Presented: Aberle's innovative conveyor technology at mytheresa.com

As much automation as possible, as little automation as necessary" is one of the golden rules of warehousing. Depending on the individual processes and range of items, the components are designed to meet throughput requirements or efficiently bridge transport distances and short travel times. Especially with sensitive high-tech and designer items, full automation is not necessarily the best solution. Humans remain the measure of all things when it comes to handling them in the warehouse, checking and picking processes or processing returns. Example: mytheresa.com GmbH, based in Aschheim near Munich.

Center enlarged by 60 percent

Founded in 2006, the company is one of the world's leading online retailers for luxury fashion. In its online store, mytheresa.com offers women's fashion from more than 200 top international designers. The range consists of clothing, shoes, bags and accessories. "Fast delivery of orders, high-quality packaging and immediate processing of returns are an important part of the unique shopping experience at mytheresa.com," says Michael Kliger, President of mytheresa.com, describing the online retailer's success factors, adding: "The company's outstanding growth made the construction of a larger, state-of-the-art logistics center a logical consequence for us so that we can continue to maintain and exceed our high service standards in the future."

The online retailer developed a plot of land for the logistics center near the company's headquarters. With an area of 16,000 square meters, the center has been expanded by 60 percent compared to the previous location. From the highly developed warehouse, mytheresa.com delivers to customers worldwide within a maximum of 72 hours. Aberle GmbH was awarded the contract to equip the logistics center as general contractor. The system integrator is part of the Körber Technology Group's Logistics Systems Business Area. Under the umbrella brand Logistics Systems, the Business Area supplies solutions for the smart factory (production logistics), warehousing, distribution centers, e-commerce and supply chain management.

This also applies to mytheresa.com's logistics center. The online luxury retailer mainly relies on manual handling and lean IT for its processes. "In view of mytheresa.com's high quality standards, comprehensive automation of the warehousing processes is hardly possible," explains Aberle project manager Christian Wolbring.

Nevertheless, mytheresa.com did not forego automation in the logistics center. "The main aim was to reduce the workload for employees and save long walking distances," explains Wolbring. The central element of the warehouse processes is a container rack storage area of around 32,000 square meters over four levels. Aberle has equipped the storage block with a station for returns processing. From an upstream area with 20 work stations, the inspected and prepared items are fed into the storage and picking processes. In the four-storey storage block, a container conveyor system handles the transportation. Belt conveyor technology links the levels.

Fast access

Aberle improved the logistics of mytheresa.com. Photo: mytheresa.com

Around 150 employees work in the operations departments. mytheresa.com has geared its processes and equipment towards its luxurious range of goods. For example, the article containers are particularly deep, smooth and designed without edges. "This enables fast access during picking processes without goods getting stuck or damaged," explains Wolbring.

When inspecting incoming goods, particular emphasis is placed on compliance with mytheresa.com's quality standards. The inspection stations are equipped with 1,000-lux lighting so that materials, colors and workmanship can be checked precisely. The conveyor technology takes the system containers to the inspection stations for storage. There, the employees store the containers in free storage spaces. "The space allocation in the racking system is not specified by IT," explains Wolbring. "The employees choose the storage locations. This offers a high degree of flexibility for the rapidly changing product range in the fashion segment and saves time and effort."

Container positioning is recorded by scan so that the storage location and items for picking are stored in the ERP system. The online retailer relies on its own app for storage and picking, which optimizes routes and displays pick lists. Picking can only be completed and the products packed into the mytheresa.com boxes once the completeness of the order has been confirmed via the app.

Aberle implemented the system in three months. "For mytheresa.com, order production is less about quantity and more about quality," summarizes Wolbring. "The optimal system layout with the conveyor system, the incoming goods department, the storage block with the racking system and the outgoing goods department forms the backbone for efficient, item-specific processes and flexibility in order to get orders ready for dispatch in the shortest possible time in the future. The expertise of the employees ensures the highest level of quality."