Case Story / Alnatura Distribution / Logistics

Commitment to sustainability

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Green LogisticsThe topic “Green Logistics” is high on the agenda at Al-natura. The chain store specialized in organic food busi-ness established its own logistic centre at the end of 2009 in Lorsch (Germany) in order to supply its trading partners as well as Alnatura stores in a more efficient and environmental-friendly manner. By grouping the flow of goods, many kilometres have been saved. For mana-ging the warehouse and the picking, the company relies on the services of the Rudolph Logistics Group and the trucks and fleet management solution of Toyota Material Handling Deutschland.

Rudolph Logistics GroupRudolph Logistics Group was in charge of planning and implementing the warehouse-processes and the mate-rial usage. Now this logistics specialist from Baunatal, together with 75 employees, operates the logistic inside Lorsch warehouse. Bio-products are stored and picked within a space of 20,800 m². Cooling and heating coils make sure to always keep the right temperature. The warehouse and the office building are designed accor-ding to ecological criteria: for instance, the façade is made of larch wood from the neighbouring Oden forest. The approximately 3,000 different products from the Al-natura range benefit from a high-bay warehouse with 17,000 pallet positions and a 3,500 m² bulk storage for fast moving items. To organise the warehouse for all em-ployees and suppliers in a clear way, the different areas are indicated by different colours. Thus, the columns for the incoming goods of the cross-docking warehouse are orange, and the ones for the outgoing goods in purple. “We must make sure that we offer the Alnatura custo-mers first-class services. This includes the use of reliable trucks as well.

Responsible Material HandlingWhen selecting the equipment, we were looking for a supplier whose energy and environmental policies cor-responded with Alnatura’s ideas”, says Erik Duckstein, Key Account Manager Consumer Goods at Rudolph Lo-gistics. “We were particularly convinced by the BT Reflex reach truck. The device saves resources and therefore fits perfectly with Alnatura”, he adds.

The environmental awareness already played a major role in the design of the BT Reflex. The reach truck is designed for clean and energy efficient operations and is characterized by a high degree of recyclability at the end of its operating life. Ultimately, the reach truck was not the only one to convince. Next to it, Rudolph uses four other types of vehicles from Toyota Material Handling in the distribution centre. These include electric pallet stackers and pallet trucks, as well as order pickers and forklifts. “In the warehouse we have a fully-owned truck fleet from Toyota Material Handling,” says Cord Ellerbrock, Branch Manager Lorsch.

Facts about Rudolph Logistics GroupThe Rudolph Logistics Group is a globally active logistics provider with more than 2,200 employees at 36 locations in Germany, Eu-rope and the Arabian Peninsula. The Group is headquartered in Baunatal near the geographical centre of Germany. The company develops and provides comprehensive logistics solutions for a wide range of industries, the focus being on the Automotive, Transpor-tation, Consumer Goods, Industry and Fulfillment business units.

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By using the low-level order pickers BT Optio Series, most of the Alnatura dry foods are picked at two levels. To pick an item for a store, three kilometres must be par-tially covered. This requires a lot in terms of productivity and speed. The BT Optio has a platform height of one meter and allows employees a grip height of up to 2.80 meters. This allows for optimised picking routes by divi-ding into half the need for an order picking area. With ap-proximately 40,000 daily picks, it produces a significant performance gain. The three-wheel Traigo 48 electric se-ries trucks and the electro-stacker BT Staxio series take over the discharge of the truck. The BT Staxio is particu-larly suitable for the use of double-deck, and therefore also for the handling of the pallets in the truck.

Modern fleet management with Toyota I_SiteIn order to continuously improve processes in the dis-tribution centre and thus to drive down costs, Alnatura and the Rudolph Logistics Group also chose to use the Toyota I_Site fleet management solution. The system measures the performance of the truck fleet and offers the possibility to monitor and control remotely decisive factors like operating costs, productivity and security by computer. The operating data from the truck fleet are transferred using wireless technology to a central data-base. The data are available via a web interface.

In addition a specialist combines the data from the ma-chines with data from the TMHE service database, ana-lyses the data on behalf of the customer and provides advice on how to improve productivity, safety and reduce costs. “This forklift on-board system is very simple to set-up and does not require complicated software or hard-ware installation on site,” says Udo Feix, Key Account Manager at Toyota Material Handling Deutschland.

Toyota I_Site on-board system also includes access con-trol for drivers, which helps to improve safety at work. This gives access to authorized employees of the com-pany only, and the forklift is protected from being used by an unauthorized person. Furthermore, it records the number and power of the collisions per driver and device. The battery monitor supports a better battery manage-ment. Thus, the energy consumption is reduced and the battery life is extended. This is how Toyota contributes to the environment. “It is important for us to keep the energy consumption to a minimum. This is why we opted for To-yota’s fleet management solution”, says Erik Duckstein.

The BT Reflex is designed for clean and efficient energy, efficient ope-rations and is characterised by a high degree of recyclability at the end of its operating life.

The Rudolph Logistics Group also chose to use the Toyota I_Site fleet management solution. It is a dedicated reporting and consultancy ser-vice that provides businesses with all information they need.