Central Warehouse
Ceremonial groundbreaking for expansion of Kurtz Ersa logistics center
Barely 300 m away from the group headquarters, CEO Ralph Knecht welcomed the guests to the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the Kurtz Ersa Central Warehouse on November 8, 2022. Among others, shareholders, advisory board members, mayor Klaus Thoma, representatives of the local press and the group´s internal project team were present at Frankenstraße 14. Also present were companies involved in the expansion, first and foremost Riedel Bau from Schweinfurt and the executing architectural firm Menig & Partner from Rottendorf near Würzburg.
“With the groundbreaking ceremony today, we are laying the foundation stone for the expansion of our fully automated central warehouse. The central warehouse, which was inaugurated four years ago, is now bursting at the seams. The positive business development on the one hand and the increasing parts shortage on the other hand simply make it necessary to keep more parts in stock and have them directly available,” said Ralph Knecht, who also expressly thanked all construction partners for their energetic commitment.
Mayor Klaus Thoma emphasized the quick and uncomplicated implementation of the project: “Success stories are not written on paper, but implemented in practice, and the Kurtz Ersa company is a prime example of this. I have always been able to fully rely on the Kurtz family and the Kurtz Ersa company in all projects and I am very pleased that the company is consistently committed to the location.”
Today, around 60 employees work in the central warehouse in two shifts and move around 4,000 outgoing items per day. There are currently around 34,000 items in stock. The total investment volume amounts to around 10 million Euro.
Sustainable expansion
The sustainability aspect also plays a major role in the expansion. The planning of a PV system on the newly built hall roof goes hand in hand with the planning of four car charging points for electric mobility with the possibility of a retrofit for truck connection. In addition, a cistern with a capacity of 45 m³ will be installed for rainwater storage and drainage.
Construction expansion in figures:
- Construction period: 24.10.2022 to 31.07.2023
- Extension of the existing building by 66 m to the south
- Additional floor space of 3,300 m²
- Expansion of the existing wide aisle warehouse by 140% to 7,900 Europlate parking spaces
- 50% of the expansion area serves as a buffer; floor designed accordingly to implement further automated storage technology
- Connection of a 730 m² open area to the material flow by installing a 2.5 ton elevator
- Expansion of the automatic small parts warehouse by 50% to 46,000 bin storage locations; connection of three additional state-of-the-art pick workstations to increase the max. output capacity by 75%
- Implementation of three additional storage lifts with a storage area capacity of 600 m²