Strong Partnership

Kardex and Addverb cooperate in the field of intralogistics software

Zurich, January 22, 2024 – Kardex has agreed a strategic partnership with Addverb in the field of intralogistics software. Addverb is a leading global robotics and warehouse automation company based in India. The cooperation combines Kardex’s expertise in compact storage systems with Addverb’s superior warehouse management technology. Addverb’s highly innovative warehouse management system is based on a modern microservices architecture and can be operated entirely in the cloud.

The partnership between Kardex and Addverb enables a holistic and efficient solution package with the latest technologies in warehouse management and automation. The complete package of Addverb software and Kardex storage systems offers seamlessly integrated and optimized warehouse processes for companies of all sizes and industries.

Addverb’s warehouse management solution is based on a microservice architecture, making it seamlessly scalable and extremely flexible. It also has a user-friendly interface that simplifies implementation and management. Thanks to its resource and material flow optimization algorithms, Addverb’s system ensures optimized processes and improved productivity. The cloud-based architecture also ensures global access and real-time data for optimal decision-making with the highest possible security standards.

The partnership between Kardex and Addverb is a significant step towards innovation and progress in the field of warehouse management technology. Both companies are convinced that their joint efforts will help to increase the efficiency and agility of companies worldwide.

“By working together with Addverb, we can offer our customers one of the most advanced warehouse management solutions for highly efficient warehousing. The combination of our technologies will set new standards in the integration of logistics systems,” emphasizes Dr. Volker Jungbluth, Head of Corporate Technology at Kardex.

The strategic cooperation will enable major synergies between the two companies. “Together with Kardex, we will be able to offer our customers first-class solutions that will revolutionize their warehouse processes and strengthen their competitiveness,” says Pieter Feenstra, CEO Adverb EMEA.

For more information about Kardex and Addverb and their products and services, please visit the official websites: www.kardex.com and www.addverb.com.

About Kardex: Kardex is a global industry partner for intralogistics solutions and a leading provider of automated storage solutions and material handling systems. The Group consists of two entrepreneurially managed divisions, Kardex Remstar and Kardex Mlog. Kardex Remstar develops, manufactures and services dynamic storage and retrieval systems and Kardex Mlog offers integrated material handling systems and automated high-bay warehouses. Kardex also acts as a global AutoStore partner. The business units are a partner for their customers throughout the entire life cycle of a product or solution. This begins with the assessment of customer requirements and continues through the planning, realization and implementation of customer-specific systems to ensuring high availability and low lifecycle costs through customer-oriented lifecycle management. Around 2,200 employees in over 30 countries work for Kardex. Kardex Holding AG has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1989.

About Addverb: Addverb has a broad portfolio consisting of autonomous mobile robots, sorting robots, automated storage and retrieval systems and picking technologies, driven and controlled by its own software. Its customers include numerous companies such as Flipkart, ITC, Unilever, Patanjali, Marico, PAR Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and more than 300 others.

Addverb solves its customers’ problems through a four-step approach. Addverb finds the right automation for a customer’s problem; designs a customized solution with its in-house manufactured products, develops and executes the project and provides dedicated after-sales support.

Addverb’s headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in India, with research and development facilities in both India and the US, and subsidiaries in Australia, Singapore, the Netherlands and the United States. The automated robots and various material handling technologies, combined with in-house system integration and software solutions, improve space utilization, efficiency, performance and accuracy of warehouse operations.

Author from Bayerisch Gmain presents English translation of his novel in Southeast Asia

The new Board member for Marketing and Sales at Jungheinrich AG will be Christian Erlach (56) as of 1 September 2018. He began his career at Jungheinrich in 2007 as the Managing Director of Jungheinrich Austria and has been a Regional Director at Jungheinrich AG since 2013, successively managing the South-Eastern Europe, South America and South Africa regions.

As part of the targeted preparations for the planned handover of the Chair of the Board of Management in 2019, the former Board member for Marketing and Sales, Dr Lars Brzoska (45), will be taking on the vacant Technology seat from 1 September 2018. He has been very successful in his role as Board member for Marketing and Sales, which he took over in 2014.

Hans-Georg Frey will stand for election to the Supervisory Board in 2019, following his resignation as Chairman of the Board of Management. The current Supervisory Board Chairman, Jürgen Peddinghaus, will resign his seat in 2019. Mr Frey will succeed him in this position, in accordance with the wishes of the shareholder families Wolf and Lange.

There will be no changes to the remaining Board of Management seats.

The Vahle Group, a manufacturer of energy and data transmission systems based in Kamen, has commissioned Jungheinrich to build an automated small parts warehouse. The order includes conventional warehouse technology and industrial trucks. At the heart of the system is the new STC 2B1A storage and retrieval machine. The miniload will serve a total of 7314 rack locations at a speed of 6 meters per second in Kamen. Two different container formats are used simultaneously in the small parts warehouse – boxes measuring 600 x 400 millimetres, which are stored double-deep, and boxes measuring 300 x 400 millimetres, which are stored four-deep crosswise. The system is scheduled for completion at the end of 2018.

