In 2024, Landguth Heimtiernahrung commissioned Jungheinrich to build an automated distribution centre. In 2025, the automated narrow-aisle warehouse (AutoVNA) went live. Following strong business growth and positive experience with automation, the company has now placed a follow-up order for an expansion.

Hamburg / Niederlangen – Landguth Heimtiernahrung GmbH has commissioned Jungheinrich to expand its automated distribution centre at the Niederlangen site (Germany). The basis for this is an AutoVNA warehouse ordered from Jungheinrich in 2024 and successfully commissioned in 2025. Following very strong business growth, the warehouse is reaching its capacity limits and is set to be expanded.

The starting point: an AutoVNA with 34 aisles, conveyor systems and an integrated Mobile Robot fleet

Completed in 2025, the distribution centre was designed as a fully automated new build. The AutoVNA warehouse comprises 34 aisles with 58,152 storage spaces, an aisle length of 95 metres and a storage height of 9.70 metres. Eight automated EKX 516ka narrow-aisle trucks, powered via conductor rails, handle storage and retrieval in the high-bay racking. Eight arculee M autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) connect the pallet conveyor systems to the AutoVNA warehouse: they move pallets from the conveyor systems into the warehouse and back, navigate autonomously through the warehouse and recharge automatically between tasks. The vehicles, which run in 16/5 operation, are controlled by the Jungheinrich Warehouse Control System (WCS), which is linked to the customer’s Warehouse Management System (WMS).

The expansion: four more EKX 516ka and eight additional arculee M

Continued company growth calls for a further increase in throughput capacity just a short time after the AutoVNA went live. The expansion is carried out during ongoing operation, with virtually no interruption to running warehouse processes. For a distribution centre with a continuous delivery commitment, that is a key requirement – and a defining feature of the chosen system architecture.

“Ramping up such a complex system, and adapting it to our evolved system structures, was no trivial undertaking – and we were well aware of that. What convinced us was the way Jungheinrich stood by our side throughout: solution-oriented and persistent, until the system ran reliably. The fact that we are already expanding is the logical consequence of our growth – and of our trust in a team that delivers even when things get demanding,” says Lars Reise, Head of Planning & Logistics at Landguth Heimtiernahrung GmbH.

“Landguth’s repeat order shows what scalable automation means in practice: a system that grows with the company – without downtime or disruption,” says Mathias Salterberg, Logistics Systems Consultant at Jungheinrich.