Case Study
Strengthen the customer experience via logistics expertise
Since 2018, the H&M Group and Arvato have been cooperating in Poland. In order to handle the volume growth with more speed and flexibility, the warehouse size in Stryków has been expanded from 40,000 to 75,000 square meters of operating area. Thus, the handling volume will increase by around 30 percent.
Starting point
As the strong partner on their side, Arvato manages the online business for the H&M brand in Eastern Europe out of the distribution center in Stryków. As the H&M Group is growing organically, and online orders are increasing rapidly, the Stryków warehouse was reaching its limits of capacity. The H&M Group wants to offer its customers more services, e.g. reducing the lead time in the warehouse in order to provide next day and same day services, and offer shipments to more countries than before. Currently, online customers in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania are supplied out of Stryków.
Solution
To further strengthen the flexible capacity structure with fast process flows in the logistics region of Eastern Europe, the distribution center needed to be expanded. As part of the expansion, floor space increased by an additional 15,000 square meters to a new total of 55,000 square meters. The total storage area of 75,000 square meters is available over two levels. The new high-bay warehouse in the new hall has space for 240,000 cartons and total storage capacity now amounts to a total of approximately 420,000 cartons. In order to pick cartons from the racks which include 8.7 meter high shelves, the use of self-propelled reach trucks is necessary. These move along a 4,400 meter long induction track through the high-bay warehouse. The new hall is equipped with a 123 meter long conveyor belt which transports cartons to the older part of the hall for further processing and is also directly connected to the existing conveyor system in this part of the warehouse. In total, the conveyor line is around 3.5 kilometers long. Other important building blocks for automation are for example special sorting systems, dynamic warehouse replenishment, and the implementation of the SAP S4/HANA ERP system.
Result
A new high-bay warehouse, a longer conveyor line and significantly increased capacity – these are the main results of the successfully expanded warehouse. Through the partnership with Arvato, the H&M Group is now able to reach more customers in Eastern European countries. A wider range of services can be offered to the end consumers as well as order lead times and the through-put in the warehouse are reduced. Additionally, automation solutions for pick and pack processes were created. The logistics center in Stryków has a total storage area of 75,000 square meters, including a three-level mezzanine (20,000 square meters). By expanding the warehouse space, the annual outbound capacity in Stryków will increase by around 30 percent. Due to the expansion of the logistics center, Arvato Supply Chain Solutions has also created new jobs in the Stryków area.
Speed and flexibility in the supply chain are important and this extension strengthens our customer promise. With a strategic partner like Arvato, we are well positioned to meet the requirements of our growing East European customer base in the future.”
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Michael Schröder
Business Development Manager