REWE Group Fruchtlogistik opened its fourth and final head warehouse at the Wiesloch site at the end of November. At 30,500 square metres, the fruit and vegetable transshipment point in the south-west is the largest and marks the provisional conclusion of a mammoth project.
"With the fourth head store, we have successfully created the structures announced in 2012 as part of the fresh produce initiative. With the head warehouses, we are achieving a noticeable increase in quality and consistency of supply. In addition, we are helping to reduce food waste by bundling our operations. Within a decade, we have increased the proportion of fruit and vegetables we procure ourselves to almost 50 per cent. This means that we are very well positioned in this increasingly important product group and can react immediately and comprehensively to changes in consumer behaviour," explained Eugenio Guidoccio, Managing Director Ultrafresh (Fruit and Vegetables) at REWE Group on the occasion of the commissioning.
With an expected throughput of 60 million packages per year, the Wiesloch head warehouse is the largest. This can be explained by the fact that, in addition to supplying the South West, Central and parts of the West regions as well as REWE Dortmund, the site also has the task of acting as a further distribution centre (in addition to Eitting) for goods from Southern Europe and North Africa (Spain, France, Portugal and Morocco). The fifth distribution centre originally planned in the west is no longer necessary, says Guidoccio. The reason for this is the trend towards regionalisation. Shorter supply routes have become established.
Sees the head storage model as a relevant competitive advantage: Eugenio Guidoccio
Launched in 2012 as a cross-divisional fresh produce initiative for the fruit and vegetables product group, the first logistics milestone was the commissioning of the Leipzig head warehouse in April 2014, which was preceded by the idea of "transferring logistics to in-house management and focussing purchasing more strongly on the origin of procurement," explains Eugenio Guidoccio.
Before the head warehouse was set up, all fruit and vegetable suppliers travelled to one or even several of the regional warehouses throughout Germany to deliver the quantities ordered by REWE Group. From the head warehouse, REWE Group itself takes over the logistical supply.
Eugenio Guidoccio is pleased with the completion of the project after ten years: "We have successfully implemented, developed, optimised and finalised the new REWE Group fruit logistics structure. The success of the project is, among other things, the result of teamwork, close cooperation between REWE, PENNY, the regions, REWE Group and the employee representatives, whom I would like to thank as well as the dedicated employees around the project managers Jan Saueressig and Silvio Saul and the managing directors Bardhyl Qerkini and Matthias Geuder."
Why head bearings?
Switching to this storage structure has several advantages: The previously fluctuating freshness and quality of the sensitive goods are raised to a consistently high level. Overall, the quantity of fruit and vegetables in stock is reduced, as the respective regional warehouses no longer have to keep large parts of the range in stock. The second advantage: quantity planning is more demand-orientated because the volumes required by the regional warehouses are bundled in the head warehouse. The broader database facilitates forecasting and demand-orientated supply to the regional warehouses.
This ultimately benefits the stores, as they are not only supplied more quickly, but also more precisely in terms of quantity. Incorrect items - but also excess orders -are prevented more consistently. Finally, the bundling of goods in the head warehouse allows for even more effective quality control of the delivered goods. For the suppliers, head warehouses offer time advantages, as they no longer have to travel to the individual regional warehouses and the associated travelling, waiting and docking times. one presents the fruit and vegetable platforms (head warehouses) of REWE Group Fruchtlogistik:
2014 Leipzig (East)
Address: Am Exer 12-14, Leipzig
Area: 10,000 square metres
38 delivery and distribution stores
around 85 employees
33.6 million packages in 2020
Leipzig
2015 Berkhof (North)
Address: Wieckenberger Straße 19-21, Berkhof
Area: 14,500 square metres
48 delivery and distribution stores
around 80 employees
30.4 million packages in 2020
Berkhof
2016 Eitting (South)
Address: Am Isarkanal 24, Eitting
Area: 10,000 square metres
Construction time: 12 months
44 inbound and outbound stores
approx. 55 employees
19.3 million packages in 2020
Etting
2021 Wiesloch (Southwest)
Address: Im Unteren Wald, Wiesloch
101 delivery and distribution stores
approx. 150 employees
Floor space: 30,500 square metres
60 million packages (forecast)
Wiesloch
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Regional instead of global, the future is changing everything rapidly, which is also good for local acceptance. Andreas Frege, a self-confessed LFC fan from a neighbouring village in Cologne, has long lived by the witty motto: "Support your local heroes!" Incidentally, I believe that in the not-so-distant future, greenhouses will be built instead of ever larger warehouses...