The aftermarket division of SAF-Holland has expanded into a new warehouse in Aschaffenburg, Germany, from where the suspension specialist will supply its subsidiaries and customers worldwide with spare parts for suspensions and axles as well as coupling elements.
With a floor area of 16,000 m2, the warehouse holds approx. 6,000 article numbers from SAF-Holland; approx. 900 part numbers from the new SAF member V.Orlandi as well as other components from the SAF-Holland Group.
“SAF-Holland is growing. It was therefore high time for a larger aftermarket ware-house. At the new site, we are increasing the storage locations for goods by 60%, from 4,250 to 6,800. During construction of the warehouse, we placed a special focus on energy consumption, high environmental standards and ideal logistics, including the complete processes,” says Markus Prößler, Head of Product Management/Quality Aftermarket Europe.
The new building has been designed for improved sustainability and consumes 50% less energy compared to the old warehouse. Additional access roads and optimized spaces and storage areas have been created. A new packaging line optimizes logistics in the new warehouse; it uses material boxes on wheels which are automatically guided out at the end, making forklift truck traffic more efficient. Automatic weighing units are integrated directly into the packaging line and continuously check the weight of the outgoing goods. An automatic feed system provides pallets to the picker. A fully automatic winding machine ensures that all deliveries are shipped properly and protected against environmental influences. Furthermore, an improved warehouse management system allows current spare parts deliveries to be tracked at all times.
