Dutch online retailer awards DC fit-out contract to Knapp

The retailer is experiencing 15-20% annual growth, allowing it to invest in a new high-performance distribution centre in Zwolle.

The demands due to be placed on the new distribution centre are considerable. The retailer has 1.7 million registered customers and anticipates making 20 million shipments per year.

Key concerns of wehkamp.nl are large shipping volumes, a fast changing item range, and increasing demand for same-and-next-day-delivery.

Therefore, the automated handling system should react fast, be able to deal with late orders, and provide the flexibility to quickly adapt to the dynamics of online commerce.

These factors convinced wehkamp.nl to choose a Knapp e-commerce solution with the OSR Shuttle technology at its core. The OSR Shuttle has a capacity of half a million storage locations and is expected to process 98% of the entire order volume.

Ergonomically designed Pick-it-Easy work stations will be used for goods-to-person picking in an intuitive workflow that reduces errors. With One-Touch-Picking a customer order can be made ready for dispatch within 30 minutes of the order being received.

Dispatch tasks, such as dispatch sorting and finishing (including document insertion and closing dispatch cartons or bags), are carried out automatically. The warehouse logistics software KiSoft manages this process.

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The new warehouse is scheduled for startup in 2015 and will be capable of shipping 200,000 items per day.

René Wolters, managing director Knapp Benelux BV says: “This project is a prime example of our philosophy Making Complexity Simple. With the tried and tested OSR Shuttle solution, all articles are available at all times, independent of turn-over category. The solution also has an entirely modular structure. The cooperation with wehkamp.nl is outstanding, and we are looking forward to realising this project successfully.”