The KEB Automation headquarters in Barntrup, Germany, is being further expanded with the construction of a new high-bay warehouse. It is being built over the next 18 months on what was the site’s car park area and completion is scheduled for Spring 2023.

Ralf Lutter, KEB Automation managing director, said: “This investment underscores the importance of the company headquarters as a key hub within the KEB Automation Group.

“At a cost of more than 14 million euros, this is the largest single investment in the company’s history. The 45 x 70 x 25m warehouse also offers enormous potential for us to continue our growth in the future.”

When planning the new warehouse, the focus was on achieving the highest possible degree of automation while at the same time providing the best possible working ergonomics. Therefore, as is the norm in modern warehouses, the transports from the individual racking locations to the picking zone are fully automated.

Phillip Hannesen, KEB Automation project manager (production), said: “At the order-picking locations, work is carried out directly on the conveyor system without removing the load carriers from the conveyor system. Full and empty load carriers are served just-in-time at the workstation, ready-packed pallets are removed and delivered to the driverless transport system.”

In the order-picking area, the transport of pallets by pallet trucks or forklifts is completely eliminated. In the first phase of the construction project, the new warehouse will provide 58,000 container spaces and 8,800 pallet spaces, although sufficient reserve has been planned to significantly increase these numbers in subsequent build phases.

Florian Brandstetter, architect of the warehouse building, said: “The aim was to develop a cantilevered high-bay warehouse cube of over 45m, which allows for flexible and changeable racking positions in the hall area.

“Once the outer shell is in place, we can work inside regardless of the weather and get going on the logistics facilities.”

Next to the high-bay warehouse, another new building is being constructed for incoming goods with three loading bays. Outgoing goods will be handled in the future via the existing, adjacent warehouse.