The earthworks for the construction of a new, automated high-bay warehouse with a further 59,000 storage spaces on an area of over 4,000 square meters began at the end of July 2022. The official ground-breaking ceremony on 4 August marked the symbolic start. Around 30 invited guests, including Nina Warken, Member of the Bundestag CDU/CSU, Christoph Schauder, District Administrator Main-Tauber-Kreis, Manuela Zahn, 1st Deputy Mayor of Bad Mergentheim, Marcel Stephan, Head of Economic Development & City Marketing of Bad Mergentheim, the planners and engineers involved and the management of Würth Industrie Service, celebrated the company's milestone. Commissioning is planned for April 2024.

"This investment is testimony to the company's steady growth and at the same time a commitment to our roots and thus to the Main-Tauber region. As a leading C-Parts partner to the industry, we aim to strengthen our customers' security of supply in the long term. And not just in Germany, but throughout Europe," says Rainer Bürkert, Member of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group.

A clear commitment beyond the region

The Würth Industrial Park in Bad Mergentheim is already one of the most modern logistics centers for industrial supplies in the whole of Europe. Around 20,000 customers are supplied from here with a reliable supply of production materials and supplies. Around 500 tons of goods leave the logistics center every day. By focusing on the direct supply of all European customers through centralized logistics, Würth Industrie Service is pursuing a strategy of the greatest possible supplier consolidation - and this on the basis of a Europe-wide quality promise. In order to live up to this claim, Würth Industrie Service has invested more than EUR 392 million in the location and the logistics center to date. The renewed investment is not only a signal for Europe, but also a clear commitment of Würth Industrie Service to Bad Mergentheim. In their speeches, Nina Warken and Christoph Schauder also emphasized the importance of the location for the region and the opportunities arising from the company's increased international orientation.

"The expansion of logistics ensures a significant increase in efficiency and capacity throughout the entire value creation process. This is the only way we can ensure long-term security of supply for our customers at European level and exploit synergies. With the logistics expansion, we are clearly investing in customer benefits and customer development and thus in the future of Würth Industrie Service," emphasizes Martin Jauss, Managing Director at Würth Industrie Service.

Logistics centerpiece: The expansion of the high-bay warehouse

The investment volume for the expansion of the logistics site in Bad Mergentheim amounts to over 30 million euros. With a height of 50 meters, a width of 34 meters and a length of 121 meters, the fully automated high-bay warehouse is an impressive structure. The modular expansion stage comprises a total of six aisles with storage and retrieval machines for the automatic storage and retrieval of pallets. Thanks to the double-deep design of the outer aisles, it was possible to optimize the storage density as well as the statics - while at the same time requiring significantly less space. On a floor area of over 4,000 square meters, the high-bay warehouse will offer over 59,000 additional pallet spaces in future. This will increase the high-bay capacity at the Bad Mergentheim site by around 33 percent to a total of 235,000 pallet storage spaces. By directly integrating the high-bay extension into the existing system, the company is expanding its associated logistics capacity and thus continuing its consistent automation strategy. By using innovative technologies such as camera inspection systems, autonomous container shuttles and self-learning robots in order picking and palletizing, the C-Parts partner is continuously increasing its level of automation and digitalization within logistics.

In addition to increasing logistics productivity, the systems used have the task of reducing the physical strain on employees and improving workplace ergonomics. By implementing goods-to-person picking, the items to be picked are provided dynamically and automatically directly at the workstation. The efficient, 44-metre-high storage and retrieval machines are particularly space-saving thanks to their single-column design and can carry out up to 600 pallet movements per hour with their two load handling devices. The energy requirements of the storage and retrieval machines are optimized by means of energy recovery. "Innovation is securing the future. Our challenge is to improve the site and logistics by continuously developing existing technologies and integrating new approaches. In this way, we increase the competitiveness of Würth Industrie Service and expand customer benefits through new service offerings," reports Helmut Eisenkolb, Head of Logistics at Würth Industrie Service.

Focus on sustainability

With the currently implemented and planned construction measures, Würth Industrie Service is not only setting an important course for customer supply in the future, but is also helping to tap potential with regard to sustainable business processes. One component of Würth Industrie Service's sustainability strategy is the continuous expansion of the photovoltaic systems, which already contribute to energy self-sufficiency with an output of 900 kWp and a projected yield of 800,000 kWh. Discussions are underway with the specialist engineers to expand the photovoltaic system on the south façade of the new high-bay warehouse. Always being one step ahead and acting sustainably and with foresight - that is what the company stands for.