Rüdiger Kuhn, Head of Purchasing and Materials Management at Vahle, explains: “The Vahle Group always and everywhere focuses on quality – in our products and services, employees, training and building equipment. Our commitment to continuous improvement is also reflected in the new automated small parts warehouse that Jungheinrich is building for us in Kamen. The innovative power of the new storage and retrieval machine together with Jungheinrich’s holistic solution expertise for logistics systems from a single source have convinced us. That’s why we will be working with Jungheinrich on this project to implement a wide-aisle warehouse, cantilever racking for long goods and live storage racking in addition to the small parts warehouse.”

Jungheinrich’s STC 2B1A was presented for the first time at Logimat 2018 in Stuttgart and is considered an extremely powerful storage and retrieval machine for automated small parts warehouses. It has energy buffers, so-called “super caps”, which are specially adapted to the driving behavior. These store the energy released during braking and feed it back into the drive system when accelerating. This has made it possible to reduce the energy requirement and, in particular, the connected load of the stacker crane by up to 25 percent compared to the competition. Energy transmission is ensured via a Vahle conductor rail system.

According to Jungheinrich, the STC 2B1A is also designed for maximum efficiency in terms of space utilization. Thanks to the innovative design of the guide rail and the space-saving Omega travel drive integrated in the mast base, the storage and retrieval machine achieves the smallest approach dimensions in its class.

Compared to other storage and retrieval machines on the market, Jungheinrich’s STC 2B1A enables its customers to achieve lower space requirements with the same storage capacity in a warehouse of the same size or increased storage capacity with higher throughput. Another innovation is the new modular mast design. Despite its lightweight construction, it ensures particularly high stability of the appliance up to a height of 25 meters.

Logimat 2018 will once again feature a number of innovations and – however you interpret them – world firsts. As Jungheinrich does not want to reveal its secrets until the start of the trade fair, we will content ourselves here with looking back and looking ahead – and record figures.

“It’s going to be an exciting year for intralogistics!” enthuses Dr. Lars Brzoska – and you can hear that he actually means: It’s going to be a successful year for Jungheinrich!

Well, Jungheinrich’s Board Member for Sales rightly shows his proudly swollen chest when he mentions current figures, trends and developments (no, this is nothing new – Jungheinrich has had positive things to report before. It’s just that the tone has changed): Looking at the forecast for the past year, Jungheinrich expects incoming orders of around 3.5 billion euros and net sales of around 3.4 billion euros – a record in the company’s history. Pre-tax profit is estimated at 250 to 260 million euros.

A volume of 1,395 thousand units produced (2017) is forecast for the global market as a whole. This is an increase of 18% compared to 2016 (1,182 thousand) or 25% if, like Brzoska, this is compared to 2015 (1,100 thousand). The comparative value in the individual regions of the world – and if we stick to 2015, the figures are even more impressive – is 26% for Europe, 14% for North America and even 37% for Asia.

Over 100,000 trucks

But back to Jungheinrich. Apart from the data that has to be published, the Hamburg-based company can boast even more record figures: for the first time, over 100,000 trucks were produced in one year. The provider of intralogistics solutions is now represented in 39 countries (Colombia, Ecuador and Peru were added last year) with a total of around 16,000 employees.

And: according to Jungheinrich, last year it recorded the largest single order for lithium-ion forklift trucks of all time. The company that placed the order, which does not wish to be named, has recognized and believes “that we are in a position to deliver 1,000 trucks with lithium-ion technology,” Brzoska continues.

Noble restraint

Keyword: lithium-ion: The pioneer in the field of alternative energy storage is still – nobly – holding back on this. But that will be over at exactly 09:30 on March 13, 2018. That’s when Jungheinrich will unveil its world premiere in the field of lithium-ion forklift trucks. The same applies to another innovation, which will be kept under wraps at this point.

What can be said: At Logimat 2018, for example, the Hamburg-based company will be showcasing its new remote control for the horizontal order pickers in the ECE family called “Easy Pilot Follow”. This is a semi-automated control system that allows the ECE to follow its operator automatically. The operator carries a control unit in their pocket or on their belt and can therefore concentrate fully on the picking process.

On the spot at the picking station

“The associated ECE positions itself precisely so that the goods can be placed directly in the right place on the fork,” explains Gunnar Tons, Head of Product Management at Jungheinrich. The truck is always available at the picking station, it follows the operator as he moves forward and stops in the exact position – eliminating the need for time-consuming, frequent mounting and dismounting as well as the longer walking distances from the picking station to the order picker and back.

