The Winkler Group of Companies from Stuttgart, a wholesaler of spare parts for commercial vehicles and workshop equipment, plans a new central warehouse in Langenau near Ulm. After a tender, the logistics service provider of the group commissioned the system integrator Element Logic as general contractor for this warehouse, according to a press release from the integrator on 28 October. After completion, the spare parts assortment with more than 200,000 parts for the agricultural fleet as well as workshop and operating supplies will be available there.
As the centerpiece of the automation
solution tailored to the individual requirements, Element Logic designs and implements an AutoStore system for initially 200,000, in the final stage a total of 273,800 system containers. 120 "R5" robots will handle the infeed and transfers and will service the picking processes initially 22 and in a second phase a further 20 so-called "CarouselPorts" for high throughput. Eight integrated transfer cells and four ports with conveyor channels, which function as compacting workstations, equip a nearly five-kilometer-long container conveyor system. In addition, for a future plant expansion already eight "ConveyorPorts" have been laid
out as frames for the AutoStore system.
The container conveyor system will transport the order containers into a consolidation buffer and—along volume-reducing carton sealer and labeling machines—into the shipping area. As an order consolidation buffer (AZP), Element Logic installs in two construction stages a three-aisle shuttle system with around 5,500 storage locations and high-performance double-acting lifter. The container conveyor system also feeds the picking workplaces at the AutoStore via carton erector with empty cartons as well as with stackable containers.
Additionally, an automated palletizing solution for nestable containers will be used for
palletizing the shipping containers. The system is equipped with a camera system that identifies containers with low fill levels and nests them during palletizing to improve shipping volume. The completion and handover of the system as well as the go-live are planned for 2027.
More than 1,600 employees of the Winkler Group ensure service at more than 40 locations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia for commercial-vehicle fleet owners, workshops, bus and agricultural companies. With their logistics and delivery concept, the group ships around 200 tons of goods
