L.I.T. LOGISTICS CENTER LLC IV IS IN OPERATION
Thanks to the AutoStore system, an important step towards digitalization and automation:
the new L.I.T. Warehouse in GVZ Bremen
L.I.T. LOGISTICS CENTER LLC IV IS IN OPERATION
They say all good things come in threes. Or perhaps four, we thought, and have put our fourth logistics center in the Bremen Freight Village 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 positioned for the future – especially for E-Commerce customers. The system stores small-part assortments in the smallest possible space. Robots move on the surface of the system, automatically accessing the goods when an order is received. They then bring the products to the picking stations. Here, our employees take over, retrieve the items from the containers, and pack them. All relevant data automatically flows into our Warehouse Management System during this process. 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 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 types of storage, 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 also serve the consumer goods and entertainment industries there. “But ultimately, the warehouse can be used for any industry,” says von Hollen. Our service portfolio in our new building is not limited to storage. Extensive value-added services such as picking, co-packing, display construction, quality controls, and product finishing are also part of our repertoire in the logistics center.
For display construction, for example, we have built a second floor to ensure sufficient space for their construction and to avoid disrupting regular warehouse operations. Returns management can also be handled here. For this, we need qualified personnel. We are therefore all the more pleased to welcome numerous new employees from both commercial and industrial sectors. They ensure that each of our customers receives exactly the services they need, and that these services meet the desired quality. We achieve even greater flexibility in LLC IV by equipping each of the three areas with its own ramps for loading and unloading. This way, goods can be delivered or picked up in any section of the hall, eliminating long and cumbersome transport routes from the warehouse to the ramp.
Another major advantage of our new logistics center is its location in the Bremen Freight Village (GVZ). According to the German GVZ-Gesellschaft, it remains the most popular of its kind in Germany, ranking second in Europe. It impresses not only with its convenient transport links but also with its immediate proximity to the seaports within the North Range. “Due to the optimal connections, 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.
With this automation solution, we are optimally positioned for the future – especially for E-Commerce customers. The system stores small-part assortments in the smallest possible space. Robots move on the surface of the system, automatically accessing the goods when an order is received. They then bring the products to the picking stations. Here, our employees take over, retrieve the items from the containers, and pack them. All relevant data automatically flows into our Warehouse Management System during this process. 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 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 types of storage, 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 also serve the consumer goods and entertainment industries there. “But ultimately, the warehouse can be used for any industry,” says von Hollen. Our service portfolio in our new building is not limited to storage. Extensive value-added services such as picking, co-packing, display construction, quality controls, and product finishing are also part of our repertoire in the logistics center. For display construction, for example, we have built a second floor to ensure sufficient space for their construction and to avoid disrupting regular warehouse operations. Returns management can also be handled here.
For this, we need qualified personnel. We are therefore all the more pleased to welcome numerous new employees from both commercial and industrial sectors. They ensure that each of our customers receives exactly the services they need, and that these services meet the desired quality. We achieve even greater flexibility in LLC IV by equipping each of the three areas with its own ramps for loading and unloading. This way, goods can be delivered or picked up in any section of the hall, eliminating long and cumbersome transport routes from the warehouse to the ramp.