With more than 600,000 items in stock, the family business Conrad is one of Europe’s largest technology providers. Since 1997 Conrad is among the 10 most visited online shops in Germany and supplies business and private customers worldwide, as well as its own stores. The logistics centre at its headquarters near the motorway hub in Wernberg-Köblitz is one of the most modern distribution facilities in Europe. To prepare the company for further expansion, €56m has been invested to expand the logistics centre with further storage and shipping capacity.
On November 13th, 2014 Conrad officially opened the extended logistics centre facilities together with the Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer and starts well prepared for the coming seasonal business. In his speech, Werner Conrad, chairman of the Conrad board, thanked his employees and customers: “We expanded our capacity for our customers knowing that only through them this has been possible. That is why I want to give special thanks to all our customers today. We are aware that we cannot invite 16 million customers but are happy to welcome some of our best and most loyal customers who are present today.” He also thanked guest of honour Horst Seehofer who had already taken part in the ground-breaking ceremony of this project.
Aim of the extension: more efficiency for customers and a good working environment for employees
Due to the growth in recent years and the vast expansion of Conrad’s product range, the logistics centre in Wernberg-Köblitz became too small. Since the construction of the first logistics centre in 1976, the company has invested on average every five years in either new or expanded logistic facilities. The current expansion saw the warehouse size increase by 13,000 square metres to 54,000 square metres.
7,500 tons of concrete were used – equivalent to 850 lorry loads – plus 3,000 tons of steel, 500 km cabling and 10 km of conveyor belts were installed.
The two-storey building has a total length of 325 m, is 175 m wide and 23 m high and can boasts of a total warehouse space of 100,000 square metres. The new, fully automated shuttle storage system is equipped with 375 shuttles; 60 shuttle and container jacks have access to 200,000 bin locations. Besides the higher throughput capacity of up to 100,000 parcels per day, easing the workflow for employees was an additional focus point. “Until now, employees had to walk to specific product bins and with it to the respective stocking aisle of their area to pick-up individual items. With our new system items will be delivered to the employee. This makes the work for our people in the new logistics area much easier and more efficient”, explained Werner Conrad. “We have also given attention to a friendly working environment and atmosphere. We use special shipping trays for reduced noise levels; light barriers at the conveyor belts preventing bin collision. In this project a particular challenge was the fusion of existing logistics with the new system components to create a streamlined system.”
Location loyalty in the Oberpfalz, Bavaria: €56m for logistics
“Even though there were many reasons to move to a different location, we decided to expand the existing logistics centre at our headquarters”, stressed Werner Conrad. “We are committed to this region, even though our roots are in Berlin, we love the Upper Palatine area in the heart of Bavaria and we hope our investments support local businesses and our tax contributions in this region also support the city of Hirschau and the community in Wernberg-Köblitz respectively.” Continued Conrad: “After the war, this region and its people helped the family business with the reconstruction of the business and Conrad becoming a global company. That is why consciously the €56m for the expansion were invested in this region. The total investment since 1995 in the Wernberg-Köblitz area lies at around €150m. The Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer, who has been a guest at Conrad more than once, praised the company for its loyalty to the Oberpfalz as a business location and the social commitment “as a model for excellent entrepreneurship”.
Expansive and international: 600,000 products in 150 countries
This year, on average, 40,000 parcels containing a total of about 360,000 products were shipped every day. These products are from a wide portfolio which covers electronic components – measuring only a few millimetres, tablets and smartphones to TV sets with 60 inch screen sizes. “Our more than 16 million business and end customers regularly order from our extensive range of over 600,000 items and expect a reliable and fast delivery”, said CEO Jörn Werner. In addition to Germany, France, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Italy and six more subsidiaries in Europe, Conrad also ships to 150 other countries worldwide.
