Harting Technology Group celebrates official inauguration of its European Distribution Center (EDC) in Espelkamp (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). Up to 20 000 order items will be processed here on a daily basis, with goods to be dispatched to customers on the day of their order. The EDC logistics centre is the largest single investment in the 74-year history of Harting, costing an estimated € 45 million.
2 000 containers per hour can be taken in and out of the warehouse
Roughly 10 000 packages can be shipped to customers and branches around the world on a daily basis. The 20-metre-high shelf warehouse can accommodate around. 7 000 pallets and 120 000 containers. Installation work involved laying 100 kms of IT cabling, 40 km of sprinkler piping and container conveyor technology with a total length of 1 000 m. Every hour, 2 000 containers can be taken in and out of the warehouse. Technical highlights include the highly-automated picking system and the storage area, which is optimally managed and efficiently used according to the respective order load and capacity.
Visitors can see HARTING technology as soon as they enter the premises, whereby approaching vehicles are recognised and the barrier lifted upon granting of access. RFID technology ensures that pallets are correctly placed and loaded. A driverless transport system is responsible for transporting the goods between the halls and independently selects the optimum route. The highly flexible logistics of the EDC also enable a fast response to changed economic or political framework conditions such as trade barriers, for instance.
All bright and friendly
Harting’s ambition is also to generate a sustainable energy supply. The power for the European Distribution Center is supplied by a photovoltaic system installed on the roof, while the energy requirements for cooling and heating are covered by internally produced biomethane and a geothermal plant – for which 36 holes needed to be drilled to a depth of 150m. The implemented energy concept minimises the Co2 emissions. The logistic centre will host 140 employees in a two-shift system. Thanks to the ergonomic design of the workstations, where pallets can be lifted by almost a metre for picking, employees will not have to bend over repetitively.
The offices and social spaces, reception, bistro with terrace and seating areas are all bright and friendly. With its white facade, the EDC is widely visible on its 8-hectare site on the L 770 in northwest Espelkamp.
