>> The distribution centre (DC) was realised by WITRON Logistik + Informatik GmbH as the main contractor. They chose sensorics from SICK because “the systems are widespread in warehouse and conveyor technology and are highly reliable, as well as offering easy maintenance and service”, says Stephan Schmid, the WITRON Project Manager responsible for the DC.

A.T.U.’s combined concept is the ignition key to success

A.T.U. – behind these three initials there is a successful corporate concep of a very special type. When the first branch was opened in 1985, company founder Peter Unger was already aiming to provide drivers with a combination of specialist shop and workshop with a wide range of services offering professional one-stop shopping from A for aerials to Z for zinc-based primers. The concept has really taken off since then: more than 400 branches have been opened nation-wide within 17 years. “And the expansion is continuing”, Jochen Haag, Operational Manager of A.T.U.’s DC in Werl, looks ahead. “40 new locations are added annually, with a total of about 1,000 new jobs – and by 2012 we should have 650 branches.”

A superlative logistical solution

This prospect necessitated the building of a second DC in Werl (the first is at the company’s headquarters in Weiden). The site was carefully chosen: many of the future branches that will be supplied from Werl will be in the nearby north and north-western regions of Germany. The DC is accordingly dimensioned. The building’s facade is about 600 m long. The interior space totals over 1 million m². More than 100 ramps are available for loading and unloading trucks. There are a variety of storage areas inside the building complex. There is space for 750,000 articles in the five-aisle high-bay wheel rim warehouse. The eight-aisle high-bay tyre warehouse holds half a million tyres. 47,000 pallets can be stored in the high-bay pallet warehouse, with its 16 storage and retrieval devices; and the 12-aisle container stores offer 111,500 spaces. The total length of the container conveyor technology, and the routes of the storage and retrieval devices and traversing transport vehicles is almost 10 km.