Kardex

Kardex Group is a Swiss-listed intra-logistics specialist (Zurich-headquartered, SIX-listed) that designs and manufactures automated storage and retrieval systems — principally vertical lift modules (Kardex Shuttle), carousel storage (Kardex Horizontal Carousel) and the broader warehouse-automation hardware that high-density storage operations require. The company's commercial proposition combines the storage hardware with Kardex Power Pick System (the warehouse-management software that orchestrates the hardware) and Kardex's subscription-and-services revenue model. The product is not an ERP — it is a warehouse-automation system that integrates with the customer's ERP — but is profiled here because Kardex appears regularly in DACH-region warehouse-and-distribution technology evaluations alongside ERP and WMS selection processes. Competition includes other intra-logistics specialists (SSI Schaefer, Jungheinrich, Kardex Remstar in the US, Modula, Hänel).

Hardware portfolio

Kardex's hardware portfolio centres on vertical lift modules (Kardex Shuttle) that automatically retrieve trays from a tower-storage column to a picker at an ergonomic working height, with throughput typically in the 50-to-150-lines-per-hour range per unit; horizontal carousels (Kardex Horizontal Carousel) for high-density flat-storage of medium-volume items; and the broader automated-storage product line that includes pallet shuttles, AutoStore-style robotic-storage cells and miniload systems for crate-and-tote handling. The hardware is typically integrated into a customer's warehouse alongside conventional racking and conveyor systems rather than as a full warehouse-automation greenfield, which is the deployment pattern most DACH wholesale and distribution operators follow.

Kardex Power Pick System software

Kardex Power Pick System is the warehouse-management software that orchestrates the Kardex hardware. The product covers inventory tracking inside the automated units, pick-and-put-away order management, integration with the customer's upstream ERP or WMS, batch-and-expiry-date tracking for regulated industries (pharma, food, automotive parts), audit-trail logging and the reporting layer required for inventory and operational visibility. The software is not a full WMS for the entire warehouse — it is the orchestration layer for the Kardex hardware specifically, with integration interfaces to broader WMS products (SAP EWM, Manhattan, Koerber, Mecalux EasyWMS, and the major DACH WMS specialists) for end-to-end warehouse coverage.

Integration with ERP and WMS

Kardex Power Pick System integrates with the customer's upstream ERP and WMS through standard interfaces and APIs. Documented connectors exist for SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC (via SAP-certified interface), Microsoft Dynamics 365, Infor M3, and the major DACH ERPs and WMS products. The integration scope typically covers order pick lists, putaway instructions, stock-level synchronisation and inventory adjustments. Integration depth depends on the customer's ERP and WMS stack and the specific operational workflow; buyers should validate the integration approach as part of the warehouse-automation evaluation.

Pricing model and TCO

Kardex's commercial proposition combines a hardware capital-expense (the vertical lift modules, carousels and supporting infrastructure) with the Kardex Power Pick System software licence and an ongoing subscription-and-services component covering maintenance, spare parts and software updates. For a typical mid-sized DACH distribution operation with 4-to-8 vertical lift modules and the Power Pick System software, all-in TCO over a 10-year horizon (the typical lifecycle of intra-logistics hardware) lands in the lower-seven-figure euro range. The capital investment is justified by the operational labour-cost reduction, throughput improvement, picking-accuracy improvement and warehouse-footprint compression that the automation delivers.

Selection considerations

Kardex is a strong choice for DACH wholesale-distribution, e-commerce-fulfilment, pharmaceutical-distribution, automotive-parts-distribution and manufacturing-internal-logistics operations that need high-density storage with high picking accuracy and throughput, that have a multi-decade capital-investment horizon, and that can accept hardware-vendor lock-in for the storage automation. It is less compelling for greenfield large-scale warehouse-automation projects where end-to-end automation vendors (SSI Schaefer, Vanderlande, Dematic, Koerber Supply Chain) provide the full warehouse design, for very small operations where the capital investment is not justified, and for operations whose throughput requirements fit cheaper conventional racking with manual picking.

Related Topics

• Iptor MultiFlex
• ERP for wholesale distribution
• Warehouse management systems

Fazit

Kardex zählt zu den weltweit fuehrenden Vendorsn für automatisierte Goods-to-Person-Lagersysteme und vereint mit Lagerliften, Karusellen, AKL, Hochregallagern und AutoStore ein ungewöhnlich breites Hardware-Spektrum. In Verbindung mit der Software Power Pick System bietet Kardex eine schluessige Solution für Werkzeug-, Ersatzteil-, Pharma- und Industriebetriebe sowie zunehmend auch für den E-Commerce. Wer ein vollumfängliches Multi-Site-WMS sucht, kombiniert Kardex sinnvollerweise mit einem übergeordneten Warehouse-Management-System; für den effizienten Kleinteilebetrieb mit hoher Pickleistung gilt der Schweizer Vendors aber als Industriesstandard.

Vendor homepage of Kardex

Current view of the website https://www.kardex.com/