Not moving with the times means being left behind: A saying which shows how important innovation is when it comes to economic competition. In times of digitization, keeping up with technological progress is without alternative – and customers benefit from new developments. The BUHLMANN GROUP has clearly demonstrated this, especially with regard to the warehouse system. Whether mobile data collection or the automated small parts warehouse in Duisburg, BUHLMANN has been subject to many innovations over the last few years. Two more have now been added at the Burghausen site.

“We have a new narrow-aisle warehouse and have installed two vertical storage systems. That means we save space, pick our goods more efficiently and deliver faster”, says Michael Thölken, Head of Warehouse. The narrow-aisle warehouse for tube accessories has extremely small corridors and with a height of seven meters provides a very high storage density. The system has an order picker and a high-rack stacker. Both vehicles are steered by an induction loop which makes precise maneuvering through the aisles possible. The optimal use of space is therefore guaranteed, and, says Michael Thölken, “we can speed up picking considerably and improve our performance”.

In both vertical storage systems for small parts employees handle the goods. Every tower is like a paternoster lift which is moved to reach the desired parts. “We have 800 storage spaces in a very small area and save a lot of
room”, explains Michael Thölken. The optimized workspace and the link to mobile data collection not only makes work easier for the employees. Customers also benefit from the technical improvements: “By reducing large collection spaces we minimize our processing time and we can customize our delivery portfolio”, says Michael Thölken.

THE INNOVATIONS IN NUMBERS
1,600
storage spaces in the narrow-aisle warehouse
800
storage spaces in the vertical storage system
300 METERS
induction loop length
7 METERS
height of the narrowaisle warehouse