Jungheinrich will also be exhibiting a high-rack stacker at Logimat in Stuttgart that was first presented at the end of 2015. The new feature of the EKX 516a is that it can now also be automated. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Rosenbach, Board Member for Logistics Systems at Jungheinrich: “The truck is now the newest member of the automated guided vehicle family.” It rounds off the portfolio as an automated solution for warehouse tasks with lifting heights of up to 13 meters.

In-house development from Norderstedt

According to Jungheinrich, this is the first time that the company has exclusively exhibited trucks with lithium-ion technology at Logimat. The Hamburg-based company is also presenting a new generation of SLH 300 high-frequency chargers, specifically the SLH 300i, for fast and effective charging of lithium-ion batteries. The chargers are proprietary developments that are produced at the Jungheinrich plant in Norderstedt. According to Dr. Carsten Harnisch, Head of Jungheinrich Energy and Drive Systems, the chargers are “an integral part of the Jungheinrich system solution”.

These are just some of the solutions from the portfolio that Jungheinrich will be presenting on its almost 1,000 square meters of exhibition space in Hall 9 at Logimat. Lars Brzoska will also be there again, who will not only say that 2018 has “started excellently” from Jungheinrich’s point of view, but that 2018 will be a very successful year for Jungheinrich.

2018 – jak

Wenn ein global erfolgreich agierendes Unternehmen seinen Stammsitz im Hohenlohekreis hat, kann man getrost von einem „hidden champion“ sprechen.

Zugegeben, es ist nicht die 1.000.000-Euro-Frage bei Günter Jauch: „Wo, um Gottes Willen, ist der Hohenlohekreis?“ Aber auch die Redaktion hätte sich hier zunächst ein wenig schlau machen müssen. Auch dann, wenn der Moderator den Tipp „Künzelsau“ gegeben hätte. Schließlich handelt es sich um die Geburtsstadt des deutschen Astronauten Alexander Gerst.

So hoch wollen wir nicht hinaus, aber das gut 15.000 Einwohner zählende Städtchen soll heute der Ausgangspunkt einer virtuellen Reise sein – einer Reise mit einem „hidden champion“ zu einigen Orten in der Welt, an denen Spitzentechnologie zum Einsatz kommt. Also:

0 km – Künzelsau

Tief im fränkisch geprägten Nordosten Baden-Württembergs befindet sich der Stammsitz von Stahl Cranesystem. Das Unternehmen beschäftigt derzeit insgesamt rund 700 Mitarbeiter und vertreibt (wie der Name bereits vermuten lässt) innovative Krantechnik und Krankomponenten. Das 1876 in Stuttgart von Rafael Stahl gegründete, heute in Künzelsau ansässige Unternehmen, ist eigenen Angaben zu Folge Weltmarkführer für explosionsgeschützte Hebezeuge und Sonderlösungen und verfügt über ein dichtes Netzwerk Kranbaupartner sowie Tochtergesellschaften in neuen Ländern – die Basis für einen erfolgreichen weltweiten Vertrieb.

70 km – Pleidelsheim

In der schwäbischen Gemeinde Pleidelsheim befindet sich der Firmensitz des europaweit agierenden Stahlhändlers Dewald. Zum Heben, Befördern und Verladen der schweren Rundstahlstäbe, werden Magnetkrane eingesetzt. Sie ermöglichen eine schnelle, sichere und materialschonende Arbeitsweise, verlangen jedoch ebenso eine anspruchsvolle und individuelle Krankonstruktion mit erhöhten Sicherheitsanforderungen. Der Kranbaupartner Innokran stattete die Lagerhallen von Dewald mit zwei neuen Magnetkranen aus. Die Hebezeuge und Krankomponenten dazu wurden von Stahl Cranesystems geliefert.

Beide Krane sollten spezifischen Kundenansprüche erfüllen – beide benötigten eine Sonderlösung, die individuell für Dewald konstruiert wurde.
Der erste Kran transportiert bis zu 14 Tonnen schwere Stahlstäbe mit zwei acht-Tonnen-Seilzügen der Serie SH. Lange Rundstäbe werden im Tandembetrieb von beiden Seilzügen gleichzeitig befördert. Für kurze Stäbe wird die zweigeteilte Traverse schräg gestellt und die Magnete getrennt von einander genutzt.

Der zweite Kran hebt mit Hilfe von Magnetkraft abgeschnittene Rundstahlscheiben aus dem Sägewerk. Ein spezieller Kippmagnet ermöglicht es, die Last in der Luft zu drehen und auf eine Palette abzulegen. Die Platzierung der Hubwerke oberhalb der Kranbrücke ermöglichen die maximale Nutzung der lichten Hallenhöhe und das Beladen von Lkw direkt vor Ort. Die Nutzung beider Krananlagen beschleunigt die Arbeitsvorgänge und entlastet die Mitarbeiter von Dewald enorm.

