Dongfeng Motor R&D Center Smart Logistics Warehouse

Project Overview

Dongfeng Motor R&D Center, as the core of the group's technological innovation, initiated the "Smart Logistics Warehouse Project" to support multi-vehicle parallel development, shorten R&D cycles, and reduce operational costs through intelligent supply chain upgrades.

The facility serves as a critical logistics hub for the R&D operations, managing over 10,000 SKUs required for automotive development and testing. Despite its compact 470㎡ footprint, the warehouse leverages vertical space with a 7.5-meter height across 15 storage levels.

The project focuses on transforming the R&D supply chain through high-density storage, automated storage and retrieval, and information-driven management to enhance responsiveness and collaboration capabilities.

Technical Solution

Four-Way Shuttle System

The warehouse is equipped with 4 SLS600 series four-way shuttle vehicles that operate across 3 aisles. These shuttles can move in all four directions (forward, backward, left, right), enabling flexible and efficient storage and retrieval operations. The system provides rapid access to any of the 3,508 storage locations across 15 vertical levels.

Key Features

The facility's 3,508 storage locations across 15 vertical levels maximize storage density in the compact 470㎡ footprint. This vertical storage strategy achieves space utilization rates far exceeding traditional horizontal warehousing.

Four SLS600 series four-way shuttle vehicles provide flexible and rapid material handling. Their ability to move in all directions enables efficient operations across the 3-aisle configuration.

The system manages 10,000+ SKUs, supporting the diverse material requirements of multi-vehicle parallel development projects. This extensive SKU range includes components, prototypes, testing materials, and tooling.

The 7.5-meter vertical storage height with 15 levels demonstrates innovative use of vertical space, critical for facilities with limited floor area.

Results & Benefits

The automated system significantly reduced R&D supply chain response time, enabling faster access to materials and components. This improvement directly supports shorter development cycles and faster time-to-market for new vehicle models.

The facility enhances multi-vehicle parallel development support by providing organized, accessible storage for materials across multiple concurrent projects. R&D teams can work simultaneously on different vehicle programs without material conflicts or delays.

Space utilization is optimized in the compact 470㎡ footprint through vertical storage, achieving storage capacity equivalent to much larger traditional warehouses. This efficiency reduces facility costs and maximizes the use of valuable R&D campus real estate.

Inventory accuracy improved through automation and real-time WMS tracking, reducing material shortages and eliminating time wasted searching for components.

Challenges & Solutions

The primary challenge was supporting diverse R&D requirements with 10,000+ SKUs in a severely limited 470㎡ space. The solution combined a 15-level high-density shuttle system with intelligent WMS for dynamic inventory management. The four-way shuttles and vertical lifting systems enable efficient access to any storage location, while the WMS optimizes placement based on usage patterns and project requirements.