Swisslog has been contracted to expand a logistics centre for Rapunzel Naturkost, a manufacturer and supplier of organic food in Germany.
The expansion will feature Swisslog’s automated pallet technology in the form of five Vectura pallet stacker cranes and ProMove conveyor for the high-bay warehouse.
Valued at €5.5 million, the project’s scope of services also includes construction of the steel structures and picking stations.
The new automated intralogistics system is scheduled to launch in September 2020.
Stefan Schmaus, head of logistics at Rapunzel, says: “We partnered with Swisslog due to its extensive know-how in the food industry.
“We can rely on Swisslog’s unique expertise to facilitate our corporate growth with the same focus on quality that we have had thus far, but with higher capacity and faster processes.”
The impetus for the expansion is the ongoing corporate expansion of Rapunzel, a producer and retailer of vegetarian organic food products that are sold in a wide range of supermarkets, natural, organic and health food stores across Germany, as well as via Rapunzel’s own online store.
To handle its material flows, Rapunzel established a logistics center in 2003 in Bad Grönenbach, very near to the company headquarters in Legau, Germany.
The company carried out the first expansion of the logistics center in 2005, with a further expansion following in 2014 in preparation for the upcoming automation project.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place on July 29, 2019.
The warehouse will provide 6,300 new pallet positions – an increase of 42 percent – bringing the total capacity to 21,300 positions.
Likewise, usable logistics floor space will grow from 13,000 to 24,000 square meters – an increase of 85 percent.
Rapunzel founder and managing director Joseph Wilhelm explained that the extensive construction measures are expected to boost revenues for his company as well as optimize its workflows.
Wilhelm says: “We are simultaneously improving the working conditions for our staff and ensuring that we can fulfill constantly growing customer demand.”
In order to develop the right intralogistics concept to meet this challenge, Rapunzel and Swisslog carried out comprehensive studies prior to the decision to invest.
Stefan Schmaus, Rapunzel’s head of logistics, says: “From the very beginning, Swisslog provided outstanding guidance and planned our logistics down to the last detail.”
In addition to the aforementioned large-scale technology, the plan includes a new, fully automated pallet labeling system.
Dr Christian Baur, CEO of Swisslog, says: “We are proud that Rapunzel has chosen to partner with us, and we look forward to implementing their vision while once again demonstrating our expertise in organic food logistics and pallet technology.”
