Honold Logistik has opened a 9,200 sq.m logistics facility in Handewitt, Germany, to handle goods for tyre and powertrain components maker Continental. The facility replaces an existing 6,000 sq.m facility that Honold had been managing for Continental since 2008, capable of storing 40,000 tyres. Since then, Continental has grown its market share in neighbouring Denmark, necessitating more room, and HTL has doubled capacity at the freight yard there, which covers a total footprint of 24,000 sq.m, providing plenty of space for future expansion.
Handewitt is on the border between Germany and Denmark.
The facility will handle tyres and wheels for passenger cars, trucks, recreational vehicles and those for industrial use. Inbound material will be delivered by six daily truck runs and organised for onward distribution to dealerships, garages and tyre dealers in Denmark. Subject to demand, outgoing shipments will be prepared for transport across the border, with anything between five to twelve trucks leaving on a daily basis.
Honold Logistik has invested in new handling equipment to deal with the heavy wheel and tyre parts (which can be anything between 10kg and 60kg) and is providing services to marry the tyres to the wheels before onward shipment. Parts are stored in racking bays 7.5 metres high and 35 metres long. The company is using five reach trucks along with picker and clamp trucks to store and retrieve the parts.
