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Tag: OPM

Re-organization Initiative for REWE Dry Goods

Posted on by David Priestman

One of the most advanced logistics centres in the German-speaking region is taking shape in Wiener Neudorf, Austria. REWE Group, one of Austria’s leading local suppliers, has awarded the WITRON Group the order to design, implement, and service a highly automated logistics centre for dry goods. The facility with a size of 135,600 square metres will handle more than 600,000 cases daily and supply around 2,500 stores from a product range of approximately 21,000 items. The core element of the project is the latest generation of WITRON’s OPM solution featuring 40 COM machines. The contract between the two project partners was signed in June 2025.

The REWE Group is transforming the site within existing premises into a sustainable and innovative logistics hub, incorporating state-of-the-art warehouse technologies. From there, the company will supply its BILLA, BILLA PLUS, BIPA, and ADEG stores, as well as cooperation partners such as gas station shops, with dry goods. “This project is a milestone for our entire company group. With the new logistics centre, we are creating the infrastructure needed for modern, efficient, and sustainable retailing”, explains Peter Maly, REWE Group Board Member for Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

“In Wiener Neudorf, we are building one of Europe’s most modern retail logistics platforms – a sustainable and resilient backbone for our supply chain,” emphasizes Marcel Haraszti, Executive Board Member of REWE International AG. “We are consolidating our goods flows, reducing transport volumes, increasing supply reliability, and creating new jobs for highly qualified employees in logistics, technology, and IT.”

Efficient module mix with high cost-efficiency

The facility will utilize WITRON’s OPM (Order Picking Machinery) and CPS (Car Picking System) solutions, enabling fully automated, semi-automated, and store-friendly stacking of cases onto pallets and roll containers. A unique feature of the CPS solution is that employees pick items in a path-optimized manner – guided by a pick-by-voice system – from a pick front stocked with layer trays, totes, and pallets. Replenishment is handled by stacker cranes.

Small-volume items will be picked directly from storage totes into shipping totes at eight ergonomically designed workstations using the DPS solution and guided by pick-by-light technology. Here too, the pick front is permanently and automatically replenished by stacker cranes. The individual logistics areas are connected via a conveyor system network. An intelligent consolidation strategy ensures optimal load carrier utilization for stores, resulting in significant transport cost savings.

In total, the entire material flow includes almost 550,000 storage locations for pallets, trays, and totes, more than 100 stacker cranes, and 18+ kilometers of conveyor system. All IT, control, and mechanical components are developed and manufactured in-house at WITRON’s headquarters in Parkstein.

“From the very beginning, our goal was to create a leading-edge logistics platform that combines efficiency, sustainability, and supply reliability. By consolidating logistics in Wiener Neudorf, we are also setting the highest standards in digitization and automation of retail logistics”, says Isabella Handler, Overall Project Manager at REWE International AG, emphasizing the importance of technological implementation.

Construction measures – high sustainability standards

The project is also designed with sustainability in mind. Built exclusively on previously developed land, the logistics centre will become the new core of REWE’s logistics operations in Austria and a flagship project for the company’s logistics strategy. Construction is set to begin in the second quarter of 2026, with operations scheduled to start in 2031. Where possible, the new WITRON technology will be integrated into existing buildings. Demolition work will begin in parallel to pave the way for new buildings – all without additional land.

“In Wiener Neudorf, we are building the infrastructure of tomorrow – fully integrated in our nationwide network in Austria. REWE Group’s key objectives are to strengthen supply reliability and reduce CO2 emissions along the entire supply chain”, explains Christian Hörner, Managing Director of Warehousing & Transport at REWE International AG. The logistics centre in Wiener Neudorf marks a major step toward achieving these goals and will serve as a model for REWE Group’s international retail logistics operations.”

A long-standing partnership

“We are proud to be implementing this project together with REWE – a clear sign that the chemistry between our two companies is just right”, says Markus Lang, Project Manager at WITRON. “REWE and WITRON have enjoyed a successful project partnership since 2012. Currently, WITRON is supporting REWE Germany as an implementation partner in a major re-organization initiative at the Neu-Isenburg site, where a semi-automated Case Picking System with aisle-bound picking vehicles is being replaced by the fully automated OPM system featuring 22 COM machines. The REWE site in Henstedt-Ulzburg has also been equipped with WITRON technology and is considered a benchmark in REWE’s German logistics network.”

