With the signing of the contract in June, Kaufland decided to further increase the level of automation in its distribution centers with Vanderlande. Vanderlande is to build the entire system, an automated small parts warehouse (AKL) and an automated picking system (AKA) for fast-moving items. The facility is to be built in several phases and is scheduled for completion in 2023. More than 100 Kaufland stores in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg will be supplied from the Geisenfeld site.

One of the biggest physical challenges in the logistics sector is conventional, i.e. manual, order picking. Automation replaces heavy physical tasks and makes them easier. Automated picking also ensures an optimized pallet structure. For example, the systems are programmed so that heavy packages are placed at the bottom and lighter ones at the top. In addition, the articles are arranged in such a way that the employees in the stores have the best possible routes when putting away the goods.

As early as 2009, Kaufland began to increasingly use automated processes to pick parts of its dry goods range with the first jointly realized logistics system at the Osterfeld site. Over the following years, Vanderlande equipped four further Kaufland distribution centers in Germany and one in Poland with modern automation technology. A sixth location in the Czech Republic is currently being implemented.

Construction work has already begun at the Geisenfeld site to lay the foundations for the new halls to be built. Once completed, articles from Kaufland's dry goods range will be stored and picked on more than 16,000 square meters, spread over several levels. Among other things, a high-bay warehouse will be built for the replenishment control of AKL and AKA. The slow-moving items will be stored and picked semi-automatically by employees at ergonomic workstations in the automated small parts warehouse. Shuttle systems are used here. In total, more than 200 shuttle vehicles from Vanderlande are used at the site for storage and robot technology at the AKA for order picking.

The actual centerpiece of this system is the Storepick system newly developed by Vanderlande, which Kaufland will be using for the first time at one of its locations. Storepick is an end-to-end, robot-supported, next-generation warehouse solution for automated package picking that enables process optimization along the entire value chain.

Storepick is designed to ensure efficient handling of both incoming and outgoing goods through optimized processes in the warehouse as well as in the stores and to guarantee store-friendly delivery.

Despite the difficult circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Kaufland and Vanderlande were able to work together without any disruptions. as