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Aiming high with herbal and fruit tea

15.02.2021

At Martin Bauer Group, Klinkhammer implements a 31 m high, fully automated high-bay warehouse with production connection.

Martin Bauer Group is a leading expert in the field of herbal solutions for the tea, beverage, food and animal nutrition industries. At more than 20 locations, 2,800 employees generate an annual turnover of 500 million euros. At Vestenbergsgreuth near Nuremberg, there was an undeveloped area next to the existing buildings. Here, the in-house logistics was adapted to the future requirements of the production supply and the storage capacity was significantly expanded. The aim was to significantly increase efficiency through optimized processes and fast availability.

Forward-looking logistics concept

In cooperation with Martin Bauer Group, Klinkhammer planned a forward-looking logistics concept for the automated storage of semi-finished goods and for the optimal supply of the structurally adjacent production and integrated mixing area. Profitability and performance as well as investment and capacity requirements over the entire service life were considered. The new, modern high-bay warehouse consisting of five racking aisles provides a total capacity of more than 10,000 pallet storage locations with double-deep storage. It is a silo-construction with a height of 31 meters. The Klinkhammer warehouse management system including material flow control ensures trouble-free processes and an optimal material flow. The visualization system KlinkVISION provides an overview and enables fast alarm diagnosis in the warehouse. Services that previously required an on-site assignment can now be carried out by remote maintenance using KlinkVISION. »The overall concept of a system must be individually tailored to the requirements of the customer and also economically planned. Thereby, it is important to optimally adapt the hardware and software to the processes of the customer«, emphasizes Frank Klinkhammer, managing director of Klinkhammer Intralogistics GmbH.

Herbal and fruit tea components require special care during storage

Inertization was chosen as fire protection in the high-bay warehouse to be able to exclude not only fire but also smoke. Through the targeted addition of nitrogen, the oxygen content within the gastight building envelope is reduced in such a way that the outbreak of a fire can be excluded. A structural trick ensures the optimal storage of the high-quality teas and herbal products: The warehouse is located on a slope and is lowered several meters into the ground. Thus, the constant temperature of the soil contributes positively to constant storage conditions. Cameras are installed in the automated storage and retrieval crane of the high-bay warehouse for process and quality assurance.

Optimal production supply

An intralogistics connection of the production building to the warehouse optimizes the material flows. Via modern pallet conveyor technology and a retrieval lock, pallets with semi-finished goods are transported to the order picking area where they are made available for picking by means of buffer lanes. During transfer to the storage conveyor system, the pallets pass through a weight, contour and fork clearance control. Proper pallets enter the racking aisles of the inertized high-bay warehouse through an entrance lock and are made available for storage at the transfer points of the automated storage and retrieval crane.

Fast availability of the goods

The reasons that finally spoke in favour of the new high-bay warehouse were, in addition to the automation and the fast availability of the goods, the possibility of storing a large volume in a space-saving and gentle manner on a small footprint. The possibility of expanding the high-bay warehouse as growth continues is already an option today. All measures, from gentle storage and careful transport to fast connections, will ensure even more efficiency in the future for Martin Bauer Group, one of the leading suppliers of herbal and fruit teas, and will strengthen the role as an innovator in the industry.

»One of the primary goals of our system planned with Klinkhammer is to reduce in-house transports to other storage locations, to increase availability and ultimately to protect the environment«, explains Christian Nowak, project manager at Martin Bauer. »Our herbal products are based on sustainably procured, high-quality raw materials that are gently handled using certified processes. This must also be reflected in intralogistics.«

Klinkhammer offers everything from one single source, from consulting, planning and implementation of individual intralogistics solutions to training, maintenance, spare parts supply and hotline. After the plant construction and the integration of the hardware and software, there is always a test run with real data and acceptance with system support. This ensures that new systems fit smoothly into production processes.

Data and facts

  • 31 m high, 5-aisle, automated high-bay warehouse in silo construction
  • More than 10,000 pallet storage locations
  • Inertization of the warehouse for fire protection with two locks
  • Connection to the production building via pallet conveyor technology and retrieval lock


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