Automation-ready containers
for Simba Dickie’s automated warehouse
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- Automated warehouse containers for Simba Dickie
Executive summary
Simba Dickie Group expanded and modernized its logistics center in Sonneberg to centralize warehouse capacity, reduce reliance on external storage, and improve the flow of goods through storage, picking, consolidation, and packing.
Together with Klinkhammer as the intralogistics specialist, Simba Dickie expanded its automated small parts warehouse from 3 to 7 aisles and integrated order consolidation, multi-order picking, and conveyor connection to packing stations. The automated small parts warehouse now provides 31,920 container storage locations and reaches an inbound and outbound performance of 600 double cycles per hour.
The client
Simba Dickie Group is an international toy manufacturer with around 3,000 employees across 30 locations. Its product portfolio includes more than 4,000 items in the toy segment and more than 20 brands, including Smoby, BIG, Eichhorn, Majorette, Aquaplay, Schuco, and Noris. This broad product range creates a logistics environment with many different product sizes, order profiles, and handling requirements.
The challenge
Simba Dickie wanted to consolidate warehouse capacity centrally at the Sonneberg site and largely eliminate the need for external storage. The goal was to increase storage density and overall capacity while maintaining fast and reliable logistics processes.
The project had to support several operational requirements:
- increase capacity in the automated small parts warehouse
- support efficient and ergonomic multi-order picking
- consolidate orders before shipment
- connect material flow to packing stations
- optimize packing processes with shipping cost efficiency in mind
- keep the existing logistics system running during the conversion
For the container system, this meant that the load carriers needed to work reliably in automated storage, conveying, buffering, and picking processes.
The solution
Klinkhammer expanded Simba Dickie’s existing automated small parts warehouse from 3 aisles to 7 aisles and integrated an order consolidation buffer.
Utz EUROTEC and RAKO containers are used as standardized reusable load carriers for the automated small parts warehouse. The system works with container base dimensions of 600 x 400 mm and 800 x 600 mm, supporting the storage and movement of goods through automated handling and conveyor processes.
EUROTEC is especially relevant for this type of automated environment because it is designed for automatic handling on storage and conveyor systems, with interfaces for conveyor technology and automated gripping.
At the picking workstations, employees can pick several orders in parallel. Up to 4 containers can be placed on two tables, enabling multi-order picking of up to 8 orders at one workstation.
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Results
The expanded logistics setup gives Simba Dickie significantly more automated storage capacity at the Sonneberg site. The automated small parts warehouse now accommodates 31,920 container storage locations, while the automated pallet shuttle warehouse provides 13,200 pallet storage locations.
The solution also supports faster and more structured warehouse processes through automated storage, order consolidation, multi-order picking, and conveyor connection to packing. The inbound and outbound performance of 600 double cycles per hour enables high process throughput in the automated system.
Because the implementation was planned in construction stages, the existing system could continue operating during the conversion.
31920
container locations
7
AS/RS aisles
600
double cycles/hour
8
parallel orders
Key takeaways
- The Simba Dickie project shows how reusable containers can support warehouse consolidation, higher storage capacity, and efficient multi-order picking.
- Standardized bins are a critical interface in automated warehouse systems.
- In high-density logistics environments, automation-ready load carriers help keep material flow predictable and efficient.
Looking for automation-ready containers?
Utz develops EUROTEC, RAKO, and other reusable plastic containers for automated storage, conveying, picking, and internal logistics processes.
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