The northern arm of German retailer Edeka has announced the refurbishment of its meat plant NORDfrische Center Valluhn, in the municipality of Lüttow-Valluhn in 2020.
The previous building had reached the limits of its capacity, Edeka Nord said, so it has become necessary to build on an extension. The commissioning of this new high bay, which will be built next to the existing factory, is planned for the beginning of 2020, when existing space is expected to run out.
The two buildings will be connected in two locations, in order to facilitate an easy exchange of goods. All logistical processes will be carried out in the original Am Heisterbusch property.
Two-Phase Implementation
"The implementation will take place in two stages," explained Matthias Biermann, plant manager at the NORDfrische Center Valluhn. "In the first construction phase, the extension will be built and fully operational. In the second construction phase, the dismantling of the old high bay with its periphery takes place - i.e. materials handling, picking, robots in existing buildings."
The original building has 4,000 square metres of space, which can hold 36,000 storage bins. The new bay will double the existing space to 8,000 square metres, equalling space for 68,000 storage bins in the 28-metre high bay warehouse.
This extra space will increase the capacity for stored products as well, from 1,500 to 2,500 items. The refurbishment will also include a new goods receiving area at the site of the existing warehouse.
Changing Ordering Behaviour
"With the investment, we are not only reacting to the changing ordering behavior of our customers, who can select from 1,500 products on a daily basis, but also want to strengthen our logistics location [in] Valluhn," said meat plant manager, Stephan Weber.
"By the year 2020 at the latest, 100 percent of the customers will be supplied via the new warehouse," he added.
Edeka Nord is one of the largest employers in the north of Germany, with around 5,700 employees.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
