SCHOTTEL builds new logistics center in Dörth, Germany

SCHOTTEL GmbH’s thruster factory in Dörth, Germany, is to be expanded to include a new logistics center. Source: Goldbeck

Warehouse logistics at two sites to be merged
The sum of investment for the annex is being borne by industrial holding company SCHOTTEL Industries GmbH that also financed the new factory building back in 2013. “The thruster factory in Dörth was implemented solely to service the new-build business,” explains Andreas Block, CEO of SCHOTTEL Industries. “Back then, the demands made of a combined warehouse logistics setup for production with the material flows in our after sales service business couldn’t be satisfactorily met. This situation has since changed so that we can now subsequently satisfy these requirements with the construction of our logistics center.”

To date, goods for the construction of new ship propulsion systems and the spare parts business are handled in parallel in both Dörth and Spay, two places, which are about 30 km apart. “By getting rid of this double warehousing system we can vastly reduce the number of interfaces in internal logistics. The processing of incoming goods, order picking and the storage of supplies will become much more efficient,” says SCHOTTEL’s CEO Stefan Kaul, naming the immediate benefits. The timing was also perfect from another aspect. “Our service business and thus the need for spare parts are constantly growing. In the future, our international customers will profit from a noticeably higher availability of parts, also with unstable supply chains elsewhere,” he adds.

"I am very pleased about the trust placed in me to be able to work for SCHOTTEL again," says Marco Bayer, Head of Goldbeck's Koblenz branch, at the signing of the contract in Spay, Germany. "This shows, among other things, the satisfaction about the quality of the existing buildings and about the cooperation so far. I am particularly pleased that the new building will meet very high criteria for sustainable construction according to ESG specifications." (Environmental, Social, Governance)

Sustainable building shell, building technology and energy generation
Regarding the shell and technology of the new building, the industrial insulation, heat pump technology and heat recovery system are all part of a high-quality sustainability concept. The statics of the new roof will be designed to hold a photovoltaic system. This will further increase the 700,000 kWh of energy generated each year on the existing building. The building site constitutes a sealed warehousing and traffic area that will be repurposed with the new logistics center. It will be adjacent to the existing production hall at ground level. Goods deliveries in particular will be able to be much more efficiently managed in the future, with trucks accessed and unloaded by forklifts at the same level via what is known as a dock leveller. A crane-operated unloading hall will also simplify and speed up the receipt of heavy goods.

About half of the suppliers for the new building will come from the local region, strengthening the local economy. The future flow of traffic will also ensure greater sustainability: at the moment suppliers transport goods to both Spay and Dörth. In the future, this traffic will only need to be directed to the Dörth industrial area close to the A61 motorway. As a result, commercial traffic will be reduced in Spay, where the warehouse is located at the historic site in the middle of the residential area.

Versatile use of the new offices
The three-story office block will provide space for employees in all departments related to dispatch. In addition, PC workplaces from the existing Dörth office complex will be moved here to free up space there. The utilization concept of another subarea will take into account flexible forms of office organization.

The employees at the service warehouse to be moved to Dörth will be provided with ultramodern workplaces at the new logistics center. Around 300 staff who work in the commercial, technical and industrial departments and in administrative after sales will remain in Spay. The areas of halls that need renovating shall be put to another use that is as yet still under discussion.

New routing concept for 250 thrusters and hundreds of containers
At its thruster factory in Dörth SCHOTTEL manufactures approximately 250 ship propulsion systems per annum that leave the production site on trucks with excess widths of up to four metres. A detailed routing concept has already been drawn up that ensues the punctual shipment of these new systems and hundreds of other containers of ancillary equipment during the construction phase.

Three large construction projects within SCHOTTEL GmbH
The new logistics center in Dörth is currently the third large construction project within SCHOTTEL GmbH that operates three sites in Germany and a further 14 throughout the rest of the world. While a large hall and office complex in Itajaí in Brazil is just about to be completed, the construction work in Cartagena in Colombia started at the beginning of September on the land acquired. 

SCHOTTEL Industries GmbH
SCHOTTEL Industries GmbH is an industrial holding company active in the fields of ship propulsion systems and drive, automation and anchoring technology. SCHOTTEL Industries is owned by the descendants of the founder of SCHOTTEL GmbH and by the Norwegian company Frydenbø Industri AS. The Group currently comprises six companies that employ around 1,600 people. These are based in Germany, in Turkey and, in the case of SCHOTTEL GmbH’s maritime group, at the world’s key shipping centers.

GOLDBECK GmbH
GOLDBECK is a partner to SMEs and large corporations, investors, project developers and clients in the public sector. Its products and services include logistics warehouses and industrial halls, offices and schools, multistorey car parks and residential buildings. Building refurbishment and a range of further building-related services round off the portfolio. In the 2022/2023 business year the company carried out around 500 projects totalling over six billion euros.