Borgholzhausen/Alzey, May 12, 2026 – In 2022, a new, two-aisle automated high-bay warehouse with 4,516 storage locations went into operation for the Dold Logistics Group at its Alzey site in Rhineland-Palatinate. In 2026, warehouse automation specialist Westfalia Technologies has now brought the original single-aisle adjacent system - which automates 4,116 storage locations and was commissioned in 2003 - up to the latest standards. This ensures the daily handling of approximately 600 pallets in each of the two adjacent systems for the coming years.
Dold had already considered technological standardization together with Westfalia during the system’s expansion. With the contract awarded in the summer of 2025, the intralogistics specialist then meticulously planned the modernization and implemented it in record time in February 2026—completed within nine days, including two weekends on-site.
“While the system being modernized was shut down for a week, the new system continued to operate,” explains René Findling, Sales Director Modernization & Expansions at Westfalia, describing the process. “The advantage of this comprehensive modernization was that Dold is an existing customer with a service contract. We therefore had detailed and up-to-date knowledge of the system’s status and spare parts inventory. The modernization ensures the reliability and efficiency of the automated double Satellite® Warehouse, which shares a single hall as a complete system.”
Project data
Project: Complete system and control-side modernization of the original single-aisle storage system of a 3PL compact storage system with Satellite®, expanded in 2022 to a double Satellite® Warehouse, to ensure the latest technological and safety standards, maximum reliability, performance, and spare part availability.
Industry: Logistics / Freight Forwarding
Warehouse Location: Alzey
Services Provided by Westfalia Technologies GmbH & Co. KG: Complete system-side retrofit of the original single-aisle warehouse system consisting of a storage and retrieval machine, conveyor control system, and transfer car, enabling rapid transfers for logistics services. Many key components manufactured in-house, pre-wired, programmed, tested, and implemented on-site as a turnkey solution within nine days.
In detail:
- A tailored modernization solution based on scheduled service reports, continuous support, and ongoing monitoring of the storage system.
- Planning, procurement, design, manufacturing, installation, and commissioning of the required mechanical and electrical components.
- Modernization of the single-mast storage and retrieval machine: more energy-efficient drives, mechanical parts, inverter technology, dual-sensor laser distance measurement, speed monitoring, camera-assisted bay fine positioning, power transmission at the hoist, control cabinet, control console, and data transmission.
- PLC controls from control system manufacturer G+W of the Westfalia Group; PLC programming by Westfalia Terra Automation.
- Upgrade to the required personnel safety level in the material handling system: Replacement of dual-beam personnel safety light curtains with multi-beam systems, new safety fences, and laser safety scanners at the storage and retrieval points.
- New drive on the transfer car, including power supply
- New control cabinet and new operator console for the conveyor system, pre-wired and pre-tested.
- Conversion of the bus system to the current PROFINET standard
- Safety system converted to Safety Integrated for programmable safety functions as well as additional monitoring and diagnostic capabilities.
Complete automated system modernized in record time
Sebastian Dold, Managing Director of O. Dold Speditions- und Transport GmbH and DLS – Dold Logistik und Spedition GmbH in Alzey, considers the modernization a complete success. “Together with our intralogistics partner, we implemented a state-of-the-art automated integrated system in a very short time, which reliably supports our service profile in daily operations. This further strengthens our key location in the Rhine-Main economic metropolitan region.”
This location features a total of four modern warehouses, including the fully automated Westfalia storage system - maintained at 18 °C - with three storage aisles, a high-security warehouse certified by the Bundesamt für Luftfahrt, and a bonded warehouse - ideal for efficient and secure storage processes. The complex is complemented by a workshop, a gas station, and a car wash.
In 1963, Oskar Dold Senior founded the company, which has since grown into a logistics group: With more than 100 employees, around 60 modern trucks, and a total of approximately 40,000 m² of warehouse and logistics space across five locations, the focus is on comprehensive logistics services that intelligently combine transport and storage capacities. Customers benefit from flexible solutions along the entire supply chain - from warehouse logistics and transport to outsourcing and in-house concepts, all the way to customized packaging and project solutions.
