Logistics hub in Röthlein attracts trade and industry

Logistics 4.0 – powered by Schäflein

Thousands of industrial products, consumer goods, spare parts, finished goods and raw parts are picked, packed and delivered here every day within Germany, to Europe or all over the world: With a hall capacity of an impressive 200,000 square metres in and around Röthlein, the Schäflein Group offers a unique logistics platform for industry and trade in the region. This attracts not only companies from Mainfranken but also numerous national and international clients. A look behind the scenes of this high-performance logistics centre.

Location & site

If you look at a map, you will quickly realise that Mainfranken and Röthlein are centrally located in the heart of Europe. The direct connection to the major motorways in all directions creates an ideal starting point in terms of transport. The whole thing becomes even more exciting from a micro perspective. At Schäflein, warehouse logistics and haulage are just a stone’s throw away from each other. This is a huge advantage for the family-run company’s customers – because consignments are dispatched directly without any detours. Parcel, express and general cargo shipments not only reach their recipients extremely quickly, but also with maximum reliability. “The close proximity of warehouse and transport gives our customers a decisive competitive advantage: very late cut-off times. In other words, we enable very long order windows for customer orders,” explains Achim Schäflein, CEO of Schäflein AG. A concrete example from Schäflein’s day-to-day operations: if goods are ordered by 4 p.m., they are dispatched on the same day – and delivery takes place before 8 a.m. the next day.

Engineering, technology & expertise

From A for connection to Z for delivery: Schäflein provides daily proof of what we mean by comprehensive logistics expertise. The focus is always on the rapid and simple integration of new customers, cost and quality efficiency, high order throughput and short throughput times. The in-house LOCIT consulting team takes care of the rapid onboarding of new clients and ensures optimum performance right from the start. Interface connections are in turn realised by the IT experts at subsidiary EIKONA AG – while fully automated storage solutions provide space in the multi-user warehouse.

In addition to fully automated storage, process digitalisation and the use of smart IT solutions also play a key role at Schäflein. An important keyword here is the “transparent warehouse”. Current stock levels are visualised in real time and the information is made available to the customer transparently. In addition, state-of-the-art AI systems are now able to recognise seasonal peaks or fluctuations at an early stage and plan capacities accordingly to ensure a smooth order flow. Last but not least, every package can be conveniently tracked and traced during transport.

Logistics of the future

Schäflein’s company development to date is impressive proof that innovation has a long tradition in Röthlein. Formerly a traditional freight forwarder, the company is now a modern full-service logistics provider – which set the course for the future, for digitalisation and, above all, for automation at an early stage. The company has been gathering extensive experience with a wide range of automation solutions for some time now. The logistics professionals from Mainfranken have been extremely successful with automated small parts warehouses, AutoStore® warehouses, automated washing systems for returnable containers and fully automated packaging lines. In addition, there are numerous joint ventures and company participations, close cooperation with colleges and universities as well as innovation centres.

The latest “newcomer” at Schäflein is cobolution logistics robots. The newly founded joint venture focuses on the development and practical use of “Robis” – fully automated robot systems that take over manual work steps independently. Schäflein sees huge potential here, both for use in his own company and in the provision of solutions for other logistics companies, industrial companies and retailers. “Robots will soon be providing support in incoming goods, picking and commissioning parts, independently loading systems or removing goods,” summarises Achim Schäflein. However, this is by no means about replacing employee jobs with robots; rather, the automated colleagues are intended to help compensate for the extreme staff shortage. Under the motto “from practice for practice”, cobolution logistics is currently developing and producing in Dorfprozelten and Ansbach, and a new R&D centre including a production hall in Schweinfurt is currently being planned. “Robotic solutions are once again catapulting logistics to a whole new level. We are all 100 per cent convinced by the technology,” says a delighted Achim Schäflein. One thing is already certain for him today: robots will be reaching customers via the logistics hub in Röthlein in the near future – in Germany, Europe and all over the world.

In addition to the logistics platform in Röthlein, Schäflein operates 32 locations in Germany, Poland and Austria with a total logistics area of 480,000 square metres. More than 2,000 employees work for the family-owned company in the transport logistics, contract logistics and IT & consulting segments; Schäflein is also a partner of the CargoLine and ELVIS logistics networks. The joint ventures and shareholdings include EIKONA AG, duckeneers GmbH, CargoDigitalWorld AG and cobolution logistics GmbH.

Schäflein specialises in transparent and efficient supply chains, global procurement of components via the supply and disposal of production lines, distribution logistics for industrial and retail companies and e-commerce fulfilment.