Henkel : 36 million euros invested into high-bay warehouse extension

Investment into the Düsseldorf site

'The extension of our high-bay warehouse is a clear commitment to the Düsseldorf site, in which we continuously invest. Over the last few years, an average of about 100 million euros annually went into the modernization and expansion of our headquarters,' said Henkel CEO Hans Van Bylen at the inauguration. 'Düsseldorf is one of the largest production sites for Laundry & Home Care worldwide,' added Bruno Piacenza, Member of Henkel's Management Board and Executive Vice President Laundry & Home Care. 'We supply the entire German market and our neighboring countries from this single location.' Henkel has steadily increased its production capacity in Düsseldorf - the positive development of its business in Germany being just one of the reasons why. As a result, and with further growth perspectives on the horizon, the site also needed a larger storage facility.

Industry 4.0: Digital production and logistics processes

One of the building's main advantages is the so-called 'wall-to-wall' concept, meaning that the high-bay warehouse is directly connected to the Laundry & Home Care production facility. Much of the activity inside happens completely automatically: The pallets are brought into the warehouse by conveyor technology, identified by scanning and then put into storage. Orders from customers are communicated electronically, and the relevant products are made available for onward transport by automated trolleys. The pallets can be tracked every step of the way until they are delivered to the customer.

More than twice the previous capacity

While the building was already Henkel's largest warehouse worldwide before the extension, it now sets entirely new benchmarks:

Thanks to its compact design, modern lighting and state-of-the-art insulation system, the high-bay warehouse is extremely energy-efficient - as proven by its LEED certification, short for 'Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design'.