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Apr 26, 2021 at 5:23 PMDachser is expanding its Allgäu logistics center with a high-bay warehouse for non-refrigerated food and food packaging. The family-owned company is investing around 25 million euros in the new building, which is intended to be operated sustainably. The new warehouse will go into operation in summer 2022, creating 52,000 additional pallet spaces at the largest operational Dachser location.
(Kempten/Memmingen) “The time is ripe to invest in the largest expansion of the Allgäu logistics center to date,” said branch manager Thomas Henkel at the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony. “Our existing customers are growing by about five percent per year and need more storage space. Additionally, we want to create capacity for new customer business.”
Fast-Moving Products from Various Customers
The new high-bay warehouse, with a construction height of 32 meters, offers space for 52,000 pallets of non-refrigerated food and food packaging on just 7,500 square meters. The warehouse is fully automated and designed for the storage of fast-moving products from various customers with a high full-pallet share. Around 5,000 pallets will be loaded or unloaded daily through over 22 loading and unloading gates for trucks, with a transshipment area of approximately 2,600 square meters. The process is largely automated via the installed conveyor technology. On the upper floor, i.e., above the loading area, there is an area of 2,300 square meters available for manual picking and packing work.
40 employees from the Memmingen branch will have their workplace in the new high-bay warehouse. “By using intelligent automation technology, we relieve employees, our most valuable and scarce resource, from manual loading and unloading tasks, allowing them to focus on more demanding value-added services,” explains Stefan Hohm, Chief Development Officer of Dachser, who is responsible for Dachser’s global contract logistics.
Climate-Friendly Operation and Sustainable Construction
Dachser generates most of the energy required for the operation of the high-bay warehouse itself through a photovoltaic system with approximately one megawatt of power. During times when the photovoltaic system does not provide enough electricity, the warehouse draws CO2-neutral power from 100 percent hydropower. A supporting combined heat and power plant (CHP) is also under consideration. Just like the Allgäu logistics center since 2010, the new warehouse will be connected to the district heating network of a regional power plant and can draw heat from there, as well as feed in excess energy. It is also planned that the self-generated electricity will be used for charging battery-electric vehicles and, in the long term, for hydrogen production. The ecological compensation for the construction measures will be carried out in close coordination with the city of Memmingen through extensive planting of the operating area. Furthermore, all rainwater generated on the operating site will be fed into the groundwater balance.
New Warehouse is a Lighthouse Project
“With the new warehouse in Memmingen, we are realizing a lighthouse project at one of the leading contract logistics locations in Dachser’s network,” says Alexander Tonn, COO Road Logistics at Dachser. “The Memmingen location stands for comprehensive expertise in warehousing and value-added services as well as for perfect connectivity to our powerful European transport network. Above all, the Allgäu logistics center succeeds in continuously improving the logistics balance of its customers within the framework of a long-term and partnership-based collaboration. The new warehouse will contribute to this in the future.”
The Allgäu logistics center in Memmingen is Dachser’s largest operational site worldwide. 880 employees are engaged in the transport and warehousing of industrial and consumer goods as well as refrigerated and non-refrigerated food. 3,000 tons of food and 2,500 tons of industrial and consumer goods are transshipped there daily. The particular strength of the branch lies in contract logistics. When the new warehouse goes into operation in summer 2022, Dachser will be able to offer its customers in Memmingen a total of over 200,000 pallet spaces.
Photo: © Dachser / Image Caption: from left to right: Stefan Hohm, CDO DACHSER; Thomas Henkel, General Manager DACHSER Allgäu Logistics Center; Manfred Schilder, Mayor of the City of Memmingen; Alexander Tonn, COO Road Logistics