300 km – Markt Schwaben

Auch wenn es anders klingt, wir sind bereits in Oberbayern, östlich von München. Unweit eines Haltepunkts der S-Bahn-Linie 2 der bayerischen Landeshauptstadt auf dem Weg nach Erding betreibt die Firma Huber eine große Lagerhalle für ihre bis zu 500 Kilogramm schweren Natursteinplatten. Aufgrund der großen Nachfrage nach den edlen Steinen, die in allen Farben und Schattierungen bei Huber zu finden sind, plante das Unternehmen nicht wie bisher nur die Haupthalle, sondern auch die Seitenbereiche der Lagerhalle zu nutzen. Dafür benötigten sie eine spezielle Krananlage, die die Hallenbereiche miteinander verbinden sollte.

Mit einiger Raffinesse erarbeiteten die Ingenieure von Stahl- und Kranbau Oeder, einem süddeutschen Kranbaupartner von Stahl Cranesystems, dafür eine Sonderkonstruktion: Unterhalb der bereits bestehenden Kranbahn wurde eine zweite installiert, die den hinteren Teil der Halle abdeckt. Auf beiden Kranbrücken dient ein Stahl Cranesystems Seilzug der Serie SH als Hubwerk. Auch alle weiteren Krankomponenten wie Steuerung und Krankopfträger stammen vom Künzelsauer Spezialisten für Krantechnik.

Damit die großen Natursteinplatten weiterhin von beiden Kranen transportiert werden können, durfte der tiefer liegende Kran nur einen sehr geringen Hakenabgang haben. Mit der SH-Serie konnte diese Anforderung problemlos realisiert werden.

Durch den Einsatz des neuen Kransystems ist Huber Naturstein nun in der Lage, 40 zusätzliche Materialien in der Halle lagern und transportieren – und bleibt konkurrenzfähig.

570 km – Herzogenburg (Österreich)

Seit August 2015 kommt in der Mischanlage des Georg Fischer Werks im österreichichen Herzogenburg ein hochmoderner Gattierungskran mit Hebetechnik von Stahl Cranesystems zum Einsatz. Wie ein Koch seine Zutaten, so mischt der Kranführer die Metallsorten nach dem Rezept der Gießerei zusammen. 35.000 Tonnen Gussteile entstehen so jährlich, die Georg Fischer vornehmlich an die Automobilindustrie verkauft.

Das besondere an der Krananlage, die der österreichische Kranbaupartner Austrian Cranesystems entwickelte, ist, dass der Kran vollautomatisch betrieben werden kann. Das Sonderfahrwerk mit Wiegeeinrichtung und den Seilzug SH ohne Hakenwanderung fertigte Stahl Cranesystems.

Die Nachtschicht kann die automatisierte Krananlage komplett selbstständig übernehmen. Über ein Leitsystem werden ihm die Mengenangaben der jeweiligen Metallsorte übermittelt, die der Kran mit Hilfe der Wiegeeinrichtung am Katzrahmen aufnimmt. Eigenständig mischt er die Rezeptur in einem Container an, die anschließend in der Gießerei weiterverarbeitet wird. Neben dem vollautomatischen Betrieb arbeitet der hochmoderne Kran zudem mit erhöhter Geschwindigkeit. In der 60 Meter langen Halle kann die Dauer, die für die Ansteuerung der unterschiedlichen Container benötigt wird, so entscheidend reduziert werden.

750 km – Dubnica nad Vahom (Slowakei)

In der slowakischen Kleinstadt hat der Wasserkraftwerkshersteller VVE seinen Sitz. Die Krananlage, die hier installiert werden sollte, habe alle Ingenieurskunst gefordert, heißt es. Fast wäre das Projekt gescheitert, da die Statik der VVE-Firmenhalle nicht auf die Belastung einer Krananlage ausgelegt war. Jaroslav Beneš–Žeriavy, ein slowakischer Kranbaupartner von Stahl Cranesystems, stellte sich der Aufgabe. Ihm gelang es, die Krananlage so zu modifizieren, dass die Belastung des Gebäudes auf ein Minimum reduziert wurde. Dabei setzte der osteuropäische Kranbauexperte auf eine intelligente Kransteuerung, die in Echtzeit Last- und Positionsdaten sämtlicher Krane, Fahrwerke und Hubwerke analysiert und anhand der Daten die Hub- und Fahrbewegungen der gesamten Anlage kontrolliert.

Mithilfe von redundanten PLC-Steuerungen kommunizieren die Krane ununterbrochen miteinander und passen Hub- und Senkgeschwindigkeit, zulässige Last und Positionierung selbstständig an, sodass die vorgeschriebene Gesamtbelastung des Gebäudes nie überschritten wird.

Dadurch erfüllte Jaroslav Beneš–Žeriavy gemeinsam mit Stahl Cranesystems einen individuellen und herausfordernden Kundenwunsch, der auf den ersten Blick nicht realisierbar schien.

4.500 km – Takoradi (Ghana)

Tausende Kilometer entfernt von seinem Ursprung wurde im Werk von General Electric Ghana ein Stahl Cranesystems Hebezeug mit einer besonderen Geschichte installiert und in Betrieb genommen. Krankomponenten, Steuerung, Fahrantrieb und die zwei Seilzüge wurden in Künzelsau gefertigt und anschließend zum Kranbaupartner Stahl Cranes & Hoists nach Johannesburg in Südafrika transportiert. Dort wurde die Konstruktion des Zweiträgerbrückenkrans erstellt, aufgebaut und getestet. Jedoch sollte der Bestimmungsort des Kranes ein ganz anderer sein – und zwar das per Seeweg von Durban etwa 10.000 Kilometer entfernte Ghana. Ingenieure von STAHL Cranesystems und Stahl Cranes & Hoists erarbeiteten eine ausgeklügelte Trägerkonstruktion, die in drei Teile zerlegt werden kann. Kranbrückenteile, Hebezeuge und Komponenten wurden in zwei etwa zwölf Meter lange Container verpackt und über Land und Seeweg nach Ghana verfrachtet. Dort konnte der Zweiträgerbrückenkran wieder aufgebaut und fristgerecht in Betrieb genommen werden.

8.000 km – Tianjin (China)

Die letzte Station unserer virtuelle Reise befindet sich im Norden Chinas, wo wir fast 8.000 Kilometer von Künzelsau entfernt auf ein weiteres Projekt mit Hohenloher Wurzeln treffen: Die Stahl-Cranesystems-Tochtergesellschaft aus Shanghai beliefert hier große Flüssiggas-Anlagen mit zuverlässigen und sicheren Spezialhebezeugen.

Aufgrund des wachsenden Energiebedarfs importiert die Volksrepublik China flüssiges Erdgas (LNG). Dieses wird direkt an der Küste in riesigen LNG-Tanks zwischengelagert, um anschließend über Pipelines ins Landesinnere transportiert zu werden. Tonnenschwere Pumpen befördern das auf –160 °C gekühlte flüssige Erdgas aus den Tanks auf seinen Weg. Für Wartungsarbeiten oder Reparaturen müssen die Pumpen aus den bis zu 60 Metern tiefen Gas-Tanks herausgehoben werden. Dazu sind höchste Materialanforderungen, kompetente Mitarbeiter und uneingeschränkt zuverlässige Technik gefragt, denn die Explosionsgefahr durch verdunstendes Erdgas ist hoch. Außerdem muss die Hebetechnik den enormen Temperaturunterschieden in und außerhalb der Tanks, den rauen Wetterbedingungen an der chinesischen Nordküste und der salzhaltigen Luft standhalten. Kein leichtes Unterfangen, wie es heißt. Für einen „hidden champion“ aber dennoch kein Problem.

jak – 2017

Mjölby. Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) hat eine Absichtserklärung unterzeichnet, Vanderlande, einen der weltweit führenden Generalunternehmer für Lösungen in der Prozessautomation im Lagerbereich sowie für die Automation der logistischen Prozesse an Flughäfen und im Paketversand, vom derzeitigen Eigner, NPM Capital, zu akquirieren.

Die Transaktion unterstreicht das strategische Ziel von TICO, die Präsenz im Bereich automatisierter Materialflusssysteme zu erhöhen. Sie soll ebenso wie die kürzlich angekündigte Expansion in Nordamerika mit Bastian Solutions LLC dazu beitragen, die global führende Position bei Komplettlösungen im Material Handling weiter zu festigen.

TICO erzielte im letzten Geschäftsjahr (bis Ende März 2016) mit 51.458 Mitarbeitern einen Gesamtumsatz von 16,8 Mrd. €. Daran hat der Bereich Material Handling einen Anteil von 45 %. TICO ist seit 2002 der weltweit führende Hersteller von Gabelstaplern und war in den vergangenen 50 Jahren Nummer Eins auf dem japanischen Markt.

Als Managing Officer von TICO und designierter Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats von Vanderlande erklärt Norio Wakabayashi: „Vanderlande ergänzt unser aktuelles Angebot durch die Bereitstellung einer vollständigen Palette integrierter automatischer Materialflusslösungen. Auch bei unseren umfangreichen Vertriebs- und Service-Netzwerken sehen wir große strategische Übereinstimmungen.

Die Akquisition sorgt für eine noch bessere globale Abdeckung über fast alle Märkte, in denen Automatisierungsbedarf besteht.“ Vanderlande-CEO Remo Brunschwiler kommentiert: „Vanderlande ist stolz, ein Bestandteil der Wachstumsstrategie des Weltkonzerns TICO zu werden. Die finanzielle Stärke von TICO sowie die globale Präsenz wird unserem Unternehmen helfen, die Strategie eines nachhaltigen, gewinnbringenden Wachstums fortzuführen.“

Vanderlande behält Namen und Unternehmensidentität und wird seine Aktivitäten als eigenständige Einheit, ausgehend von den bisherigen Standorten, weltweit fortführen. Vorbehaltlich der üblichen behördlichen Genehmigungsverfahren soll die Transaktion im 2. Quartal 2017 abgeschlossen werden.