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Witron to Build Automated Logistics Centre for German Retailer REWE

 

Successful Change Management in Logistics Automation

Posted on by David Priestman

When the new distribution centre is up and running, the ramp-up was successful, and the first items are picked onto pallets or roll containers with the help of highly dynamic COM machines, then the ‘Grand Opening’ is celebrated, everyone involved congratulates each other, and there is a festive atmosphere. Automation works and the days of manual warehouse logistics are a thing of the past.

“In principle, we build a highly automated production facility for and with our customers,” explains Johannes Meißner (pictured below, top picture), Technical Managing Director at WITRON, who has been working in various positions at the company for more than three decades. Customers who have a strong background in manual logistics processes are particularly impressed when they visit the first reference customers. “We transform entire work processes, which is why we need a working change management system for the customer in every phase – design, build, and operate – and that we help to develop right from the start.” Meißner and his colleagues from sales and logistics design have already guided numerous new customers through existing facilities realized by WITRON worldwide. “That’s how a project usually starts,” he explains.

Change management begins with detailed analysis

Double-digit efficiency gains thanks to end-to-end automation from receiving to shipping require new processes. The cooperation with suppliers is changing, transport volumes need to be adapted, master data is gaining importance, packaging designs are becoming more important, employees are being given new areas of responsibility and need different qualifications, stores have to be involved, perhaps even the end customer as an e-commerce purchaser. “We do not only supply software, conveyor technology, and machines – we also support the customer in detail as part of the change management, and even take over the service or the complete system operation if so required. We start by analyzing the products, the internal and external material flow, the vertical and horizontal supply chain in detail, creating transparency for the customer and for us. Together, we define new packaging standards, review master data, and provide support in communicating with suppliers who also have to benefit from this process. We help train logistics employees, explain processes, and provide communication support.”

One example of a successful change process with a supplier is the project for a French food retail customer where the Flow Picking Machinery (FPM) has been implemented for the first time in the fresh food sector. It uses OPM technology but works without stock and builds store-friendly pallets just-in-time for customers. A key factor in the system’s efficiency is the structure of the inbound pallets. “In our case, 45 percent were full pallets or single-item layer pallets, which we can depalletize automatically very well. These are added by uniform case pallets, which are pallets with one type of standard carton boxes or totes containing different items that can also be depalletized automatically. This already gives us an automatic depalletizing rate of almost 65 percent without making any major adjustments. But the goal was more than 80 percent,” remembers Meißner. How can this be achieved? Change and communication. The WITRON logistics experts have defined a strategy with the customer to increase the ratio of uniform case pallets in cooperation with the suppliers, and, at the same time, to reorder complete layer units of fast-moving items from the supplier in the future. “That is a win-win outcome for the retailer and the supplier, as it significantly simplifies the supplier’s logistics,“ says Johannes Meißner happily.

The topic of IT is closely linked to the suppliers. “We build intelligent interfaces to their systems and can also quickly connect to the customers’ or their system providers’ systems in order to use our WITRON WMS Suite. At the same time, we have invested a lot in the UX of our systems in recent months. When employees learn the systems more quickly because operation has become simpler or more intuitive, this has positive impact on process stability, efficiency, and transparency in the warehouse.”

Communication and transparency are crucial

Transparency is a good keyword. Another example of successful change communication is an innovative omni-channel logistics center in Switzerland. In recent years, Migros Verteilbetrieb AG (MVB) in Neuendorf has also increasingly relied on automation in the non-food sector. “Everything used to be manual here – spread over five floors. That is hard to imagine today,” says Alexander Schweizer, Head of Engineering and IT, Migros Verteilbetrieb AG. The main building, which houses the near- and non-food area, supplies more than 700 stores and many thousands of home shopping customers from a range of 100,000+ items per year. On a peak day, WITRON’s OPM, AIO, CPS systems pick more than 470,000 cases. And there were initially concerns among the employees. “Yes, there are concerns because the workers’ tasks will change significantly,” explained the department responsible for the change process openly during one of the first visits at the start of the project. “We take these worries seriously, talk to our colleagues, inform them about the progress of the construction site, about new tasks, and further training opportunities.” An employee app keeps staff constantly informed about developments, while large screens at the entrances visualize future tasks. People play a key role in the logistics processes. Those responsible at Migros Verteilbetrieb in Neuendorf quickly recognized this and professionalized the change management. But also the management board was expected to answer questions.

