Hamburg, 5 March. With the opening of a new distribution centre in Münster, AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG, Münster and Hannover have opened a new chapter in logistics of agricultural wholesales. The distribution centre will lead to “more performance and efficiency for our customers” says Dr. Clemens Große Frie. Until now the company operates five piece good warehouses in Münster, Oldenburg and Hannover which will be closed down by the end of the year.
Centralisation is to reduce stocks and increase availability at the same time, underlines Torsten Oldhues, manager of logistics at AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG. “Modern retail groups need a powerful and service oriented logistics today to be competitive” continues Oldhues. “With the new distribution centre we are a step ahead”. From Münster AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG will deliver to approximately 1,200 recipients at cooperative key customers and retailers in its sales region between the Dutch and the Polish border.
To reduce the stocks and increase the availability at the same time, AGRAVIS uses innovative Intralogisitcs strategies: Goods management, warehouse administration systems, voucher less order picking and warehouse trucks work hand in hand. 24 new warehouse trucks by Still, the leading supplier of trucks physically transport the goods at the new distribution centre. Five Still reach trucks (FM 25i) with a reach height of 11.30 metres and a lift capacity of 1.5 tons store the goods. To place the forks exactly at this height, the drivers do not need to rely on their skill and their eyes alone: thanks to a camera installed between the teeth of the forks a screen in the cabin tells them exactly where the fork is at any height.
For order picking, AGRAVIS use 10 vertical order pickers (EK 10) with mere a lift height of 1.5 metres in pedestrian operation. The speciality of the AGRAVIS distribution centre: the lower level of the racks scoping some 3,000 pallet bays is exclusively reserved for order picking and replenishments are stored in the rack levels above. To prevent storing and retrieving trucks from colliding, they operate at different times: in the morning AGRAVIS store the received goods and after closing the order intake at about 12 o’clock the order pickers start to work.
As soon as a driver registers, the warehouse management system knows which jobs the corresponding truck can take and how well the driver is trained. This data is stored in the system and the jobs are assigned accordingly on the displays of the terminals on the trucks. Completed jobs are confirmed at the storage bay with a mobile scanner. Voucher less picking helps Agravis to pursue far reaching goals. „This way we want to reduce the error quota drastically“, says logistics manager Torsten Oldhues.
About Still:
The Still GmbH from Hamburg, is the leading supplier for the intelligent control of Intralogistics in operations. The company established in 1920 by Hans Still has made its global reputation with technically superior electric, diesel and LPG fork lift trucks. Today Still is a full range supplier of warehouse equipment and services. Amongst other, this includes software for warehouse administration (MMS.i) and a broad range of trucks meeting many different requirements of logistics and order picking tasks. Still is globally present, with more than 6000 employees in Europe alone.
About Agravis:
AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG, Münster and Hannover is the leader in agricultural products and services in the north of Germany. Its core business is the production and sale of animal feeding materials, and trade with raw materials for animal food, seeds, crop protection materials and fertilizers. Besides this AGRAVIS’ more than 17 regional branches sell agricultural machinery from combined harvesters and tractors to hay turners. Further fields of business are building services, energy and cooperative markets. AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG is one of six main agricultural co-operations in Germany. The region of AGRAVIS scopes parts of Northrhein-Westfalia, as well as the states Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. About 4,300 employees make a turnover of more than 3.9 Bill. Euro.
Figures, Facts, Data:
Warehouse trucks by Still:
10 Vertical order pickers (EK 10 NM)
5 Driver seat reach trucks (FM 25 i)
4 Electric counter balance trucks (R 60-30)
3 Electric pedestrian high lift pallet trucks (EGV-S 14)
2 Electric pallet trucks (EXU 20)
The distribution centre:
Building area: 79 metres wide x 192 metres long
Building height: 14 metre
Rack height: 11 metre
Storage space: 16,500 square meters
Annual turnover: 105,000 tons or 165,000 pallets
Invested sum: 14 Mio. Euro |
