REWE has unveiled a major automation upgrade at its fresh food logistics hub near Berlin, aiming to deliver fruit and vegetables faster and more reliably to hundreds of stores across the region.
The German grocery giant has partnered with intralogistics specialist Cimcorp to automate operations at its Oranienburg fulfilment centre, which supplies more than 370 supermarkets and 580 shops in the greater Berlin area.
The system is designed to handle ultra-fast distribution of fresh produce, with around 29,000 units processed each day through automated order-picking technology.
Matthias Menzel, General Manager at REWE’s Oranienburg Logistics Centre, said: “In fresh food logistics, every minute counts and every delivery is critical.”
“Missing the delivery window means a significant financial loss,” he added, explaining that automation was needed to provide “absolute reliability, real-time control and the capacity to serve Berlin and the surrounding regions”.
Cimcorp’s Warehouse Control System governs the flow of goods across the site, managing everything from inbound barcode scanning and depalletising to inventory control, picking, labelling and outbound shipping.
The technology is designed to maximise transparency, safety and uptime, while reducing the risk of errors in the supply chain.
“Our customers expect that our reliability increases every year,” Mr Menzel said.
“As stores learn that they can trust our deliveries, it brings improvement not just to our logistics, but right through to the customer experience in the store,” he added.
The automated picking area operates using FIFO and FEFO principles to ensure stock rotation and freshness, with full traceability built into every crate, pallet and shipment.
The system also includes redundancy features such as dual robot cells to maintain continuous operation even in the event of disruption.
REWE said automation is also helping tackle labour shortages and improve workplace conditions in physically demanding warehouse roles.
“Finding employees for the physically demanding jobs in warehouses… is getting harder every year,” Mr Menzel said.
“Cimcorp automation removes the daily strain from our teams,” he added, allowing staff to focus on safer and more sustainable work.
Cimcorp said the project reflects a long-term partnership focused on operational improvement.
“True operational excellence depends on partnership, fast adaptation and continuous improvement,” said Riku Puska, Sales Manager at Cimcorp Group.
He said the solution is backed by round-the-clock service and training to support future growth.
The Oranienburg facility is being positioned as a flagship site in REWE’s logistics transformation, supporting year-round fresh food availability in one of Europe’s most demanding retail markets.