Enabling intensive exchange with reference customers

“It’s not enough to distribute glossy flyers about the new automated logistics centre. The Swiss did this very well throughout the entire project,” explains Meißner. In his view, it also requires a mind shift on the part of both management and employees in the distribution center. That they will no longer work in a manual warehouse in the future but will be an important part of a high-performance production facility. “Both need to be sensitized. And this starts from the very first visits when the customers are in Parkstein. “In addition, as part of reference visits and workshops, we enable our customers to engage in intensive discussions with the logistics and service managers responsible for the systems we have implemented. Even across national borders and continents. Customers also have a responsibility to change, we support them through all project phases, show them the efficiency gains, but if there is a lack of willingness, then the project won’t be a success and we cancel such deals,” explains Meißner, who gets on a plane after the interview to participate in the opening ceremony of the new Coles logistics center in Australia. It is already the second distribution center that Coles has implemented with WITRON as a lifetime partner. Coles also used to work with conventional warehouses.

Three dimensions as the basis for successful change

However, it is not only in Europe and Australia that customers have understood how a successful change process is handled and the opportunities it brings. Karl Högen (pictured above, bottom picture) has been responsible for the North American business as CEO for many years and knows: “Training is very important. We want a commitment to the system. Customers invest a lot of money and rightly so,” emphasizes the CEO. “After more than 100 realized projects with food retailers, we often know this sector “end-to-end” in detail better than our customers. It is therefore also up to WITRON to show customers weak points in change management.” Karl Högen refers to three dimensions:

1. The technology – both the mechanics and the IT – where customers benefit from WITRON’s extensive design, realization, service, and operating experience as a lifetime partner with overall responsibility.

2. The people in the logistics facilities, but also in the stores who need to be informed and trained.

3. The processes related to suppliers, for example, when it comes to packaging and products.

Högen reflects on projects in the USA: “After the project was completed, there were still five aisles with products that could only be picked manually. Following various discussions with the suppliers, these items could also be fully integrated into the automated process.”

Taking along the people in the distribution centres

The people are the decisive factor for Högen. “There is a global lack of skilled workers and new technologies are helping to compensate for this, but we also have to take people along with us. We have to make it easier for them to no longer have to lift and carry between 12 and 16 tons of goods a day in the dry, fresh, and frozen food areas and communicate that change is also necessary.” New working environments are replacing traditional work areas. Manual picking processes take a back seat or are replaced by service, management, and controlling tasks. And WITRON also had to change, Högen supports Meißner’s statements about new user interfaces. “We are trying to reduce complexity, for example, through better user interfaces, but automation is still more demanding than manual systems,” he explains. Only recently, completely new user interfaces were rolled out for a US customer. “We listen carefully to where the weak points are, where we can improve processes so that automation brings efficiency gains and is enjoyable,” Högen laughs. Or as one of his North American customers used to say: “Our highly automated logistics center is a game changer- in terms of store service, transport costs, and leading-edge jobs for employees.”

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Integrator Witron Celebrates North America Milestone

 

Mercadona Awards Witron 16th Automated DC

Posted on by David Priestman

At the end of December 2023, MERCADONA awarded the WITRON Group with the construction of a new 15,000 square meter dry goods distribution centre in Guadix (Granada) in southern Spain. This is already the 16th automated logistics centre that WITRON designs and realizes for MERCADONA – with a total of 203 COM machines in the dry, fresh, and frozen food sector.

Starting in 2026, the highly automated facility will supply more than 90 stores of the Spanish food retailer with 4,000+ items. Since the beginning of 2021, MERCADONA has been operating a modern frozen food logistics centre at the Guadix site, which was also designed and implemented by WITRON.

As a general contractor, WITRON is responsible for the design and implementation of all IT and mechanical components. All conveyor system elements and stacker cranes are designed and manufactured by WITRON.

