September 21, 2017

Henkel invests in its Düsseldorf site and Industry 4.0

36 million euros invested into high-bay warehouse extension

Düsseldorf – Henkel has expanded its fully automated high-bay warehouse at its headquarters in Düsseldorf, investing a total of 36 million euros into the project. Going forward, the warehouse will hold about 53 million packs of laundry detergent and cleaning products on a floor space of 24,000 square meters – the equivalent of more than three soccer fields.

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:
•	The floor space was expanded from 16,000 to 24,000 square meters.
•	Compared to its previous maximum capacity of up to 90,000 pallets and 25 million packs of detergent, the new high-bay warehouse can now hold 200,000 pallets and 53 million packs of laundry detergent and cleaning products.
•	The annual handling volume will increase from 1.2 to 1.6 million pallets.
•	Building the racks alone required around 7,500 metric tons of steel – about the same as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

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”.

About Henkel
Henkel operates globally with a well-balanced and diversified portfolio. The company holds leading positions with its three business units in both industrial and consumer businesses thanks to strong brands, innovations and technologies. Henkel Adhesive Technologies is the global leader in the adhesives market – across all industry segments worldwide. In its Laundry & Home Care and Beauty Care businesses, Henkel holds leading positions in many markets and categories around the world. Founded in 1876, Henkel looks back on more than 140 years of success. In 2016, Henkel reported sales of 18.7 billion euros and adjusted operating profit of 3.2 billion euros. Combined sales of the respective top brands of the three business units – Loctite, Schwarzkopf and Persil – amounted to more than 6 billion euros. Henkel employs more than 50,000 people globally – a passionate and highly diverse team, united by a strong company culture, a common purpose to create sustainable value, and shared values. As a recognized leader in sustainability, Henkel holds top positions in many international indices and rankings. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX. For more information, please visit www.henkel.com 

Contact	Hanna Philipps	Rabea Laakmann
Phone	+49 211 797-36 26	+49 211 797-69 76
E-mail		hanna.philipps@henkel.com	rabea.laakmann@henkel.com

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA