Ditsch opted for Westfalia because the company was already familiar with the processes, procedures and requirements for warehouse logistics thanks to many years of cooperation.

Conveyor tunnel on two levels
The logistical challenge was to integrate the newly created production lines and the new high-bay warehouse into the existing production environment as well as the storage locations including dispatch on the factory premises. The deep-frozen products from the new production lines are transported via a conveyor system either to the new high-bay warehouse with a storage capacity of 1,620 Euro pallets over nine levels at minus 24 degrees or directly to the dispatch area. Storage and retrieval is handled by an automatic storage and retrieval machine (SRM) with double-deep telescopic forks.

The key point of the system is the conveyor tunnel on two levels, as this connects the new plant area with the double-deep high-bay warehouse and the retrieval lanes for route provision as well as the two fully automated satellite warehouses. The conveyor connection also makes it possible to transport products from the existing warehouses to the new deep-freeze warehouse.

Vertical conveyor connects the levels
A single-column vertical conveyor connects the conveyor levels of the tunnel. The conveyor technology can be reversed parallel, so that load units can be transported on this conveyor technology section in both directions. All frozen goods can be transported and stored within the system, which is helpful when strategy changes or maintenance work needs to be carried out. Westfalia's Savanna.NET software is responsible for warehouse management and material flow control. In terms of software functions, the system is fully integrated, although there are a large number of interfaces for data transfer between the warehouses and SRMs.

Efficiency even at sub-zero temperatures
Due to the prevailing sub-zero temperatures, the warehouse was built as a silo structure. This allows the entire hall area to be used because no hall supports are required. Another advantage is the particularly compact storage. This allows storage density and space utilization to be designed effectively, which saves energy costs under deep-freeze conditions.