Picking capacity for more than 120,000 cases per day

The store-friendly and error-free picking of up to 120,600 cases daily onto customer pallets is done by a WITRON OPM system with 12 COM machines. A 4-aisle automated pallet high bay warehouse with 5,600 storage locations as well as an automated tray warehouse with 24 miniloads and 143,200 storage locations are installed in front of the OPM.

Efficient real-time logistics network

All material flow processes are optimized by a high-performance WITRON warehouse management system. This web-based software suite stands for holistic networking and transparency. Both vertically between all system levels and horizontally within the entire supply chain. The result is a high level of “warehouse intelligence”, which means the creation of a real-time logistics network that connects all “players” directly with each other allowing changes to flow dynamically and seamlessly into the logistics process. In addition, the software suite guarantees a high degree of usability and user experience, individually adapted to the tasks of the respective workers.

Proud of 20 years successful partnership

The signing of the contract for the dry goods logistics center in Guadix marks the 16th highly automated logistics project to be jointly implemented. “The fact that a demanding customer like MERCADONA has trusted WITRON as a lifetime partner for 20 years makes us very proud. MERCADONA places high expectations on the store service, cost-efficiency, availability, ergonomics, and sustainability of our solutions. In addition, MERCADONA consistently lives by the same values as WITRON: being credible and keeping promises – to customers and employees. The new order is an incentive to remain an innovative and reliable partner for MERCADONA in the future. Because credibility is crucial for long-term cooperation – between people and companies”, explains Alberto Garcia Pardo, Key Account Manager at WITRON.

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Witron to Build Frozen Food Logistics Centre for Spain’s Mercadona

 

Witron Customers Rely on Quality

Posted on by David Priestman

Despite a difficult geopolitical situation worldwide, WITRON succeeded in increasing its record sales of 2022 by a further 8.34 percent to 1.3 billion EUR in 2023. The number of employees across the Group grew from 5,900 to 7,000 staff members. According to WITRON founder and owner Walter Winkler, this clearly demonstrates the trust of customers in the quality and cost-efficiency of the automated solutions from the Parkstein-based logistics lifetime partner, as well as the trust of employees in the exceptional corporate culture of the family-owned enterprise.

With customer orders worth almost two billion EUR, the WITRON Group recorded an excellent order entry in the past fiscal year. This is primarily due to the fact that almost all leading food retailers in Europe, North America, and Australia are now part of the WITRON customer base. “We are immensely proud of the fact that our top ten existing customers already order an average of seven distribution centers from us and that it doesn’t stop at one project. Our order pipeline is well-filled, which gives both our customers and our employees enormous security. Looking at the global crises, the WITRON Group is operating in a kind of “special boom”, which we have worked hard to achieve in recent years thanks to our holistic implementation, service, and operator concepts”, says WITRON Managing Director Helmut Prieschenk.

Anniversary: 20 years of OPM

The core element of many projects is the Order Picking Machinery (OPM), which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2023. The solution is considered the most successful fully automated storage and picking system in food retail logistics worldwide and is now being used in its 5th generation. “We have solved the automated piece and case picking in all temperature zones, perfected flow-through logistics centers, implemented ugly products into the automated process, optimized consolidation, and are now thinking beyond the distribution center as the next step – into the horizontal and vertical supply chain of our customers’ omni-channel networks,” explains Prieschenk. “The key to a long-term partnership is not only to develop innovations and concepts, but also to successfully implement these ideas in practice. That is exactly WITRON’s strength. We get projects up and running.”

Further expansion of logistics capacities at the headquarters

After production capacity was expanded by 120,000 sq m with the opening of ‘Plant II North’ in 2021, the next new building at the Parkstein headquarters is already scheduled for completion in 2024. This will include a multi-level automated dispatch center with a size of approx. 40,000 sq m, where the completed conveyor system elements will be stored and assembled into shipping units for on-time delivery to national and international sites. The dispatch center is directly connected to the production areas.

Need for personnel grows continuously

Due to the company’s constant expansion, the need for additional employees is also growing. For this reason, 1100 additional staff members were hired both nationally and internationally in the past year, including more than 100 apprentices in various technical and commercial professions as well as for the gastronomy sector. WITRON Parkstein also hired 14 apprentices from the USA, Canada, England, El Salvador, and Morocco who are completing an apprenticeship as IT specialists and industrial electricians far away from home.

