Since 2016, Swedish Agro Machinery has been responsible for importing agricultural machinery manufacturer Claas to Sweden and Norway. The resulting change in the organizational structure required a new distribution center for the efficient storage of spare parts. It was decided to build the warehouse in Skåne Skurup, in the middle of one of Sweden's most agriculturally fertile areas, close to Denmark and the center of Europe. A particular challenge was that the parts had to be stored in very different ways due to their different dimensions. Swedish Agro had already realized several projects with SSI Schaefer in the past and therefore involved them as a partner in the project from the very beginning.

"We were looking for a single supplier for the entire system. We wanted to work directly with the manufacturer to ensure the best quality of equipment and full control over production. For this reason, SSI Schaefer was chosen as the general contractor for the project," explains Martin Gerdtsson, Spare Parts Manager at Swedish Agro Machinery in Skurup.

Local presence is crucial for Swedish Agro. There should be no waiting times when servicing an agricultural machine, especially during the high season. For this reason, the company has 25 workshops with a special focus on the agricultural areas of Skåne, Västra Götaland, Östergötland and Uppland. Swedish Agro guarantees that ordered spare parts will be delivered the next day if they are not available locally.

Optimization of the material flow with the new solution

The goods are delivered by truck, unpacked manually at the workstations, sorted by type and size and stored in various systems. Spare parts for agricultural machinery vary greatly in size, quantity and weight. The spectrum ranges from individual screws to drive screws in the ten-meter class.

Ten different types of storage were realized at Swedish Agro. These include wide span and cantilever racking for horizontal goods and compartments for storing upright slats. This is very effective as some of the spare parts are quite large. To make optimum use of the vertical space, a narrow aisle storage system with shelves was installed. Smaller spare parts are stored in two SSI Logimat storage lifts, which can hold around 16,000 items.

As soon as goods are required for an order, they are picked using a forklift truck or manually by an employee and packed at the workstations for dispatch. All orders received before 3:30 p.m. are delivered to the service workshops the next morning. This is possible thanks to the sophisticated logistics solution with overnight deliveries.

"Swedish Agro is very reliable towards its customers and delivers the promised quality and delivery times. Our facility can be expanded and adapted to new requirements to keep pace with the expansion of the spare parts business. We are very pleased to lead this project and support Swedish Agro in optimizing the material flow," summarizes Anders Jonasson, Sales Manager at SSI Schaefer.

With the new warehouse, Swedish Agro strengthens its position by ensuring the availability of spare parts in the region and optimizing capacity. Martin Gerdtsson summarizes: "The main reasons for working with SSI Schaefer were that the company already knew our needs from previous cooperation. And, of course, that they had a solution for storing spare parts with a wide range of dimensions."