The new logistics centre for the dry goods range is considered state-of-the-art for full automation and sustainable construction.
REWE Group’s most modern logistics center is ready. Three years after the start of construction, the retail company celebrated the opening of RE D 39 in Magdeburg Rothensee on Friday, June 21, 2024, with guests from politics, the neighborhood and partner companies. REWE has invested around 250 million euros in the new building.
With an area of 49,500 square metres, the RE D 39 offers space for 20,000 items from the dry goods range. On peak days, up to 286,000 packages per day can leave the distribution centre via 53 outgoing goods gates. One of the reasons for the record-breaking efficiency of the new logistics centre: 50 percent of the warehouse processes in RE D 39 are fully automated.
With this high-tech warehouse in Magdeburg, we are not only securing the supply of goods to our stores in the north and east, we are also entering new dimensions in terms of the level of automation and performance of this second central warehouse. We opened our first partially automated central warehouse in Neu-Isenburg in 2014, followed by the second warehouse with partial automation in Henstedt-Ulzburg in 2022. Since then, we have gained a lot of experience with the automation of warehouse processes. With 50 percent full automation, the RE D 39 is now the next evolutionary step in central logistics and makes Magdeburg one of the most modern logistics locations – not only for us at REWE Group, but throughout Europe
, says Peter Maly, who is also responsible for logistics and supply chain management on the REWE Group Management Board. REWE is working closely with technology partner Swisslog to achieve full automation.
We are delighted about the opening of REWE Group’s new central warehouse in our Magdeburg Rothensee industrial and logistics center and wish the new location a successful development,” said Mayor Simone Borris, confirming the establishment in the state capital of Magdeburg.
The city administration was very happy to support the project. The high-tech food warehouse will once again raise the profile of Magdeburg as a business location. At the intersection of important European traffic flows, such as the A2 and A14 federal highways, the Deutsche Bahn AG network and the Elbe, Mittelland Canal and Elbe-Havel Canal shipping routes, Magdeburg offers decisive advantages for logistics companies.”
“Modern food retailing with store opening hours of up to 17 hours places enormous demands on logistics. With the opening of our new central warehouse, we have reached a major milestone in the implementation of our logistics strategy and can respond to future growth in sales, volumes and articles. The RE D 39 enables us to further optimize the distribution of goods in the REWE full-range segment by significantly increasing flexibility, with improved delivery frequencies and delivery bundling as well as competitive logistics costs”, explains Lars Siebel, responsible for logistics on the REWE management board. “Thanks to the optimal location for supplying the REWE regions North and East and the modern infrastructure in Magdeburg, we are able to control and optimize our supply chains even better.”