2017 – jak

Seoul/Duisburg. Takeovers often have a pale aftertaste. However, when the South Korean group Young An bought a traditional American company in 2003, things looked very different: In addition to reliable and robust products, independently operating units, short decision-making processes, a high degree of flexibility and a living family feeling form the backbone of Clark today.

Listening to him, you quickly realize that this young man still has big plans. Seung-Soo Baik, 45 years old, is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Clark Material Handling International. The conversation revolves around a powerful organization and considerable growth potential. About the gradual further development of the company in the American market and a noticeable expansion in Europe. Yes, actually everything you would expect to hear from a CEO in a conversation like this. But more on that later. First, it’s all about history.

Looking back: In 1917, the American automotive supplier and axle manufacturer Clark (founded in 1903) invents the world’s first forklift truck for internal material handling. Eight vehicles were delivered the following year. By 1919, 75 trucks had already been produced and sold.

The whole thing is not a flash in the pan – on the contrary. “Do this, do that!” became the credo in the 1920s. Consequently, Clark named his first petrol-powered three-wheeled tractor “Duat”. According to Seung-Soo Baik, this served as the basis for the development of the first ever petrol-powered forklift truck.

At the beginning of the 1940s, Clark then developed the first electrically powered forklift truck that could be used for an entire shift. The fact that the start of production was postponed until 1945 due to the Second World War remains a historical side note. More important in this context: the first Clark forklift truck arrives in Europe immediately after the end of the war and has a lasting impact on what will be called intralogistics 60 years later.

The basis for a successful company

Meanwhile, the foundations for another successful company history were laid on the Korean peninsula in 1959. Sung Hak Baik, the father of Seung-Soo Baik, begins to set up a hat production facility. The small family business initially produces 70 hats a year. “Today, we sell more than 100 million hats a year and are number 1 worldwide,” says Seung-Soo Baik. In addition, the company quickly realized that two components form the basis for a successful company in the long term: Internationality and diversification.

“Nevertheless, it was by no means foreseeable that our family would one day enter the industrial truck business,” says Seung-Soo Baik. However, exactly one hundred years after the founding of the automotive supplier Clark, Young An took over the now American industrial truck manufacturer Clark.

Seung-Soo Baik remembers that Clark – in crisis at the time – was up for sale. “We simply bid and then won the bid more or less by chance.” What followed, however, had nothing to do with chance, but with entrepreneurial decisions. The declared aim of the takeover: “We want to build the most reliable and robust forklift trucks!”

It also quickly became clear that the main potential lay on the American and European continents. “We launched in the USA in January 2003 and a year later we were already in Germany,” says the manager.

Rolf Eiten, Managing Director of Clark Europe GmbH, also confirms that in addition to America, the further development of the European market is particularly important to the South Koreans: “The large market for warehouse technology in particular still offers us considerable growth potential.”

“Joint development of products and solutions for Europe”

According to Clark Europe, the European development departments have been working closely with their colleagues in South Korea and the USA for some time now. “The focus is on the joint development of products and solutions,” says Rolf Eiten, “which are specifically tailored to the requirements of the European market.” The vehicles currently in use in Europe all come from Asia – but this is not to remain the case. Seung-Soo Baik: “We will build a plant in Germany!” Still unclear: the exact timing.

A look at the USA shows how quickly something like this can happen. Just three years after the takeover by Young An, Clark opened an – initially small – production facility in Kentucky in 2006. The factory in San Luis Portosi, Mexico, which went into operation a few years later, was closed again in 2015 in favor of expanding the US plant. The aim is to have all counterbalance trucks for the US market (which currently still come from Asia) manufactured in Kentucky in the coming years. Seung-Soo Baik: “Our maxim is to produce in the markets for the markets.”

“Size is secondary. What counts is what the customer needs.”

But back to Europe. When asked about the dominance of the large industrial truck manufacturers, especially in the important intralogistics markets, Seung-Soo Baik has a surprisingly simple and clear answer: “Size is secondary. What counts is what the customer needs.” As a smaller company in comparison, the company has very short decision-making paths and therefore great flexibility when it comes to meeting customer requirements.

Rolf Eiten agrees. Clark is also an internationally operating company with its own production and development facilities – just like most of the competition. The manager adds: “In addition, we have independent sales organizations operating worldwide with a powerful organization for sales, customer service, training and research and development.” A flexible dealer network close to customers also ensures the rapid availability of forklifts, spare parts and services.

