Logistics – from HOCHDORF to our customers

Written by Stephanie Martin | Jan 21, 2020 11:59:00 AM

The Logistics Department is responsible for all goods transport. Storage and transport of infant formula is particularly challenging and needs to meet high quality standards. A fully automatic high-bay warehouse and automated processes support warehouse management.

The Logistics Team at HOCHDORF plans, manages and checks the entire flow of goods, not only from HOCHDORF to the end customer, but also within the company and between partner companies and suppliers.

Centrally managed team

Around 11,500 trucks leave HOCHDORF every year. Approximately 20 per cent are heavy goods vehicles with sea freight containers that will be shipped around the world. The remaining 80 per cent are bound for Switzerland or Europe. It requires a competent team of people to manage the flow of this volume of goods. The logistics for the two sites at Sulgen and Hochdorf is managed centrally.

As an export company and manufacturer of food products, HOCHDORF depends on logistics that work. Our Logistics Team and our ultra-modern facilities control and regulate all of our internal and external goods transport.

A 38-person strong team, including six trainee logistics specialists, ensure the smooth movement of goods. They are responsible for ensuring that the goods arrive at the right place at the right time, in the right quantity, at the quality standard and at the best possible price.

Food safety places high demands on logistics

In terms of food safety, the logistics staff are subject to the extensive demands required by quality assurance. Infant formula, in particular, is subject to strict regulations regarding the movement of goods and storage. Logistics must comply with the norms of FSSC 22000 ( Food Safety System Certification 22000 ), which guarantees food safety in food production. HOCHDORF has also established a Good Warehousing Practice standard that includes general storage guidelines, which are binding for both the internal and external HOCHDORF warehouses.

Fully automated high-bay warehouse

In addition to the spray tower and the new filling line, an automatic high-bay warehouse and pallet conveyor system has been built in Sulgen. HOCHDORF thus invested in an ultra-modern system that enormously increased internal storage capacity and greatly simplified warehouse management. Comprising four aisles with 32 m high shelves, it can store more than 9,900 pallets of infant formula. Four fully-automatic storage and retrieval machines move over 4,000 paletts a day. This modern warehouse facility also requires new supplier standards: correct notification and delivery from the suppliers with precise logistics controls are vital for the flow of goods to function smoothly. The motto here is “quality through cooperation”.

Caption
Header: The state-of-the-art automatic high-bay warehouse in Sulgen can store more than 9,900 pallets. (Image source: courtesy ofGilgen Logictics)
In text: Sea freight containers are manually filled with around 20 tonnes of infant formula every day. (Photography: Daniel Hurter)

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