It’s no secret that Amazon is building out its logistics capabilities with fulfillment centers, sortation centers, and a network of vehicles and planes to move inventory from point A to point B. But Amazon also learns a lot over time and makes improvements to its warehouses, so it was interesting to read about its recent activity in Germany.
Amazon relocated a fulfillment center in Germany to new state-of-the-art logistics center in Werne. It was a logistical feat and likely the largest relocation in Europe, according to the company, with 650,000 items having to be moved to the new warehouse.
The Werne site (DTM1) opened in the fall and specializes in large items such as TVs and garden tools. About 1,500 employees gradually moved from the old building to the new logistics center in recent months, and the old centers (EDE4 and EDE5) are being prepared as delivery centers.
Interestingly the company noted that the old logistics center had been housed in a former Ikea warehouse.
For the new Werne warehouse, Amazon invested 28 million euros in technology that includes state-of-the-art employee workstations specifically geared towards the requirements of Amazon logistics.
Amazon’s also learning how to take advantage of every inch of space. “In addition to new conveyor technology in bright and friendly halls, there are over ten meters high shelves. So that the team can pick the goods from a great height, more than 300 employees received training in high-platform stacker driving,” according to the company (translated from German).
As Supply Chain Digest noted in 2015, “You know a company is a little different when it talks about what generation it is on for its distribution center design, like a Boeing aircraft or something.”
