LAPP opens one of its most sustainable logistics sites
Major Celebration in Hanover
Stuttgart/Hanover 1 June 2022 - In the presence of 384 guests from the worlds of politics and business together with employees, LAPP celebrated the opening of the new logistics centre in Hanover on 31 May 2022. It is one of the most sustainable logistics sites in the world for the Stuttgart-based family company.
The logistics centre in Hanover came into operation in autumn of 2020, but the official celebration had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Now it was finally time: "Hanover is a second home for us. We have been at home for almost 40 years – first as a sales location, then for our logistics. Today, the new site is an important and integral component for our efficient and sustainable logistics services”, explains Matthias Lapp, CEO of U.I. Lapp GmbH.
Stephan Weil, Minister-President of Lower Saxony, emphasised this in his video message: "LAPP is a company with a long tradition and highly innovative at the same time. The logistics centre, which was opened back in 2020, contains state-of-the-art technologies and a great deal of functionality. The family company continues to develop in an energy-efficient manner here. The logistics region of Lower Saxony remains an attractive investment location, characterised by a strong regional logistics economy and good infrastructure." The mayor of Hanover Thomas Klapproth emphasised: "For us as the state capital, LAPP is an important employer. The company strengthens the business location of Hanover and thus contributes to both the security of the future and the well-being of our citizens".
The new building offers four times the storage capacity
The new building on Max-Müller-Straße 23 in Hanover is opposite the previous logistics centre. With 68,000 square metres of site and a storage area of 42,000 square metres indoors and outdoors, the new building alone, with around 15,000 square metres of space, offers four times the storage capacity and there is still room for growth. A total of up to 60,000 cable drums with cross-sections ranging from 40 to 280 centimetres can be stored there. Since the move, the number of employees has increased significantly from 110 to 173.
For LAPP, the Hanover site is the largest logistics site in Germany and the logistics hub for all customers in Northern Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia and Great Britain. It is also a centre for sustainable products. All photovoltaic and glass fibre cables, as well as cables for large wind turbines, are stored there.
Sustainable production
However, the energy-efficient orientation is not just reflected in the products. "We also paid attention to sustainability when setting up the site”, explains Andreas Gesse, director of the logistics centre in Hanover. "Thanks to a new packaging system, we were able to reduce gas consumption by around 50 per cent and we were also able to save 30 per cent on the protective film that encases the cable drum. For certain cable drums, film is done without altogether and instead they are bundled with a belt", Gesse continues.
Recycling also plays an important role: by using a special wood old cable drums are shredded using a special wood press and reprocessed by a regional company so that new cable drums can be made from them. Thanks to this recycling cycle, LAPP saves four times its wood disposal. All cardboard waste is also not simply disposed of, but is recycled as a filler material for packaging.
Energy-efficient and insect-friendly
To make the site as energy-efficient as possible, the entire forklift fleet has been converted to electric power. Each individual aisle of racks is equipped with motion detectors to reduce the power requirement. Mowing robots used to maintain green space have replaced conservative combustor technologies and a quarter of the outdoor plant is installed as a flower meadow for insects.
Additional sites in Ludwigsburg and Poland
In addition to the Hanover site, LAPP operates three further logistics centres: one at the company headquarters in Stuttgart and another in neighbouring Ludwigsburg, from where southern Europe and Turkey are supplied. Another is located in Poland. From there countries in Eastern Europe are supplied with goods "With the new location location in Hanover, we can orientate our processes towards the future and further improve our offerings for our customers," says Thomas Vasterling, Executive Vice President of U.I. Lapp GmbH.