In order to remain successful in a demanding recruitment market, it is important to be creative in terms of employees. At WITRON, this is reflected in numerous monetary and social benefits, including the construction of employee apartments located close to the company. “The decisive factor for the impressive loyalty of the employees is the unique corporate culture as well as the great opportunities and possibilities that WITRON offers,” says Winkler. “Because good employees have to be earned.”

20 Years of OPM Automation

Posted on by David Priestman

The revolution in food retail logistics began in Parkstein in 2003. Today, the OPM system is the world’s most successful fully automated logistics and order picking system for cases. It all started with a cake lifter.

The story of WITRON’s Order Picking Machinery system (OPM) begins at Walter Winkler’s coffee table in Parkstein. The breakthrough came with a cake and a cake server from the WITRON founder. The COM – the heart of the OPM system was born. Just as a cake lifter glides under the piece of cake, the COM moves under the items to be picked and uses them to load pallets and roll containers for the food retailers’ stores fully automatically, product-gently, store-friendly, and without errors. “We have a factory for the production of store pallets,” says Frédéric Pinier-Rafer from E.LECLERC Socara proudly. The OPM system celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2023. Almost 100 OPM systems are in operation today, supplying more than 35,000 stores and 100 million consumers in North America, Europe, and Australia every day.

Helmut Prieschenk, CEO of WITRON, and Karl Högen, CEO of WITRON North America, agree that the OPM was a revolution for the food retail industry. “That was Walter Winkler’s masterpiece,” says Prieschenk. Högen remembers: “Back then, I was working in sales at the Logistikhof. When the solution was first presented to the company, I thought: What a brilliant idea. This is going to be great!”

Today, Prieschenk and Högen are primarily focused on the business development in the various WITRON sales regions and look back to the first projects. “The pilot customer and the impetus for the development of the OPM system came via the food retailer KROGER from the US.” But the Europeans quickly followed. The first OPM logistics centres in Europe were built for MERCADONA in Spain and EDEKA in Germany.

The initial situation is hardly any different to today. “For many retailers, issues such as lack of personnel and high staff fluctuation were already a major challenge in their conventional warehouses back then”, says Högen. “Not surprising,” according to Prieschenk. “Millions of tons of food were moved by human hands. Employees had to bend down, lift, and carry heavy loads. That is already challenging and no fun in the dry food sector – and even less so in the fresh and frozen food environment.”

The workplaces in the distribution centres became more attractive thanks to the OPM system. “The new machines were proudly presented to the relatives at the family’s day,” Högen remembers the first system that was implemented in Phoenix, Arizona. Customers needed 60 percent less staff in the warehouse and, thanks to the automated production of load carriers, transport costs were reduced by more than 10 percent, and the time required to put items away in the stores was also reduced by double-digits. “The pallet is built store-friendly – individually according to the layout of the respective store. It only needs to be handled once in the store. It can directly be used to replenish the shelves or is sent to the back room,” explains Högen. In addition, there is less food waste due to damaged goods during transportation or unpacking. Thanks to new packaging technologies in the OPM system, the store managers and their staff members also have to dispose of less wrapping. “The OPM solution is integrated end-to-end into the customer’s processes – economically, ecologically, and socially,” he adds.

“The decisive factor is not to have an idea for an innovation,” emphasizes Prieschenk, “but to successfully implement this idea in practical use. That is exactly WITRON’s strength. We get systems up and running! Regardless of the size and complexity of the task.” With OPM, it is now possible to pick more than 95 percent of the product scope of a full-range retailer (dry, fresh, and frozen) fully automatically and store-friendly in aisle sequence onto pallets or roll containers, largely without the need for personnel.

