OLYMP Bezner GmbH & Co. KG has extended its existing company headquarters in Bietigheim-Bissingen/Baden-Württemberg/Germany with the construction of the new OLYMP Logistics Centre (OLZ).
The fully automated warehouse has more than eleven electronic storage aisles and a final capacity of up to 265,000 goods cartons with almost four million items of clothing.
This project carried out at a cost of 40 million euros represents the largest investment made in the company's 62-year history and its successful implementation has now been achieved following a two-year construction period.
The strong demand for shirts, polos, ties and knitted goods, together with increasing production volumes and the growing demand from the global market for the short term availability of OLYMP products, require more than ever an efficient, rapid and reliable warehousing and logistics system.
Mark Bezner, Owner and CEO of OLYMP Bezner GmbH & Co. KG, comments as follows: We have constructed the largest and globally unique automatic shirt warehouse combining shuttle and overhead conveyor technology. This is a milestone in the company's history. This major investment is due to the dynamic company growth which has seen a tripling of turnover within just ten years."
The construction project is a response most particularly to the increasing and flexible requirements of the customers and end consumers, and will increase the speed of deliveries, as well as the supply of goods for the trade. The entire production from all manufacturing facilities throughout the world is brought together here. At the same time, the entire goods distribution of our products takes place exclusively and centrally from the site in Bietigheim-Bissingen.
A total investment of around 40 million euros for the globally unique shirt warehouse
The new, efficient and fully automated shirt warehouse is a striking symbol of the growth-oriented future of OLYMP Bezner GmbH & Co. KG. It should optimise the future product turnover of the Swabian clothing specialist and put an end to the costs of renting off-site warehouses on a temporary basis, some of which are situated a long distance away in the Stuttgart region and beyond.
The OLZ will not only provide increased warehouse capacity, but also enable shorter order throughput times to be achieved, as well as a significant increase in speed, reliability and punctuality of delivery.
The investment volumes for the new OLZ, which is connected to the existing administrative and warehousing buildings in an impressive and visually appealing manner, amount to approximately 40 million euros.
Around 30% of this expenditure has been invested in the building structure and 60% on the complex conveyor technology, the extensive technical and electronic interior fittings, as well as the individually developed stock management software and the impressive high-bay racking.
Mark Bezner describes theambitious construction project: "This project is the largest single investment in the successful corporate history of OLYMP for 62 years.
"Today we certainly require more storage and delivery capacity for our products and are delighted that, with the support of the logistics supplier Knapp AG from Graz/Austria, the state-of-the-art OLZ can be opened on 17th October 2013 in a fully operational state. It is precisely the rapid, reliable and smooth nature of the delivery performance that is one of our fundamental competences for the specialist trade and consumers."
The logistics processing in Bietigheim-Bissingen for all flat-packed goods includes the usual Never-Out-of-Stock range (NOS) and the fashion collections of all brands belonging to the OLYMP Bezner Group, such as OLYMP, MARVELIS and MAERZ München.
With a floor area of 6,436 square metres, the ecological, state-of-the-art and sustainable design of the OLZ features a thermal insulation system, an energy concept with waste heat utilisation/heat recovery, as well as heat pumps, an innovative cooling concept (based on the absorber principle) and the use of geothermal energy.
The use of highly energy-efficient storage and conveyor systems makes it possible in sunlight to produce virtually the entire power requirement of the plant through the use of a block-type thermal power unit (200 kW) and photovoltaics (300 kW). The green roof is an ecological measure for reducing land use and also provides additional sealing with a rainwater retention function.
The attractively designed structure of the OLZ is impressive in terms of its size: it has a length of 142 metres, a width of 47 metres and a height of 20 metres. There are a total of eleven storage aisles, of which eight will be fully operational in the initial phase. The remaining three aisles will provide the logistical reserve in the medium term.
They are 100 metres in length and each has 37 levels. The storage and retrieval of the goods cartons takes place via 407 transport shuttles, of which one is located on each level of a storage aisle. The items are picked by means of a bag system and once they have been sorted according to the customers' stipulations, they are conveyed to the packing position, where they are packaged ready for dispatch.
Fully automated processes and a warehouse capacity of almost four million items of clothing
With a final capacity of 265,000 carton storage locations, the largest and globally unique automatic shirt warehouse combining shuttle and overhead conveyor technology can hold almost four million items of shirts, polos, ties and knitted goods.
Up to ten containers can be delivered and unloaded daily via five ramps. Up to 1,500 cartons per hour can be received and this represents three times the previous volume. At the same time, it will be possible to treble picking volumes to 10,000 items per hour or 400,000 items per week in the final completion stage.
The existing workforce has been retrained for this new warehousing concept and gradually introduced to the new tasks. With the anticipated expansion in warehouse capacity and increase in the stock turnover ratio, additional jobs at the Bietigheim-Bissingen site can be created. In this respect, the new OLZ also represents a major economic factor for the Stuttgart region.
Mark Bezner says with confidence: "At last we are once again in the position of having a self-contained and highly efficient warehouse organisation for all brands. This strengthens our logistics competence and competitiveness on a national and global scale to a significant extent.”
