Swiss stainless stockist Hans Kohler AG launches automated warehousing

A Swiss distributor specialising in stainless steel and pipes, has begun to operate its new automated warehouse, Kallanish hears from the company. Hans Kohler AG is headquartered in Zurich.

The company also has three warehouses in nearby Dietikon, where the investment took place at its central hub. In recent years, Kohler has built several fully-automated high-bay warehouses. The biggest one, dedicated to bar and pipe, started operating at the end of 2019. It has a height of 20 metres and provides space for 4,000 cartridges. The company spent several million dollars on the modernisation, but has not disclosed the actual amount invested.

Kohler says that automation involving mobile data detection devices and bar scanners has been a must to operate in a market that is ruled by a just-in-time philosophy. The company has been cooperating with Outokumpu and its Scandinavian predecessor companies Nyby Uddeholm and Avesta for 80 years, it says.

Its owner, Hans R. Kohler, is also the chairman of VSEMH, the association of Swiss stainless steel and metals distributors, whose members sold around 95,000 tonnes of products in 2018.