WACKER optimizes logistics at its Burghausen site

Burghausen, January 26, 2007 – WACKER is launching a major project to optimize logistical processes. Expansion of its Handling and Logistics Center will further boost the Burghausen site’s competitiveness. Investments earmarked for the construction project total to some cost €18 million.

WACKER is responding to increased volume and a rising share of packaged goods by augmenting handling and logistics capacities at its Burghausen site. The major new addition (to be built on property acquired last year at the site’s northern perimeter) will be fully integrated into the existing Handling and Logistics Center. The second fully-automatic high-bay warehouse will have space for 11,000 pallets, a bulk storage area for 2,000 pallets and a new staging area. This will greatly boost current capacity and concentrate logistical workflows at the center, emphasizes Dr. Siegfried Kiese, head of Procurement & Logistics. WACKER can thus provide its customers with even faster, more reliable deliveries.

WACKER was the first German chemical company to deploy the state-of-the-art OxyReduct fire prevention system in 2001. This ultimate fire-protection system will also be used in the new addition.

The clear separation between incoming goods (shipped by the production plants) and outgoing goods (intended for delivery to customers) will greatly enhance the efficiency of pick and putaway processes. Short paths with few intersections promote fast, safe workflows. This straightens traffic flows both within and outside the logistics area. The addition of new docking platforms for vehicles and containers and the availability of further staging areas eliminate bottlenecks in the handling of goods. The loading process will thus be faster, waiting periods shorter, and traffic jams a rarity.

The new facility’s integration into the existing logistics zone will provide synergistic advantages in information/conveyance technologies and staff resources. The existing Handling and Logistics Center, planned in the late 1990s, was designed to accommodate future expansion.

“Our expanded logistics center optimizes the movement of goods, especially complex products or hazardous materials, and those with rapid turnaround times,” emphasizes Dr. Kiese. It is the perfect solution for managing the especially rapid growth in overseas container shipments.

Since 1999, WACKER has had its own container train that transports goods daily from the Burghausen site directly to the North Sea ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven. A single additional direct trip per week should suffice to handle the projected increase in volume. Each week, these six container-train shipments replace over 700 truck trips to and from the site. WACKER is striving to consolidate its various warehouses throughout the region and thereby both minimize the number of roundtrips and reduce the impact of truck traffic.


For further information, please contact: Wacker Chemie AG Burghausen Plant, Site Communications Klaus Millrath Tel. +49 8677 83-3661 Fax +49 8677 83-2948 klaus.millrath@wacker.com


The company in brief: WACKER is a globally active chemical company with some 14,400 employees and annual sales of around €2.76 billion (2005, IFRS-compliant). WACKER has 22 production sites and over 100 sales offices worldwide.

WACKER SILICONES Silicone fluids, emulsions, rubber and resins; silanes; pyrogenic silicas; thermoplastic silicone elastomers

WACKER POLYMERS Dispersible polymer powders and dispersions for applications in the construction industry; solid resins; surface coating resins; polyvinyl butyrals

WACKER FINE CHEMICALS Fine chemicals, biologics and other biotech products, such as cyclodextrins and cysteine

WACKER POLYSILICON Polysilicon for the semiconductor and photovoltaics industries Siltronic Hyperpure silicon wafers and monocrystals for semiconductor devices