The new, highly automated distribution center for spare parts logistics for Linde Material Handling and Dematic is scheduled to be completed by January 2025 near Aschaffenburg, Germany, on approximately 22,000 square meters of usable space. This will include a 30-meter-high high-bay warehouse. For Kion, this represents a kind of proof of its own capabilities.
Board member Andreas Krinninger calls it a "flagship project." It combines leading automation, digitalization, security, and energy technologies from the two operating segments – Industrial Trucks & Services and Supply Chain Solutions. "With the new distribution center, we can support our customers even better by reducing lead times and creating full transparency through the digitalization of the entire material flow – from incoming goods to outgoing goods," Krinninger said at the groundbreaking ceremony on site.
The new warehouse complex includes several areas for incoming and outgoing goods, picking zones, and a block and special storage area. Deliveries are handled via 16 truck ramps. "The technical equipment in the halls is a groundbreaking example of integrated solutions from Kion's two segments, Industrial Trucks & Services and Supply Chain Solutions," emphasized Krinninger. Continuous conveyors for small and large parts from Dematic and AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots) from Linde Material Handling are excellently integrated into the material flow. Highly efficient lithium-ion electric forklifts and high-lift trucks are also used.
"By combining the Group's existing technologies and shared project expertise, we are achieving the best solution for the distribution center's requirements in terms of speed, flexibility, security, energy efficiency, and transparency. Our customers will benefit from even greater availability and even faster delivery of spare parts to their locations in the future," explained the Executive Board member. The Kion subsidiary Dematic is supplying the high-bay warehouse with six aisles and the multi-shuttle warehouse, which serves approximately 110,000 storage locations across five aisles.
The investment in Kahl am Main, where Linde MH has operated a spare parts warehouse and parts of its production since the mid-1970s, is supported by the local community. Residents were involved early on in a public information event and have since been regularly informed about the planning progress.
Kion's sustainability commitment includes the optimal use of the existing site without any new sealing. Furthermore, comprehensive compensatory measures for nature and species conservation have already been initiated or implemented, and more are planned.
At the end of 2021, the Group's more than 1.6 million industrial trucks and more than 8,000 installed systems were in operation worldwide in numerous industries on six continents. The Group generated revenue of approximately €10.3 billion in 2021.
