Kion Group has announced it is expanding its operations in German. The move will be made through construction of a 22,000 sq.m service parts distribut
Kion Group has announced it is expanding its operations in German. The move will be made through construction of a 22,000 sq.m service parts distribution centre (PDC) near Aschaffenburg to supply its subsidiary brands Dematic and Linde Material Handling, which provide intralogistics and warehouse automation, technology and trucks.
Kion’s president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Andreas Krinninger, confirmed the report and said the PDC would reduce processing times and provide better transparency of operations through the digitalisation of end-to-end material flow in and out of the facility.
Special warehouse
The facility which is scheduled to be done by 2025 will feature a special warehouse for block storage and 16 ramps for inward and outward goods handling, as well as several goods areas and order picking zones. The building complex will be divided into different halls, including a 30-metre fully automated high-bay warehouse, with six aisles, and a multi-shuttle warehouse operating in five aisles and serving 110,000 storage locations. Those facilities are being supplied by Dematic.
“This highly automated distribution centre will ensure that we can provide a fast and reliable spare parts service for our customers in Germany and several neighbouring countries. Combining technologies from our group with our collective project expertise enables us to find the solution that best meets the speed, flexibility, safety, energy efficiency and transparency requirements of the new distribution centre,” said Andreas.
The latest build follows Kion’s announcement in November that it is expanding its Reutlingen plant, also in Germany, by 60%. The plant is part of Kion’s subsidiary Kion Warehouse Systems (KWS). KWS is adding 2,600 sq.m to the facility, mainly to expand the production hall. The Reutlingen plant makes narrow aisle trucks and vertical order pickers for warehouse operations.