Harting has invested more than 40 million euros in the new EDC, which is the largest single investment in the company's history. Construction work on the 7.6-hectare site began in 2017, followed by the first commissioning phase the following year. Harting relies on a logistics system of modern automation solutions and the warehouse management system SAP EWM (Extended Warehouse Management) including SAP EWM MFS (Material Flow System). The majority of goods movements are handled by driverless transport systems. The plant has a total of 19 programmable logic controllers (PLCs).

The highlights are a storage system in the form of a 20 m high-bay warehouse with 6,900 pallet spaces, a ten-aisle automated small parts warehouse (AS/RS) with 120,000 container spaces and a downstream two-aisle shuttle AS/RS that acts as a sequencing buffer. Körber contributed its consulting expertise, software and automation solutions to significantly increase flexibility in the critical areas. Picking in the 6,500 square metre picking area, for example, was optimized in view of up to 20,000 orders per day, which also meet customer-specific requirements. Overall, Harting was therefore able to significantly improve its delivery performance.

"The new EDC came at absolutely the right time," emphasizes Achim Meyer, Managing Director at Harting Logistics. "After all, the growing challenges of the industry demand maximum efficiency. But that's not all. Körber's team of experts not only contributed powerful software and automation solutions, but also the necessary process experience for the integration of this entire plant."

"The challenges in the supply chain are growing every day. Our customers are faced with more products, a growing number of suppliers and additional distribution channels," adds Dirk Hejnal, CEO at Körber Supply Chain. "Technology should help to master these challenges. But the complexity grows with every technical component. This is why Körber was able to score points thanks to a comprehensive range of services with holistic consulting and implementation expertise. The result is impressive and significantly reduces complexity in the face of volatile markets.