From component supplier to intralogistics solution provider. The Klinkhammer Group today is considered one of the leading providers in Europe.
In 1972, Adolf Klinkhammer founded the one-man company A. Klinkhammer in the basement of his resi-dential house. The experienced intralogistics expert has decisively influenced and shaped the change in the warehouse by providing automation solutions. Today, managed by Frank Klinkhammer in the second generation, the company does not only stand for innovative automation, but also for state-of-the art and intuitive software and control engineering. Over the last few years, Frank Klinkhammer continuously expanded the company to become one of the leading intralogistics specialists acting all throughout Europe.
Forward-looking logistics planning and profitability analysis – the basis for an investment decision
“Anyone who wants to offer his customers trend-setting solutions, must accompany and support them extensively and provide foresighted advice”, this is one of the maxims of Frank Klinkhammer, Managing Director of the Klinkhammer Group. The intralogistics expert offers his customers comprehensive solutions from one provider. Whether it’s about analysing material flows, comparing variants and checking the profitability of an automated warehouse, digitizing processes, building a new production or central warehouse, expanding or optimizing the performance of an existing system – Klinkhammer consequently thinks in optimized intralogistics processes. The aim here is to identify potential savings and fulfil the increasingly complex intralogistics requirements by means of intelligent software and trend-setting logistics solutions. As independent intralogistics expert with international focus the Klinkhammer Group has been realizing automation solutions for the most varied branches of industry and company sizes.
Klinkhammer as solution provider for intralogistics
“More and more customers make use of our consultant services during logistics planning, as we take into account the profitability and performance of the system over the entire service life in addition to the independent comparison of variants and thus provide a transparent basis for making investment decisions”, explains Hagen Schumann, authorized signatory and Head of Sales and Consulting at Klinkhammer. “The prospective analysis of material flows, lean and consistent intralogistics solutions, an innovative automation and the digital integration into the IT landscape of the customer – these are our strengths”. The Klinkhammer Group underlines this also with its most recent innovations KlinkVISION®, KlinkWARE® und KlinCAT®. The intuitive system visualization KlinkVISION® with Maintenance Tool ensures a fast alarm diagnosis in the warehouse, KlinkWARE® defines the new, intuitive warehouse management system software generation with excellence in touch operation. The Multilevel shuttle system KlinCAT®, a hybrid between automated storage and retrieval crane and shuttle opens up new possibilities when realizing efficient and flexible warehouse vehicles. Klinkhammer covers the entire spectrum of in-house logistics, logistics IT and preliminary building site planning. All from one source, but also in useful partial services. This means planning reliability and optimally interlinked solutions for the customers right from the beginning.
360° philosophy of the Klinkhammer Group
What was already in the focus at the time Adolf Klinkhammer founded the company still applies today: Klinkhammer does not only provide technically sophisticated and future-proof solutions. With its 360° philosophy, the intralogistics specialist sees himself as life-time partner from analysis and planning to software development and finally to turnkey delivery. This includes also the Service24 concept. Nowa-days, intralogistics systems are among the system relevant facilities within the supply chain of many branches of industry. If these systems do not run smoothly and correctly to 100%, this will result in con-sequences not only for the companies but also for suppliers and partners. A typical example for this is the automotive industry. If a subcontractor is no longer able to transport its components to the assembly line just-in-time, this has an impact on the entire supply chain. “For us, this means on the one hand that our systems have to be perfectly planned, optimally digitized and dimensioned and designed such to be multiply secured. On the other hand, we have developed a comprehensive Service24 hotline, remote maintenance and on-call service concept for our customers to ensure system availability and system performance", explains Frank Klinkhammer. The Service24 team guarantees an all-around support ser-vice on 365 days a year, plans revisions and modernizations, trains the users and is on site to ensure that all processes run smoothly. The remote maintenance and the modern Klinkhammer diagnostics and maintenance tool KlinkVISION®offer immediate assistance.
Smart solutions – today and in future
The customers changed - and with them also the scope of supply and services of Klinkhammer. Already in the seventies, Klinkhammer had big clients like Grundig, Quelle and AEG, all based in the greater area of Nuremberg. Today, logistics solutions are realized in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, but also in Great Britain, Poland, Turkey, and China. The portfolio of services and supply ranges from anticipatory logistics planning, the use of trend-setting, tried-and-tested warehouse technology, state-of-the-art warehouse management software and control engineering to individual customer service and support around the clock. Despite all developments in the past, Klinkhammer never forgot its roots: to remain a mid-sized, family-run business with lean structures, short decision-making paths and an active partnership with its customers and suppliers.