Comprehensive replacement for maximum reliability, performance, and safety
“Due to the original single-aisle system having been in operation for more than 20 years, the risk of system component failure had increased significantly,” says René Findling. “We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the existing system and identified critical components and parts.”
The drives for the travel and lifting mechanisms, as well as the corresponding inverters for the travel and lifting axes of the storage and retrieval machine (SRM), had been discontinued. “We replaced the asynchronous servomotors in the travel and lifting mechanisms with new servomotors from SEW-Eurodrive. The drive shafts, bearing housings, and drive wheels had already been replaced during mechanical maintenance and were retained in this case. In addition to the drive unit in the lifting mechanism, we replaced the gearboxes, lifting shafts, vertical bearings, and chain guides there. We also proactively replaced the aging brake rollers on the inclined roller conveyors used for goods delivery with new rollers. “
The Westfalia modernization team also replaced the limit switches, speed monitoring system, and chain break switches for the safety monitoring systems. The new SEW CSA module, which replaces the previously installed speed monitoring system, evaluates the laser values and limit switches.
State-of-the-art sensor technology and IT
Westfalia has also completely replaced the distance measurement systems in the travel and lifting mechanisms - including reflectors - as well as the deflection and reflector in the lifting mechanism with new models from SICK. The modernization team has integrated a second laser into the travel mechanism.
Two independent distance laser systems are now used for positioning in the travel and lifting mechanisms: a SICK DL100-21AA2101 sensor and a Leuze AMS 107i 120 BT. “Both operate on the time-of-flight principle, but differ in hardware, evaluation, and system architecture,” explains Christian Essiger, the responsible Project Manager Modernization & Expansions Project Manager Modernization and Expansions at Westfalia. “This technologically diverse design prevents systematic errors. Measurement reliability is significantly increased. At the same time, we achieve high system availability.”
In combination with safety-related evaluation, this dual-sensor concept enables the implementation of an increased performance level up to PL d - high safety - in accordance with EN ISO 13849, according to Essiger: “Following the modernization, the system corresponds to the current state-of-the-art for safety-relevant positioning systems.”
Along with the new camera-based bay fine positioning, the mirrors on the bays were replaced. A complete replacement of the heavily stressed flat cable on the SRM as well as the door switch with new tamper-proof magnetic switches on the access door was also required. The SRM’s power supply is now handled by a new conductor rail, current collectors, and a new cable between the collector and the control cabinet.
The Westfalia team completely dismantled the control panel and control cabinet that travel with the SRM and replaced them with new ones. “All necessary parts and components are already integrated; the control cabinet and control panel are fully wired and tested in advance at the factory,” explains René Findling. “This enables us to achieve a faster and smoother commissioning.” The two high-tech packages now include MOVI-C inverters from SEW, the Siemens S7 decentralized peripherals, and a control system with PROFINET: “We have converted the existing bus system to the current industry standard PROFINET, with advantages such as a simple bus topology, a consistent service structure, and a transmission rate of up to 100 Mbit/s.”
The safety system was converted to Safety Integrated, “with programmed safety functions, additional monitoring and diagnostic capabilities, and the ability to adapt and expand the safety loop. The system now complies with current standards.”
In parallel with the SRM modernization, the entire control system for the conveyor technology in the original warehouse section was modernized. There, the modernization team also replaced the entire control cabinet, including the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and the decentralized peripherals, as well as the drive for the transfer car.
Facts and figures
Year of construction: 2003
Modernization timeline: Contract awarded in July 2025; design, development, spare parts, procurement, and manufacturing starting in September 2025; installation and commissioning in February 2026
Warehouse type: Multi-deep Satellite® Storage System
Storage temperature: Temperature-controlled
Warehouse dimensions: 83 x 36 x 12 meters (L x W x H)
Storage locations: 4,116 (total of 8,632 with the 2022 expansion)
Loading equipment: Euro pallet, industrial pallet
Storage and retrieval machines: 1
Load handling devices: Satellite®
Conveyor technology: Roller chain conveyors and inclined roller conveyors with alignment and inspection stations, transfer car
Warehouse Execution System: Savanna.NET® modified as part of the 2022 expansion and consolidated into a single instance.
