DHL Supply Chain Opens New Warehouse for Fashion Giants

DHL Supply Chain, the contract logistics division of Deutsche Post DHL Group, has launched a fully automated robotic picking system at its logistics center in Staufenberg, Lower Saxony, for its long-standing customer Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf. The 6,000 square meter AutoStore from robotics specialist Element Logic is one of the largest fully automated storage and retrieval systems in Germany. It is located in one of the 5 halls, each with 10,000 square meters and 50 loading docks, that DHL Supply Chain operates for various customers.

(Bonn) From Staufenberg in Lower Saxony, DHL Supply Chain handles, among other things, the nationwide e-commerce business of the fashion retailer and also ships to end customers in Austria, Poland, and the Netherlands. This includes the receipt of new goods and returns, the storage of 3.5 million fashion items, the picking of orders, packaging, and shipping the goods to end customers.

Thanks to the AutoStore system, inventory can be continuously monitored, ensuring high efficiency in the inbound and outbound processes. Customer orders are processed even faster and more reliably. The interplay of the flexible and modularly expandable robotic solution and the on-site staff reduces the lead times of individual customer orders from the moment of ordering to shipping, improves operational efficiency, and facilitates workflows for employees.

The AutoStore allows for space-saving storage and fully automated picking of items. It consists of an aluminum frame in which the current inventory is stacked and stored in 196,000 plastic containers across 16 levels. Above the containers, the aluminum frame forms the so-called grid, on which 160 robots automatically assemble the ordered goods according to individual orders. At 21 ports, the goods are then processed by staff and prepared for shipping.

“We are pleased to support the omnichannel growth of our long-standing customer Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf with this automated solution and to further strengthen our trusted collaboration, investing together in a successful future. E-commerce is one of our strategic growth sectors at DHL Supply Chain. Therefore, this implementation is another important building block in our expansion in this area and regarding our automation strategy,” says Rainer Haag, CEO DHL Supply Chain Germany & Alps. “The Staufenberg location is also very conveniently located and provides us with direct access to our sister divisions DHL Paket and DHL Express. This allows us to ensure that 85% of packages are usually delivered to their recipients in Germany the next day.”

“The new AutoStore warehouse system in Staufenberg enables us to better meet the needs and expectations of our customers and to handle the steadily growing orders with greater speed and reliability. We have thus laid an important milestone for our vision of becoming the leading multibrand omnichannel retailer in Europe for fashion by 2026,” says Marco Rebohm, Managing Director of Mode Logistik GmbH & Co. KG, which, as a subsidiary of the Peek & Cloppenburg Group, manages the logistics of the multibrand fashion retailer. “We are pleased to have DHL Supply Chain as a partner by our side, developing and implementing new solutions together.”

“The collaboration between DHL and Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf here on site also offers great opportunities for the municipality of Staufenberg, the surrounding communities, and the region. Due to our central location in the heart of Germany, the Staufenberg site has the potential to continue benefiting from the growth of logistics. The logistics park has played an enormously important role for years. It is part of the commercial area near Lutterberg on the A7 highway,” says District Administrator Marcel Riethig from Göttingen. “There is the ‘DHL City’, as the site is often called, where, in addition to DHL Supply Chain, the DHL Paket and DHL Express centers are located. For the municipality of Staufenberg, logistics has been a welcome partner for years. This should remain the case in the future,” adds Bernd Grebenstein, Mayor of the municipality of Staufenberg. The mayor assumes that traffic flows will not increase significantly.

Photo: © DHL Supply Chain / Caption: from left: Andreas Siebert, District Administrator of Kassel, Marcel Riethig, District Administrator of Göttingen, Tobias Dannenberg, Mayor of Hann. Münden, Ricardo Carballo, member of the management of the Peek & Cloppenburg Group Düsseldorf and responsible for the logistics of the group, Marco Rebohm, Managing Director of Mode Logistik GmbH & Co. KG at Peek & Cloppenburg KG Düsseldorf, Rainer Haag, Chief Executive Officer DHL Supply Chain Germany & Alps, Bernd Grebenstein, Mayor of Staufenberg