EDEKA was one of the first customers to use the OPM system. Thomas Kerkenhoff who was responsible for logistics at EDEKA Rhein-Ruhr-Stiftung back then, has a concrete opinion on this. “There is no competitor solution on the market that can handle more than 10,000 different items fully automatically as efficiently as the WITRON system.” The manager is sure: “In order to operate a facility successfully and economically in the long-term, you need a particularly good team both at your logistics partner and on site that is constantly working on the enhancement of the mechanical components and the software. But this only works if you also have a partner who has already implemented a large number of systems in the industry worldwide, and thus has extensive experience, expertise, and references. If I invest money, then the system must be able to map my business model also in 25 years’ time – but at the same time it must also be able to flexibly adapt to new basic conditions and business processes. That is what I expect as a customer.” And this is what the OPM system is able to achieve – now in its fifth generation.

“Our systems grow with the customer. The challenge in a project is that we receive figures at the beginning of the project design phase that can change again during the implementation phase. And when markets change, the situation is often completely different.” For example, we had to quickly integrate efficient e-commerce processes for customers in the logistics centres that were originally designed purely for store delivery. The number of items changes, the volume varies, the order lines adapt, and more distribution channels are added. “We always have the goal in mind, primarily a high level of customer service, see logistics from the end customer’s perspective in the store or at home, and analyse developments”, explains Prieschenk, who has the advantage that WITRON supplies markets worldwide with its solutions, knows the processes in food retail down to the last detail, and recognizes developments on other continents faster than others.

High availability thanks to solid mechanics

The success of the OPM system is also based on the system’s design. “Mechanics has always been simple and thus solid, hardly prone to errors, and easy to maintain. The result is high system availability, 24/7. The software, the stacking algorithm takes care of the complexity”, emphasizes Helmut Prieschenk. Word spread quickly in the industry. Matt Swindells from Coles and his team travelled from Australia to the USA and Europe, saw various systems and his comment was: “This is like Tetris on steroids.” He then ordered the OPM system for his company’s sites in Brisbane and Sydney. More than 2,000 see freight containers made their way to down under. The WITRON staff travelled ahead by plane.

However, WITRON is not only responsible for the technology, but also ensures a permanently high availability of the system with well-trained personnel. “This has opened up a completely new business model for us. More than 4,000 staff members are currently working for us in the areas of service, maintenance, and system operation on site at our customers’ distribution centres”, says Prieschenk. For WITRON, service means that the customers can concentrate on their core business thanks to our technicians. WITRON’s successful OnSite team model was born at SPAR in Wels in 1998. The highly dynamic processes in an automated logistics centre demanded new answers from WITRON at that time. Back then, six technicians took care of the system. In the meantime, the facility has grown many times over in terms of footprint and throughput – and with it the service team. Today, there are 120 staff members working in multiple shifts ensuring smooth processes with regard to mechanics and IT – automation creates attractive workplaces. “It is not the number of employees in an on-site team that is decisive, but rather their extensive skills, their great commitment, as well as the scope of tasks, for which the WITRON experts take responsibility”, explains Prieschenk.

Current challenge: Intelligent networks

And WITRON is not running out of work. Customers want to build new facilities, but also realize brownfield projects with the OPM system. The OPM system works economically and highly efficiently in the dry, fresh, and frozen food sector – regardless of whether it is a new or existing building. But there are new tasks for the developers at WITRON. The story of the OPM system continues to be told, they say in Parkstein. The requirements for intra-logistics have changed and the OPM system has mastered the market changes – from pure store supply to omni-channel centres.

“We have solved the issue of automated piece and case picking, optimized flow-through logistics centres, implemented ugly items into the automated process, and are now continuing to think one step further – beyond consolidation”, promises Högen. Intelligent networks are the actual challenge. Now, not only the logistics centres, but the entire supply chains of the customers are to become efficient.” Our goal is to integrate all horizontal and vertical players of an omni-channel network: suppliers, logistics centre, transportation. This also includes the different distribution channels: store, home delivery, click & collect, drives. It is therefore important to create an efficient end-to-end retail platform, where silos are avoided, where all hubs permanently communicate with and optimize each other,” concludes Prieschenk, looking into the future. “WITRON’s success is a combination of our corporate culture, technical expertise, and domain knowledge, the two managers agree. Walter Winkler would say: We simply know our way around.”

