New fully automated warehouse in Rödental

Wöhner sets the course for further growth of with intelligent automation. The new construction of a high-bay warehouse and automated small parts warehouse in Rödental is flanked by further automation measures.
 
Additional 440-square-meters of warehouse and office space will be built and equipped with state-of-the-art technology 
•    The investment cost is about six million euros for warehousing and one million euros for automation 
•    Ground breaking ceremony today, August 29, 2022, with commissioning expected in November 2023


Rödental, August 29, 2022 - Wöhner, a leading supplier in the field of energy distribution, control technology and renewable energies, is pushing ahead with automation . With the conversion of a hall complex, 440-square-meters of automated small parts warehouse and office space will be created at the Rödental site. The official ground breaking ceremony for what is now the third high-bay warehouse will take place today on August 29, 2022, with demolition work on the existing hall complex starting immediately. 

The building is expected to be completed by the end of March 2023. It will then be equipped with the new warehouse technology, which will take six months. Final commissioning is scheduled for November 2023.


Relieving current capacities
With the existing automatic small parts warehouses operating at their capacity limits, action had to be taken. The new construction will expand Wöhner’s storage capacities by 20% - and provide relief to the existing high-bay warehouses.
The new facility will operate independently of the existing high-bay warehouses and allow parts and assemblies to be supplied centrally, close to production.

The use of advanced automation technology offers Wöhner numerous advantages. For example, the automatic supply of production equipment and automation lines provide more time and capacity for maintenance and repair, as well as other setup activities. Special driverless transport vehicles are specifically designed to meet on-site requirements and take over the material supply to automated assembly lines. So-called 'shuttles' allow more flexibility and, above all, efficiency of the high-bay warehouse.


New small parts warehouse centrally located in the production area 
The warehouse is 40 meters long, eleven meters wide and five meters high. It will be located between pre-assembly and production. The investment cost is around six million euros. 

Following the ground breaking ceremony on August 29, 2022, the foundation will first be prepared and the new floor slab and warehouse, including office capacity, will be built. Starting April 2023, the upper floor of the building will then be expanded for office use.

"The investment in the new warehouse is not only a clear commitment to the Rödental site. Progressive automation is also a central prerequisite for our ambitious growth targets in the coming years –, which we now want to achieve with the help of a fully automated material flow and highly efficient production," confirms Philipp Steinberger, CEO at Wöhner.


Comprehensive automation   
Several external and internal partners are involved in the ambitious project - from architects to shelf technology specialists and designers. In the course of the construction, further important steps towards an increasingly comprehensive automation of capacities will be realized. In addition to the small parts warehouse, the processes for storing and retrieving materials in production will also to be automated. Material flow computers will control the corresponding processes. Wöhner is investing around one million euros here, and work is being carried out in parallel with the hall construction. Once completed, the company will have taken an important step forward in stabilizing and accelerating its current growth path.