State-of-the-art safety technology
To achieve the currently required safety level, the old two-beam personal safety light curtains were replaced with multi-beam systems, among other measures. Westfalia also retrofitted two new safety laser scanners, including protective fencing, at the storage and retrieval points to ensure personnel safety. “In the previous design, there was no comparable area monitoring in this section,” explains Project Manager Essiger. “The scanners monitor defined safety fields and trigger a safe shutdown or a safe stop of the system when the danger zone is entered.” This brings the area up to current safety standards.
This is based on the requirements of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC as well as the standards for risk assessment and functional safety, in particular DIN EN ISO 12100, DIN EN ISO 13849-1, and DIN EN IEC 61496-1. A muting function is provided for material flow. Christian Essiger: “Pallets are allowed to pass through the area in a controlled manner, while people continue to be reliably detected. This increases safety without unnecessarily restricting system availability.”
Objectives and Results
Key objectives of the modernization:
- Retrofit and spare parts availability for warehouse and conveyor technology
- Increased personnel safety in the conveyor system
- Faster data transmission, maximum efficiency, accuracy, and system reliability
Key results of the modernization:
- Safer, more reliable, and more efficient operation of the double Satellite® Warehouse at the central logistics location in Alzey
- Ensuring spare parts availability
- Higher level of personnel safety through additional, modern safety technology
- State-of-the-art technology in warehousing, sensor systems, drives, and control systems
- Upgrade to the PROFINET industry standard
- Conversion to the Safety Integrated safety system for additional safety functions, monitoring and diagnostic capabilities, as well as optional customization and expansion within the safety loop
Strategically designed for optimal 3PL performance
A key advantage for logistics service provider Dold - in both the new and “old” sections of the double Satellite® Storage System - is the rapid transfer of goods, which is designed to handle the high volumes in the receiving and shipping areas. The warehouse strategies are coordinated to achieve optimal process speed: If there are many retrieval operations pending in one of the three available storage aisles, the system concentrates storage operations in one of the other two aisles.
Goods to be retrieved are relocated close to the respective retrieval lines. This allows the SRMs to perform storage, transfer, and retrieval operations with maximum route efficiency and minimal energy consumption. The combined warehouse movements ensure on-time shipping and optimal inventory management.
Already during the warehouse expansion in 2022, Westfalia’s Warehouse Execution System Savanna.NET®, which combines warehouse management and material flow control, had replaced the old warehouse management software “PMain,” followed by a modern TCP/IP connection. Although both Satellite® Warehouses operate autonomously under a single roof, they are managed and controlled via a single Savanna® instance.
Satellite® and layout for full load and maximum speeds
After the load units are placed, pairs of pallets are aligned separately. This is followed by contour checking, weight checking, and photo scanning. The system diverts defective load units for correction. Potential errors during manual placement thus do not disrupt the operation of the warehouse system. To ensure trouble-free operation, each storage and retrieval machine additionally checks for the appropriate load height. Both the new and the old racking systems are designed for 100% maximum load capacity. They accommodate Euro and industrial pallets at three different storage heights. Thanks to cross-storage and Satellite® technology, the layout is tailored to the hall, with storage extending up to the hall ceiling and even between hall trusses - on a minimal footprint, with high storage depth, and the ability to mix Euro and industrial pallets in storage channels.
“The growth strategy enabled by the approximately 9,000 storage locations and high flexibility is now secured for years to come through the modernization of the original Satellite® Warehouse,” explains Sebastian Dold. “We can cover a wide range of potential stored goods and operate highly efficiently and energy-efficiently. The modernization also proceeded as swiftly and reliably as usual with our expert automation partner Westfalia, featuring always-available contacts and a highly competent team on-site at our facility. We wholeheartedly recommend Westfalia and the technologies used.”
Learn more about our customer O. Dold Speditions- und Transport GmbH
