THE FACILITY will start supplying the European market from a single location at the end of 2028, with its staged opening complete by mid-2030. It will take over from Skechers’ existing European distribution centre in Milmort, also in the province of Liège, which is reaching its capacity limits as the brand grows.

Skechers aims to secure long-term distribution capacity in Europe while reducing manual processes. “For more than 23 years, Skechers has placed its trust in Wallonia as a strategic base for its European operations – and this new phase is the next chapter of our growth,” said David Weinberg, COO at Skechers.

KNAPP is implementing an integrated process covering all material flows from goods-in to goods-out. At its heart is one of the world’s largest Evo Shuttle systems, storing cartons across more than 3 million locations. A second shuttle system will handle replenishment and buffering, working alongside goods-to-person workstations, an automatic pallet store and extensive conveyor and sortation, all linked by KNAPP’s KiSoft software. The system is designed to handle different carton and product sizes flexibly as order volumes grow.

“This next-generation logistics centre was developed in close collaboration with Skechers’ teams and represents a huge technological milestone,” said Oliver Lehner, vice president partner & products solutions at KNAPP.

KNAPP will also support the site once it is running through its Smart Maintenance approach, which combines predictive maintenance with a resident engineering team on site.