The groundbreaking ceremony on July 19, 2022, laid the foundation for the largest investment in the history of Reisser Schraubentechnik GmbH, a company of the Würth Group: In the Regional Industrial Park Osterburken (RIO), a few kilometers from the headquarters in Criesbach, the company has built a modern logistics center on an area of four hectares.
The facility went into operation in early June 2025. Delivered screws are stored there on about 20,000 square meters, machine assembled (screw + sealing washer), weighed, and packaged as well as prepared for dispatch. A large photovoltaic system with a peak output of 996 kilowatts on the hall roofs and concrete core temperature control using a heat pump emphasize the sustainability aspect in construction and energy efficiency. Fully automated intralogistics, height-adjustable assembly tables, and pallet picking with lifting aids characterize the ergonomically optimized workplaces.
For the complex project with high automation, Reisser deliberately chose a general contractor. The contract was awarded to Element Logic. "In addition to the technical equipment, it was crucial that we as a general contractor could also deliver the complete IT infrastructure – including our proven Element Software Suite," says Joachim Kieninger, Director of Strategic Business Development at Element Logic Germany. The combination of "AutoStore" competence and their WMS software convinced Reisser.
High Utilization Rate, Ergonomic Work Processes
The centerpiece of the new logistics center of Reisser Schraubentechnik is the "AutoStore" system.
"In the fully automated storage and picking system, the finished weighed and sales-ready screw packages are stored in Osterburken," explains Matthias Essig, Head of Warehouse Logistics at Reisser Schraubentechnik, the system decision. "Since no drive aisles are required, the AutoStore system is very compact and offers a high utilization rate. Furthermore, its picking principle 'goods to the people' supports our focus on ergonomic work processes."
Integrated Autonomous Narrow Aisle Forklifts
With the automation solution realized by Element Logic, the logistics center is intended to meet the requirements of Reisser Schraubentechnik until the year 2028. Continuously scalable components
of the installed system and conveyor technology offer flexible expansion possibilities. The goods delivered on pallets or in steel bins at the receiving area are handed over to a receiving conveyor line with forklifts.
The approximately 30-meter-long pallet conveyor line is equipped with an integrated weighing station, contour control, and ID scanner designed for the recording, taking in, and transport of Euro pallets and 80 cm by 100 cm large steel bins.
At the end of this line are three transfer points where autonomous lift trucks – a total of seven – pick up the checked load carriers and transport them to the narrow aisle storage. There, ten autonomous narrow aisle forklifts with telescopic forks take over the further transport to one of the 18,000 pallet locations in the warehouse, which is up to 14 meters high. The control and assignment of driving commands are carried out from the process-leading software suite by Element Logic in conjunction with the material flow computer "eController" and the interface converter "eHub".
In the narrow aisle storage, the materials are intermediate stored until retrieval and further processing in the assembly or weighing area. Upon retrieval, the autonomous narrow aisle forklifts provide the removed load carriers with the required goods again at the transfer stations. The autonomous lift trucks take them off and drive them to the respective demand point in the assembly or weighing area.
There, the assembled end products are counted into packaged units, weighed, labeled accordingly, and consolidated onto pallets. For simple, ergonomically optimized handling, the input and output stations at the assembly workplaces are equipped with hydraulic lift stations. The filled pallets with the end products to be stored are finally transported by the lift trucks to one of the seven storage stations of the AutoStore system.
AutoStore Supplied via Container Conveyor Technology
The so-called "ConveyorPorts" are provided as receiving stations for the AutoStore system. With rather low throughput, they are mainly used to load the system containers with incoming
goods. Two additional ConveyorPorts are already provided as frames for future rapid system expansions. The empty AutoStore containers (bins) are brought in via conveyor technology from Element Logic's modular "ELCON" container conveyor technology, filled with the cartons, and stored. The ConveyorPorts each have an integrated overload control: The maximum weight including bin must not exceed 35 kilograms.
For Reisser Schraubentechnik, Element Logic created an AutoStore system with 75,000 bin storage locations. In a first step, the system is currently filled with 53,000 bins. Above the facility, 29 "R5" robots operate in conjunction with 19 ports that are directly connected to the AutoStore cube. In addition to the seven ConveyorPorts, twelve so-called "CarouselPorts" are installed, designed for higher throughput.
"They are used for order picking," says Reisser Division Manager Essig. "At the CarouselPorts, employees pick directly into the shipping cartons."
Shipping cartons are processed in three different basic sizes with various heights. At the CarouselPorts, the bins with the items to be picked from the AutoStore system are supplied by the robots. Employees set up a carton, place it on a takeaway conveyor, and insert the items to be picked on an order-related basis. A scale is also integrated into the conveyor, which indicates an overload.
The final step of picking is completed by employees on the dialog screen. Afterwards, the open target carton is transported away. Overall, the AutoStore system achieves a combined average performance of 330 bins per hour for stocking and 550 bins per hour for outbound order picking.
Loop in Outbound Takes Over Buffer Function
The picked order cartons are automatically transported to the central shipping station. There, employees at two workstations ensure the manual insertion of filling material and shipping papers as well as the secure sealing of the cartons. Afterwards, the exact weight is determined for the shipping label, the labels are printed and applied to the cartons. The final shipping cartons are reliably sealed using two integrated, automatic strapping machines. Based on the
carton ID labels, the packages are precisely directed to one of eleven target areas via the conveyor technology, selected according to the shipping destination. In the shipping area, an intelligent system consisting of a loading track, feeding track with a loop and NiO diverting ensures a smooth process and prevents overloading with high shipping volumes. In the subsequent repackaging area, employees place the shipping cartons on pallets, which are then brought to the outgoing goods area via ground conveyors.
IT Solution from a Single Source
The coordinated process control in the Reisser logistics center is enabled by the process-leading Warehouse Management System (WMS) in conjunction with the material flow computer "eController" and the interface converter "eHub". The warehouse management software manages the narrow aisle pallet storage and the AutoStore system.
The eController controls and visualizes the installed conveyor technology and the integrated peripheral devices. The interface converter eHub functions as a flexible communication interface for the direct integration of the system, FTF, and AMR controls for the 18 transport devices and robots from the eController into the WMS.
Element Logic's interface converter offers a range of connection points that expand the functional scope of the process-leading software systems through small additional programs (plug-ins). For example, the WMS uses the plug-in-based connectors of eHub to directly integrate the AutoStore material flow control AS-Controller (ASC) into the coordinated process control. Through the direct connection, data is automatically synchronized in real-time between the warehouse management software and the AutoStore system, and process control is consistently coordinated.
Moreover, the WMS offers some features tailored specifically to AutoStore with the ASC. Additionally, via eHub and the plug-and-play functionality Standard Shipping Connector (SSC) in the WMS, communication with the customer-implemented shipping system, weighing system, and Customer-ERP of Reisser's sister company Würth Phoenix is carried out. With the SSC, the data necessary for the shipping system from the warehouse management software is now continuously available. Kieninger: "This ensures high flexibility and efficiency also in the IT
