active there for the consumer goods and entertainment industries. "But ultimately, the warehouse can be used for any industry," says von Hollen. However, we do not limit our service portfolio in our new building to storage alone. Extensive value-added services such as picking, assembly, display construction, quality controls, and product finishing are also part of our repertoire in the logistics center. For display construction specifically, we have built a second floor, for example, so that there is sufficient space for their construction and regular operations in the warehouse are not impaired. The handling of returns management is also possible here.
For this, we need qualified personnel. We are therefore all the more pleased to welcome numerous new employees from the commercial and industrial sectors. They ensure that each of our customers receives exactly the services they need and that these also meet the desired quality. We achieve even more flexibility in the LLC IV by equipping each of the three areas with its own ramps for loading and unloading. In this way, goods can be delivered or picked up in every hall section, eliminating long and cumbersome transport routes from the warehouse to the ramp.