Klinkhammer Installs Exotec System for Kühne+Nagel

Kühne+Nagel relies on state-of-the-art technology in contract logistics to make the logistics process as simple and transparent as possible for customers. “The Skypod system convinced us because it is extremely scalable in terms of capacity and performance and ideally meets our high demands for performance and system availability,” explains Tobias Schwettmann, Team Lead Technical Solutions at Kühne+Nagel AG & Co. KG. “Klinkhammer offers the system integration of such innovative systems and is therefore a good partner to develop and implement tailored concepts for our customers’ warehouse logistics together with us.”

System Flexibility is Particularly Important

For Kühne+Nagel, the flexibility of the system was particularly important, as order-dependent fluctuations and growth phases can be easily addressed. In the Skypod system, with over 50,000 container storage locations, the robots perform two functions: on the one hand, the storage and retrieval in the rack, and on the other hand, the delivery of the multiple compartment containers to the picking stations. The system is easily expandable and can be expanded almost without interruption by adding additional Skypod robots, more picking stations, or rack blocks. Up to four order containers can be delivered to the picking stations. This enables multi-order picking, where multiple order containers can be filled with a single item simultaneously. The employee is shown via Pick-By-Light from which container compartment to pick. A Put-To-Light system indicates to the picker in which container to place the picked goods.

The Exotec warehouse is connected to a double-deep, single-aisle shuttle system with 2 lifts via a powerful conveyor technology system. This serves as an order consolidation buffer for orders consisting of multiple containers from separate picking areas. Each of the 18 levels has its own shuttle, eliminating the need for shuttle roaming and maximizing performance. Within the shuttle system, the containers of multi-container orders are collected until the order is complete and then transported to the packing station. At the same time, the shuttle system serves as an empty container storage to balance load fluctuations between picking and packing. The packing area with 30 workstations divides the goods flows into large orders and package orders. A shipping sorter is used to distribute the finished packed packages to the various transport service providers, directing the packages to the correct truck gate.

Commissioning Scheduled for First Quarter of 2024

As a link between the warehouse management system and the control technology of the systems, a material flow control will be installed that can be flexibly and individually adapted to logistical process flows. The visualization system KlinkVISION allows for quick alarm diagnosis in the warehouse, minimizing downtime. The system is presented in dynamic overviews and shows the current status of the system areas down to the sensor level. After the completion of the system integration, Klinkhammer will support the customer during live operations as a hotline, service, and maintenance partner. The logistics center is scheduled to go into operation in the first quarter of 2024.

Photo: © Klinkhammer