Peter Jensen GmbH – Tradition meets modern logistics
Peter Jensen GmbH is a long-established, family-owned company based in Hamburg and has been active in the specialist wholesale trade since 1912. Today, the company employs more than 800 people at over 30 locations and offers a broad range of products for sanitary systems, heating, installation and building services.
A key factor in the company’s success is its high-performance logistics operation. Across three logistics centers, Peter Jensen has almost 95,000 m² of warehouse space and nearly 52,000 permanently stocked items. At its main site in Hamburg in particular, however, the growing range and increasing number of small parts created a challenge: How can more goods be stored in limited space while making picking more efficient at the same time?
The answer: automating small-parts logistics with AutoStore and proLogistik.
Significantly greater efficiency on just 900 square meters
How can a growing product range be handled efficiently when space is limited? Peter Jensen GmbH faced precisely this challenge at its logistics site in Hamburg. An AutoStore system directly connected to proLogistik’s Warehouse Management System created a highly compact, automated solution: today, around two thirds of the entire product range is stored on just 900 square meters.
As an established wholesaler for sanitary, heating and air-conditioning technology, Peter Jensen carries an extensive product range. At its main site in Hamburg, increasing logistics requirements meet a particularly challenging building environment: the warehouse is located in an existing four-story building in the city center.
With more than 50,000 items and an increasing share of small parts, the available space was becoming an ever greater limiting factor. The solution therefore had to do more than make processes more efficient – above all, it had to make significantly better use of the available space.
The challenge: growth despite limited warehouse space
Peter Jensen chose AutoStore. The compact small-parts storage system allows bins to be stored densely on top of one another in a grid and automatically transports the required items to the workstations according to the goods-to-person principle.
The scale of the project demonstrates the potential of storage densification: the AutoStore system occupies just 900 square meters of the site’s total warehouse area of around 30,000 square meters. Today, around two thirds of the entire product range can be stored in 30,000 bins arranged across twelve levels. Six carousel ports handle the presentation of goods.
However, especially in an existing facility, an automation project involves much more than simply placing an automated storage system inside an existing warehouse.
Existing building creates special planning requirements
One of the key challenges was the condition of the warehouse floor. The AutoStore grid requires a high degree of levelness. In the existing Hamburg building, the floor therefore had to be raised by up to ten centimeters in some areas.
Fire protection also played an important role. A dedicated concept was implemented for the system, including sprinklers, smoke extraction systems and special firefighting platforms. One important lesson from the project is therefore to consider issues such as floor load capacity and fire protection as early as possible in the planning process.
Software integration without additional middleware
In addition to the hardware, integrating the AutoStore system into the existing IT landscape was a central part of the project.
Peter Jensen opted for direct integration via the proLogistik AutoStore Connector. It enables communication between the Warehouse Management System and AutoStore without the need for additional middleware between the two systems. This is intended to avoid additional interfaces and unnecessary complexity.
During implementation in particular, the project demonstrated how important flexibility is. In parallel with the AutoStore project, Peter Jensen had planned to introduce a new integrated ERP and WMS landscape comprising a total of 25 subsystems. The rollout of this new system was delayed.
Rather than postponing the AutoStore go-live as well, Peter Jensen and proLogistik implemented a pragmatic interim solution: an interim warehouse management system from proLogistik was connected to the existing system via a simple CSV interface. This allowed AutoStore to go live and be used productively before the complete new system landscape was available.
Built in eight weeks – fully operational after around one year
The project timeline also highlights the difference between simply installing a system and delivering a complete automation project.
The actual construction phase of the AutoStore system took around eight weeks. In total, approximately one year passed from the start of the project until the system was fully operational.
However, technical commissioning was only one part of the transformation. The decisive step was integrating AutoStore into the existing warehouse processes and fundamentally changing the previous approach to small-parts picking.
From person-to-goods to goods-to-person
Where employees previously had to walk through the shelving storage area, the system now automatically brings the required items to the workstation.
The impact on operations is clear: according to Luca Jensen, around 60 to 70 percent of the daily order volume is now processed via AutoStore. At the same time, staffing requirements for the relevant processes have fallen to one quarter of the previous level required for manual shelving storage.
The benefits are not limited to workforce efficiency. The high storage density has also freed up space in the former manual storage areas. Peter Jensen now uses this space to further expand its range of large items.
Automation therefore not only increases efficiency in the existing business, but also creates additional space for further growth.
A pilot project with future potential
For Peter Jensen, Hamburg is not intended to be the final stage of its automation strategy. Based on the experience gained with the existing system, the company plans, according to the webinar summary, to introduce AutoStore at its other logistics centers in Salzwedel and Schuby as well.
The project therefore provides a clear example of the factors that need to come together when automating an existing warehouse: high storage density and powerful robotics are only part of the solution. Integration with WMS and ERP, process adjustments and early consideration of structural conditions are equally important.
The results at a glance
900 m² of AutoStore space within a warehouse of around 30,000 m², 30,000 bins, two thirds of the product range stored in AutoStore, 60-70% of the daily order volume processed through the system, and staffing requirements for the relevant processes reduced to one quarter compared with manual shelving storage.
Planning an AutoStore project?
Are you considering automating your warehouse logistics or would you like to know whether AutoStore is suitable for your processes, space and performance requirements?
Our AutoStore experts will analyze your current situation together with you and show you the options available for your warehouse.
→ Talk to our AutoStore experts now: autostore@prologistik.com
→ Watch the webinar recording: AutoStore in Practice: Insights from Peter Jensen
