150,000 bicycles safely under cover

To pick the bicycles, they can accommodate stanchion racks, or rather mobile work platforms. Hellmann Worldwide Logistics transports goods, data and know-how all over the world. Since last year, Germany's top-selling bicycle manufacturer Derby Cycle has also benefited from the connection of the new logistics center to Hellmann's general cargo network. Well-known brands such as Kalkhoff, Focus, Raleigh and Rixe are representative of Derby Cycle.

In addition to warehousing activities, the logistics expert is responsible for the entire supply chain. This includes sea freight imports from overseas, shuttle transports between production and the warehouse location and outgoing groupage shipments throughout Europe. Hellmann's branch manager Andreas Bothe emphasizes: "Shuttles deliver the bicycles from the factory in Cloppenburg to Emstek. With our logistics concept, we can meet the needs of almost 5,000 specialist dealers in more than 60 countries, also with regard to seasonal fluctuations." In addition to incoming goods, order picking and loading, warehouse management also includes repacking the bicycles from cardboard boxes into full boxes and adding the operating instructions.

Maximum care in warehouse management

With 24 aisles and 48 rack rows, the high-bay warehouse has a capacity of up to 150,000 bicycles. For storage and retrieval, Still designed eight navigation-guided MX-X narrow-aisle forklift trucks in a special design to accommodate stanchion frames. These custom-made work platforms are pushed onto the forks and fixed in place by a locking mechanism - for safety reasons, the MX trucks cannot enter the aisle without the locking mechanism. Secured by an abseiling system, the driver enters the work platform and picks at heights of over ten meters.

During the bicycle season, the number of bicycles delivered continues to rise. The flexible use of the Still high-bay order pickers means that performance can be scaled at any time.

Depending on requirements, up to three empty stanchions can be stacked on top of each other using the spring mechanism for the adjustable feet, thus saving space. "In the previous Derby Cycle main warehouse at the Quakenbrück site, up to five metal racks with vertically suspended bicycles were previously stacked on top of each other. Too much time was lost due to the constant rearrangements. As a result of the enormous e-bike business, a space-saving storage solution became increasingly indispensable," adds Renke Wulff, the Still project manager responsible for the MX stackers and stanchions.

Tailor-made storage concept creates an overview

The space in the high-bay racking is used for storage right up to the hall ceiling. To ensure that the lowest rack levels can also be loaded, the MX stackers are operated by induction current without mechanical guide rails. "In winter, we stored and retrieved several thousand bicycles in inverted and full cartons every day using four MX stackers. This number will increase even further during the bike season. The flexible use of the MX vehicles means that performance can be scaled at any time," explains Andreas Bothe.

Ten Still RX 20 electric forklift trucks are used to load the picked bicycles. The MX-X order picking forklift trucks and the RX 20 front loaders can both transport the stanchion racks using the forks offset by 90 degrees.

Warehouse navigation leads to greater safety

Still Optispeed 4.0 is a driver assistance system and is used for automated warehouse navigation. It optimizes both vehicle performance during material transport and operator performance by means of a semi-automatic approach to the target compartment position. The interface to the LFS 400 warehouse management system from Ehrhardt und Partner means that all relevant coordinates are stored in OptiSpeed 4.0.

"As a result, we can distinguish between picking up and delivering the load at the target position and automatically adjust the lifting height of the fork to the respective task. On top of this, the correct compartment is indicated during order picking via device lighting. This prevents errors," explains Lars Lemke, the project manager responsible for Still's navigation system.

Still FleetManager records all information about the time the vehicle was assigned and returned, i.e. the usage biography of all fleet vehicles. Maintenance reports provide an analysis and evaluation of all available vehicle data. Furthermore, better fleet management is achieved as a result of the availability and service life of the vehicles.

The bottom line

"Still's experience, advice and service were crucial to the success of this pilot project," summarizes Andreas Bothe with satisfaction.

Gerd Knehr