Leuze’s new international distribution center goes live after just one year of construction

The ground-breaking ceremony for the new international distribution center near the Leuze headquarters took place only 12 months ago. The construction was completed on schedule one year later, and the center will start operations at the end of July. From that date forward, Leuze subsidiaries as well as national and international customers will be supplied from Unterlenningen.

Owen, June 24, 2020 - “New distribution logistics were necessary due to the company’s steady growth in recent years as well as our increasing global orientation,” says Ulrich Balbach, Leuze’s CEO on why a new international distribution center was built in Unterlenningen, near Leuze’s headquarters. “Fast response and delivery times as well as functioning logistics chains are critical, especially when it comes to system-relevant areas. The coronavirus pandemic has brought this to light once again and reinforced our commitment to the new construction,” he explains. The company has held a steady course with investment decisions, despite the economic downturn. Leuze’s investment in the double-digit millions is a clear commitment to the region, the location of the headquarters as well as the company’s roots. With this investment, Leuze sends a clear message with regard to growth objectives and future orientation," says Balbach.

Commissioning at end of July

The new distribution center will start operations only one year after the ground-breaking ceremony. It is 4,000 square meters in size in the first stage of expansion, and it currently comprises 40,000 container spaces. The necessary space has already been reserved for an expansion to the North, and Leuze started working on a master plan for the further development. From the end of July, all national and international Leuze customers and subsidiaries will be supplied from Unterlenningen. With a total footprint of 80 x 45 x 10 meters, the new building offers the space necessary for the logistics of the incoming and outgoing goods department, the automatic small parts-warehouse (AKL), as well as storage, picking, and dispatch. At the heart of the new building is the small parts-warehouse with a footprint of 65 x 10 meters and a height of 16 meters. The building and room concept is bright and inviting. Glass roof domes and attractive office workspaces allow employees to work in a bright environment flooded with daylight.

Showroom for own Leuze sensors

The intralogistics systems were installed by Leuze customer Gebhardt Fördertechnik as a partner for internal logistics and innovative material flow technology. “As a sensor expert, it was a matter of course for us to use our own sensors for the material flow processes in our Leuze distribution center, not least because intralogistics is one of our core expertises and an important industry for us,” explains Ibrahim Zuva, Director of Logistics and “patron” of the double-digit million project. The Sensor People have accumulated in-depth, specific application know-how in intralogistics over many decades. When their technological competences are applied to the relevant industry segments in a targeted fashion, this results in specific applications – one of which is intralogistics. “Of course, our new Leuze distribution center uses a wide variety of our own sensors for many different tasks – it’s a true showroom for the extraordinary intralogistics expertise of Leuze,” Zuva delights.

Commitment to sustainability and environmental protection

“For us, there was no question that environmental protection and sustainability had to factor into the new construction,” Zuva says. The environmental and quality policy is an integral aspect of the corporate strategy of the Sensor People. During the construction of the interior, the building’s exterior was already furnished with greenery, and new trees were planted on the outdoor areas. The building could thus be optimally integrated into the natural landscape of the Lenninger valley. “Based on our aim to keep CO2 emissions as low as possible, we developed a unique energy concept for the new distribution center that meets the KfW55 standard. In addition to LED illumination, this includes a photovoltaic system that can produce up to 220 KWP of power,” Balbach explains. This enables us to cover the entire energy demand during the summer months. For the additionally required external energy, only resource-saving primary and secondary materials are used and certified 100% green electricity is obtained from renewable energy sources.