A German specialty foods producer needed a way to store large quantities of raw materials in a limited space. The answer was a new high-bay DC with a sophisticated AS/RS. Automated storage and retrieval systems are commonly used for storing inventory in distribution centers, but they can also support manufacturing operations, including food production. Such is the case with the automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) at Feinkost Dittmann, one of Germany’s leading suppliers of specialty food products. Founded in 1891, family-owned Feinkost Dittmann annually sells over $160 million worth of specialty food products, many of which have a distinct Mediterranean flavor. Ingredients are sourced from all over the world. For instance, olives and peppers might come from Greece, Turkey, or Spain. Capers originate in Uzbekistan. Salmon comes from Alaska and garlic from China. Although Dittmann has processing plants in Turkey, Spain, and Greece, its main production facility is located in Taunusstein, Germany, where a few years ago, the company built an automated warehouse to support production and store finished goods. "The company has grown very fast in the past 20 years," says Thorsen Reichold, Dittmann’s CEO. "Before the new automated facility was built, we had to store products in an outside warehouse about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) away." Shuttling products back and forth proved to be costly and time consuming as well as error prone, he says. "The main point was that we needed the space. We have only a small amount of land, so that is why we decided to build an automatic warehouse with systems that would deliver the exact quantity of products when we need them for production," says Reichold. The warehouse allows production to keep up with growth as well as with customers’ demand for a wider product mix. Currently, the company produces some […]