“We are family” – close relationship between all participants

Nevertheless, Seung-Soo Baik repeatedly emphasizes in conversation with Hebezeuge Fördermittel that the company differs from many large players in one key respect: “We are family!” By this he means the close relationship between Clark, its suppliers, customers, dealers and employees. This, coupled with short decision-making processes and a high degree of flexibility, is what makes up the core of the company’s brand. “We are able to react much faster and more flexibly to market conditions than a large, complex organization,” says the manager. In addition, there is no need to take “outside investors into consideration”.

Seiung-Soo Baik still has big plans. This drive can be felt in every minute of the conversation. A drive that over the past fourteen years has not only made Clark International what it is today, but also what the world’s oldest forklift manufacturer wants to be in the future: an internationally successful group with the charm of a family business.

Chausseestraße 8 – the question is: ground floor or second floor? There’s a classy wine bar downstairs with a few tables – but on this evening there’s only room at the bar. So: second floor. Simple but elegant decor. As you enter, Marco Müller (chef & cook) greets the guests from the kitchen. This does not give you any idea of what the evening will bring.

This only becomes apparent when you look at the menu. “By the water” (chives & wood sorrel, cheese broth) or “Under the raspberry bush” (beet, pumpkin & earth). Pure gastronomic experience. But not with singing waiters. The experience develops on the palate: “Wild Baltic salmon” (honeybeet & fennel, pepper dust) and “Kolrabi & shoulder” (sour-salty, fire & whey). If you order this combination, you will already have four experiences (not including the various greetings from the kitchen).

If you order six experiences, you can also add “onion vegetables” (egg yolk & ox marrow, caramel) and “pigeon & elderberry capers” (wild broccoli, black garlic). If you order eight, a “Tomato Stulle” (cold rye & crispbread, goat’s feta gratiné) and “Sunflower root & blackcurrant” will unleash a true explosion of experiences on your palate.

Well, and if you’re already there – you can also cope with ten experiences (as long as your wallet plays along – the quantities of the courses are adapted accordingly so that there is never, but never, anything like a feeling of fullness). With “crayfish” (raw marinated & poached, dulse algae, salted lemon) and “cauliflower” (lardo & sorrel), the experience is complete.

Who cares that Wolf Biermann once lived diagonally opposite?

jak – 2016

Bangkok/Berlin. For the time being Jan Kaulfuhs-Berger (48) leaves his Thailand domicile on October 31, 2016, heading to Berlin. The founder of “elements of journalism”, a press agency based both in Germany as well as in Thailand, takes over the responsibility of “Hebezeuge Fördermittel”. The well-respected trade magazine is published bei HUSS MEDIEN Berlin und focus on technical logistics matters.

 

jak – 2016

Jakarta. To ensure efficient logistics processes for its distribution centres on the island of Java, the Indonesian company PT Enseval relies on “German-made” expertise from Jungheinrich, the Hamburg-based intralogistics specialist.

Pre Agusta Siswantoro puts it in a nutshell: “You can’t say you know how to handle the entire logistics chain until you’ve done it in Indonesia!” The world’s largest island state is home to almost 240 million inhabitants and boasts more than 6,000 populated islands dotting the equator. “Timely and high-quality logistics in this country can only be achieved with the help of a high core competence in logistics.“ Pre Agusta Siswantoro should know what he is talking about – after all, he heads Supply Chain division of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk, which in turn owns 90 percent of PT Enseval Putera Megatrading Tbk, Indonesia’s largest pharmaceuticals distributor.

PT Enseval was formed in 1973 and since then has been a success story in distributing pharmaceutical products and medical equipment as well as end products in the food and health care industry. Listed on the stock exchange since 1994, the company also trades in raw materials for medicines and cosmetics. PT Enseval generates annual sales of around USD 120 million and employs some 5,000 staff in 42 offices from one end of the country to the other – from Banda Aceh in northern Sumatra to Jayapura in Papua.

“A good 18,000 pallets are handled here every month,“

Over the years the company has built up its own infrastructure. The logistics processes are managed in two regional distribution centres on the island of Java – one in Surabaya in the east and the other in Jakarta in the west. “About 80 percent of the total distribution is accounted for by our distribution centre in Jakarta,” relates Agusta Pre Siswantoro, who is also Director of Logistics at PT Enseval.

Here in the Indonesian capital city some 40 lorries are loaded and unloaded every day – during peak periods this means around 800 lorries a month. The distribution centre covers 12,000 square metres of space and holds 16,000 pallets. The dwell time of the goods is – statistically – less than a month. “We reckon that on average a good 18,000 pallets are handled here every month,“ says Irwan Dwi Suryanto, Warehouse Manager at PT Enseval’s distribution centre in Jakarta.

To overcome the logistical challenges of distributing goods throughout the country while maintaining high quality standards, PT Enseval relies on professional support for its warehouse-based intralogistics processes. “For 15 years Jungheinrich has demonstrated its outstanding partner qualities,” comments Irwan Dwi Suryanto. “The cooperation between our companies is very, very good – starting with the quality of the trucks, to the technical advice and professional after-sales service.”

