Vendenheim: a new international logistics platform for Hager Group

To support its growth ambitions in Europe and to get closer to its customers around the world, Hager Group is developing its logistics model on a large scale. The new 27,500m² logistics platform in Vendenheim (France) now handles the delivery of export orders and re-stocking of the group's other European warehouses.

Two years after the start of its construction in 2019, the group's largest platform is picking up pace. In May 2021 we started with the implementation of a new WMS (Warehouse Management System) and with manual handling of oversized products. Today, the launch of the automated order picking system marks the start of the second and final start-up phase. Full operational capacity should be reached by April 2022 with the arrival of the last employees from DC Bischwiller (France).
“We are concretely moving from a ‘close to the factory’ configuration to a ‘close to the customer’ logic with the acceleration of flows in order to respond as quickly as possible, often within 24 hours, to our customers. We are transforming our logistics model, which will be fully operational by the end of 2023," explains Ralph Fürderer, Chief Technical Officer, member of the Hager Group Board of Management and supervisor of the logistics network construction.

This warehouse enables the storage of multi-reference products from the group's various brands. Combining automated operations for modular products (circuit breakers, switches,...) and manual operations for oversized products (trunking,...), the building incorporates the latest technology. A shuttle (or automated order picking system) allows complete cartons to be prepared without human intervention in parallel with retail order picking via ergonomic preparation stations.

At the official launch of the new warehouse in the presence of local elected officials and business representatives on Tuesday 23 November 2021, Daniel Hager, CEO of Hager Group, added: "For more than 60 years, we have been developing and investing in Alsace, at the heart of Europe. This €40 million investment is part of a global development strategy to serve our future and our customers.

This investment in Alsace will be followed by further investments in logistics in France and Germany. These two new local distribution centers will handle distribution for the group's two largest markets as well as for Austria and the Netherlands. They will also be supplied by the logistics platform in Vendenheim.

Key figures for the Vendenheim logistics platform:

• 27,500m², including 1,500m² of offices

• 100 employees on site

• 1,000 delivery points worldwide

• 60 trucks/day

• 30 docks

• 900 to 1,000 pallets shipped daily

• One million order lines per year

• 30,000 references stored