4th Stage at SPAR Warehouse in Austria

Posted on by David Priestman

After an implementation period of more than two years, SPAR Österreichische Warenhandels AG and its project partner WITRON Logistik + Informatik GmbH from Parkstein (Bavaria, Germany), successfully put the fourth expansion stage of the Wels central warehouse (ZLW) into operation. By integrating state-of-the-art logistics technology, SPAR will be able to pick an additional 140,000 cases in a two-shift-operation in the future. The installation was carried out as a greenfield / brownfield combination in a 20,000 square meter new building, which was connected to the existing logistics areas during ongoing operations. SPAR and WITRON have enjoyed more than 25 years of successful cooperation, during which the ZLW project phases 1, 2, and 3 were put into operation in 1998, 2002, and 2015. In all extension and modernization phases, WITRON was responsible for the design, implementation, service, and system operation as a lifetime partner. The ZLW has a total footprint of 50,000 square meters and supplies 1,500 stores throughout Austria as well as the SPAR foreign subsidiaries with more than 18,000 different dry goods. The distribution centre is designed for a daily picking capacity of 340,000 pick units in two-shift operation and for picking up to 500,000 pick units on peak days in three-shift operation.

“For SPAR it is important to focus on service level, cost-efficiency, people, sustainability, and flexibility when using innovative logistics technology”, explains WITRON Project Manager Ulrich Schlosser. “When it comes to the service level, SPAR stores benefit from premium customer service enabled by holistic, cost-efficient processes within the internal and external supply chain. SPAR employees in the stores benefit from efficient product handling due to store-friendly picked roll containers and the staff in the distribution centre benefits from ergonomic workstations. Sustainability is reflected by significant CO2 savings due to densely packed load carriers, optimal truck utilization, and fewer truck tours. Furthermore, through space savings in construction and the use of state-of-the-art warehouse technology. In addition, flexibility and expandability also ensure future viability so that changing market requirements can be met quickly and flexibly”.

OPM as a central element

Central element of the “construction stage 4” expansion – just like in construction stage 3 – is the fully automated storage and picking system OPM (Order Picking Machinery). With the implementation of 16 additional COM machines (in total 24 COMs), it is now possible to pick up to 140,000 additional cases (in total 340,000 cases in two shifts) daily store-friendly onto roll containers in two shifts.

New additions also included an automated tray warehouse with 32 stacker cranes (in total 48) and 293,000 tray storage locations (in total 450,000) as well as a pallet high bay warehouse with 8 stacker cranes (in total 24) and 31,200 pallet storage locations (in total 73,000), 7 de-palletizers (in total 10), and 3 stretch-wrappers (in total 5). An automatic empties buffer with 4 stacker cranes for up to 8,600 roll containers has also been added. This ensures that the logistics loop of the ZLW is always provided with the optimal number of roll containers.

Holistic modification concept is a decisive factor

“However, not only the technical concept was important for the project success”, according to WITRON Project Manager Ulrich Schlosser. “Equally important for a combined greenfield / brownfield project is also a holistic change concept – meaning how the integration takes place in terms of timing and organization. In the process, the most important question has to be clearly addressed: How will the project be implemented throughout the entire project phase – and how will the ongoing operation or delivery to stores and consumers take place at the same time, without any interruptions”, explains Ulrich Schlosser. “Due to the modular design of our end-to-end solutions and their physical compactness, we can develop highly flexible implementation and future concepts for our customers already in the design phase. These can be integrated both directly into an already existing system considering increasing volumes, growing product ranges, additional pick stations, or changing business and material flow processes, or, as in the case of SPAR, they can be integrated into the material flow of an existing system via a new building.”

500,000 pick units for 1,500 stores

The ZLW has a total footprint of 50,000 square meters and supplies 1,500 stores throughout Austria as well as the SPAR foreign subsidiaries with more than 18,000 different dry goods. The distribution centre is designed for a daily picking capacity of 500,000 pick units. The WITRON solutions OPM and DPS are used for storage and picking. A WITRON OnSite team is responsible for service, maintenance, and system operation in shift operation and thus enables a permanently high availability of all logistics areas, material flows, mechanical, control, and IT components.

“Mutual trust is the foundation of more than 25 years of partnership between SPAR and WITRON. SPAR has often been a pilot customer and has repeatedly supported us with the integration of new technologies and services in a sustainable way. SPAR and WITRON – that fits: the corporate culture, the technology, and particularly the people”, says WITRON Project Manager Ulrich Schlosser.

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