Go-live for PUMA’s new distribution center

Together with BLG-Handelslogistik GmbH & Co. KG and PUMA SE, io consultants celebrated the successful go-live of one of the most up-to-date fashion fulfillment centers: PUMA’s European central warehouse in Geiselwind near Nuremberg. From April 6, 2021, millions of fashion items will be distributed from here to PUMA’s business and online customers throughout Europe. The world’s leading industrial planning and consulting company io consultants GmbH & Co. KG supported the project manager and future operator BLG with interdisciplinary expertise in project management, logistics planning and architecture - including concept design, detailed and implementation planning, and final warehouse implementation.

PUMA – which is one of the world’s leading sports brand manufacturers – will now supply retailers, wholesalers, and online customers from its new state-of-the-art 63,000 m² omni-channel distribution center.

As BLG’s project management partner in this gigantic project, planning the intralogistics concept design and dovetailing the plant’s technology and processes was as much a focus of io consultants as organizing the various trades. These trades not only included those of BLG IT (Körber), but also those of end client PUMA. io consultants and BLG, working on behalf of PUMA, jointly managed the logistics supplier (TGW) and represented the tenant in all leasehold improvement negotiations with the investor (Dietz).

The highlight of the logistics center is a 24-aisle shuttle warehouse offering 730,000 storage spaces. Around 480 shuttles handle the storage and retrieval of goods. The various functional areas are connected by more than 22 kilometers of energy-efficient conveyor technology to accommodate the substantial intralogistics flow of goods. A high degree of automation ensures accelerated deliveries and increases the performance and efficiency of the distribution center. The combination of a fully automated 24-aisle shuttle warehouse and 27 high-performance goods-to-person picking workstations means all orders can be processed efficiently at high delivery speeds. During the planning and conceptual design of the packing, value added services, and returns workstations, the focus was on maximum multifunctionality. Individual workstations can be adapted to changing needs – easily, flexibly and at short notice. This flexibility enables efficient processing of high order volumes on B2C or B2B special event days, such as Black Friday, ensuring highly effective performance even through such peaks of demand.

“With this fully automated distribution center, PUMA meets the fluctuating storage and distribution requirements in the B2C and B2B business,” says Rainer Diez, member of io consultants’ management board, emphasizing: “the success of our logistics and architecture experts is based on our holistic project approach across all interfaces. Regardless of whose deliveries and services were affected, their focus was always on achieving the overall project goal."