No mean feat: Intralogistics for secondary packaging of Merz

The small bottle between Fred Wulfgramm’s fingers is called a “vial” in the pharmaceutical industry and contains botulinum toxin. At the Center of Excellence Biopharmapark Dessau-Roßlau, Merz Pharma GmbH & Co. KGaA has been manufacturing high-quality aesthetic and neurological specialty products since 2002, now with more than 300 employees. Here, the drug is produced and filled into vials under sterile conditions. “It is then further processed at specialized sites before being prepared for secondary packaging,” explains the Head of Site Development and Project Engineering at Merz Dessau. From the end of 2026, the vials are to be placed directly into folding cartons for secondary packaging at the production facility in Dessau. For this purpose, the family-owned company is setting up a secondary packaging area in the World Heritage city and expanding its materials and semi-finished goods warehouse. “As part of the planning team, LOGSOL was responsible for intralogistics and external interfaces,” emphasizes Fred Wulfgramm.

Pallet storage space increases sevenfold

“To secure growth, the warehouse must be expanded from 1,000 to 7,000 pallet spaces,” says Toni Schilling, Senior Logistics and Factory Planner at LOGSOL, explaining the scale of the project. This is no small feat, even for experienced logistics planners. They proceed in a structured manner, following tried-and-tested phases – analysis, design, detailed planning, tendering, and implementation support. The biggest challenge is the tight schedule: After the project starts in July 2024, LOGSOL must first develop a rough concept for the new logistics hall so that the company management can approve the cost estimate in a timely manner. In December 2024, the first milestone was reached with the building permit after only about three months of approval time. Normally, this process takes at least one year. With the support of LOGSOL, the Merz project team managed to do it within three months.

The year before, Merz had taken a multifunctional building into operation at the site, with storage areas for raw and semi-finished goods and visual inspection of primary packaging. According to Fred Wulfgramm, the extension for the packaging line requires “a relatively large flow of packaging materials, auxiliary materials, and finished goods.” The material flow runs from the warehouse to the CNC area (“Controlled Not Classified”), then the finished goods return to the warehouse. Although these areas are not subject to strict clean room standards, they must meet specifications for particle count, air exchange, and temperature. When it comes to logistics integration, LOGSOL not only has to take into account airlocks to CNC rooms, but also a total of eight main units on the packaging line, such as labelers, cartoners, and palletizers, each of which requires material from the warehouse. Fred Wulfgramm states that the processing speed is up to 275 pieces per minute, and the high material throughput requires continuous replenishment. “But there is not an infinite amount of storage space. Empty pallets must be removed in a timely manner, and full ones brought in,” he outlines the task for LOGSOL.

Detailed planning provides a decision-making basis

For detailed planning, the logistics planners work with the customer to determine data, evaluate it, and develop solutions. Fred Wulfgramm likes the “very fast, objective way of providing decision-making information that helps us move forward. “ For site development, the process engineer coordinates an external and internal team of approximately 50 people – which makes it all the more important that “the chemistry is right“ with LOGSOL and all other parties involved.

“We are currently providing implementation support,” says Toni Schilling. Merz aims to have the project largely completed by the end of 2026. LOGSOL has also planned two further logistics expansion stages in order to accommodate future growth at the Dessau-Roßlau site.