Shelving construction: standard plus leeway

In 2013, the MYTOYS GROUP expanded the warehouse in Gernsheim, Hesse, into a central warehouse. Today, it has over 70,000 square meters of storage space. From here, up to 70,000 parcels containing items from the MYTOYS GROUP online stores - myToys, ambellis and mirapodo - are dispatched across Europe every day.

When designing the logistics center with shelving racks on three levels and an automated carton warehouse for up to 300,000 cartons, myToys logistics only had limited freedom. After all, the property had been in existence for a decade and a half at the time and was used by several companies simultaneously until 2010 - with corresponding parcelling.

myToys logistics integrates independently

myToys-Logistik decided not to use a general contractor for the conversion. "We didn't need a proven system integrator to take on overall responsibility," says Managing Director Tim Kellermann, recalling the initial strategic considerations. "On the one hand, we have sufficient in-house expertise and, on the other, we were able to rely on strong partner companies whose know-how we used to manage the project ourselves."

Involved in the planning: Mike Heubach, Head of Returns at myToysLogistik.

One of these partners was Nedcon from Doetinchem in the Netherlands, who calculated, supplied and installed a coherent solution for the shelving racks on three levels and for the automated carton warehouse. Nedcon had many large companies as references and was not unknown in the group of companies. Nedcon has an office in Bocholt to support its German customers.

A good combination: standards and individual wishes

"There were two main reasons why we opted for a Nedcon shelving system: Firstly, the proven standard components and secondly, we knew that Nedcon could cater to all our individual requirements. We wanted to convert an existing logistics property and needed someone who could adapt flexibly to the circumstances," says Mike Heubach from myToys-Logistik. The Head of Returns played a key role in planning the warehouse.

Individual customization

This required flexibility is one of Nedcon's trademarks. The company has a modern factory in the Czech Republic, where the Dutch company realizes its ideas of material and processing quality. In-house production proves to be a major advantage, especially when customizing shelving. Jerry Lauers, Key Account Manager at Nedcon, is familiar with the market requirements: "Most customers need highly efficient standard products that leave room for special requests." The specialist for storage systems has adapted to this.

"At our headquarters, we employ 50 engineers who are always able to harmonize our products and individual customer requirements." This begins with such innocuous issues as the shelf color and does not end with the consideration of the respective official fire protection regulations. "Our customers also have a say in the construction of staircases," explains Lauers. The online retailer also wanted as much design freedom as possible when it came to the spacing between the shelves. A shelf height of four centimetres is Nedcon's standard, but 2.5 centimetres was required. "No problem," says Jerry Lauers.

Some of the requirements of the district's fire safety experts reached Nedcon at a time when the planning was already well advanced. Nevertheless, there were no delays. For example, special sprinklers were required for the shelving racks, which made it necessary to adapt the Omega beams. Nedcon integrated grid elements into the floors of the manually operated warehouse on each level and directly above each other. "We had to ensure two percent air passage between the levels. Nedcon solved this by using narrow grilles in the floors," says Mike Heubach, explaining the details of a fire protection concept that is consistent in the truest sense of the word.

Assembly during operation

To make optimum use of the hall height, Nedcon built the shelving racking warehouse on three levels - including static calculations and coordination with the concrete constructors. Core holes were drilled to a depth of seven meters to securely anchor the supports for the platform.