Wärtsilä Finland Oy’s new logistics hub
Wärtsilä’s new logistics hub incorporates Jungheinrich and DHL Supply Chain’s cutting-edge intralogistics technology. While DHL Supply Chain is responsible for the overall planning of the solution for the headquarters, Jungheinrich implemented the intralogistics solutions for the logistics centre.
Project starting point and background
The logistics centre is part of Wärtsilä’s Sustainable Technology Hub – an R&D and production centre located in Vaasa, Finland. Covering an area of approximately 14,500 m2, construction work on the logistics hub began in June 2020 and was completed at the end of 2021. The logistics functions were then transferred over to the new premises in the spring of 2022. DHL Supply Chain and Wärtsilä together designed a logistics concept optimised for the Sustainable Technology Hub and determined that Jungheinrich’s automation solution could be incorporated into it seamlessly.
Intralogistics and implementation
Serving the Sustainable Technology Hub’s operations and the local ecosystem as efficiently and flexibly as possible was crucial with regard to the logistics centre and its logistics solutions. To ensure this, Jungheinrich supplied the hub with a narrow-aisle warehouse, EKX narrow-aisle trucks and an automated small-parts warehouse operated with a Jungheinrich small-parts stacker crane. The narrow-aisle warehouse was completed in December 2021 and the small-parts warehouse was delivered to Wärtsilä in 2022.
The narrow-aisle warehouse contains 21,600 pallet locations, and its order-picking height of approximately 16.5 metres is currently the highest in Finland. Four semi-automatic combi-trucks equipped with a state-of-the-art warehouse navigation system are operated in the narrow-aisle warehouse. The 18 metre-high automated small-parts warehouse has 15,000 compartments. It also includes four retrieval stations and one error-handling station. Together, these automation solutions enable very rapid material flow at the Wärtsilä logistics hub.
The most important outcome of the project
The new operational model streamlines the material flows from the hub to the production facilities and contributes to reducing the transportation of materials in the urban area, thereby shrinking the transport-related carbon footprint and noise.
Watch the time-lapse video below to see how the Jungheinrich intralogistics systems filled the logistics hub
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