The latter is indispensable for PT Enseval’s operations, bearing in mind the Indonesian archipelago’s more than 6,000 inhabited islands, he adds. “Absolutely reliable after-sales service is indispensable – including here in South East Asia,” confirms Desmond Lam, Sales Director at Jungheinrich Lift Truck Singapore Pte Ltd. “Preventive maintenance and forklift inspections are the key to avoiding unplanned downtimes.”

Reach Trucks: Ergonomic and Easy and Intuitive to Operate

A whole range of industrial trucks from Jungheinrich operates in PT Enseval’s distribution centre in Jakarta. In addition to pedestrian stackers and pallet trucks, this includes a number of reach trucks and narrow aisle stackers. Right at the outset of the warehouse tour, Irwan Dwi Suryanto sings the praises of the forklifts and their high quality. On the one hand the robustness of the Jungheinrich trucks, on the other their ergonomic, easy and above all intuitive operation. “That is what convinced us,” says the logistics expert. That is absolutely crucial here, because PT Enseval’s distribution centre in Jakarta has a workforce of some 220 employees and operates flat out, six days a week, from dawn to dusk.

The goods are delivered by truck and taken up the ramp to the incoming goods area, where they are checked, given a barcode, scanned and logged in the warehouse management system, which assigns a storage location. Fast moving goods with short dwell periods go to the wide aisle warehouse. The WMS sends the storage job instruction to the handheld terminal of the relevant industrial truck driver.

More power, less consumption

Jungheinrich ETV 214 reach trucks handle transportation in the wide aisle warehouse. These trucks were launched in early 2011 in a radical new design. “One of the main features of this reach truck is the up to ten percent higher throughput performance compared with earlier models,” explains Desmond Lam. This higher handling performance is due primarily to the increased lifting and lowering speeds as well as significantly improved acceleration.

“In addition, the large, ergonomic, well-equipped driver’s cockpit also impressed us,” asserts Irwan Dwi Suryanto. The impressive features include a comfort seat with adjustable seating position and backrest as well as adjustment to accommodate body weight. The most important controls are within easy reach, without the driver having to shift his grip. Irwan Dwi Suryanto smiles and says, “As has already been said: ergonomic, easy and above all intuitive operation.”

Kombi Stacker: Excellent Visibility of Aisle and Load

Goods with a longer dwell time are transported to PT Enseval’s narrow aisle warehouse. Here EKX 515k electric order picker/trilateral trucks – in short Kombi stackers – ensure efficient storage and retrieval. In Jungheinrich’s Kombi stackers, too, robustness, ergonomics and comfort are balanced holistically. Keyword ergonomics: the driver accesses the spacious cabin through a generous sized entrance. Thanks to the low swivelling, sideshift guidance and clear-view masts, the driver has excellent visibility of aisle and load. “Ideal conditions for working with these trucks,” is how both Irwan Dwi Suryanto and Desmond Lam sum up the benefits.

In one aspect the two experts continue to hold different opinions: on the issue of speed. While the Jungheinrich reach trucks can zip through PT Enseval’s distribution centre at up to 14 km/h, the Kombi stackers can “only” reach 10.5 km/h. Desmond Lam resolves the apparent contradiction. “In the much more spacious, wide aisle warehouse the reach trucks can fully exploit the advantage of speed as well as acceleration. However, speed is not necessarily of the essence in a narrow aisle warehouse, where compact design comes to the fore, translating into a smaller warehouse footprint.”

Nonetheless, Irwan Dwi Suryanto would still like to further optimise the storage and retrieval processes in the narrow aisle warehouse at PT Enseval’s distribution centre. While saying this he looks at Desmond Lam with an expression which is at once half sceptical and half hopeful. “Tell you what,” replies Desmond Lam, “I’ll invite you to come to Hanover for CeMAT 2014. There we can show you how the Jungheinrich WMS speeds up and optimises processes in a narrow aisle warehouse.” On leaving the warehouse, Irwan Dwi Suryanto says quietly, but for all to hear: “Jungheinrich has always come up with the best solution for us.” The logistics specialist from Indonesia can now hardly wait for CeMAT in Hanover.

jak – 2013

Moscow. In the south of Moscow lies a compact warehouse where imported frozen meat is transhipped. Recently equipped with a shuttle system, the storage facility makes ideal use of space. For warehouse operator Universal Services, its long-standing professional cooperation with Jungheinrich was pivotal to awarding the contract.

Speaking to Michail Lyubovich, it becomes immediately apparent that the Moscow-based entrepreneur is proud of what has been created here in the south of the Russian metropolis. The main grounds of the former state railway company are located half way between the city centre and Moscow Domodedovo Airport. Until well into the 1980s, railway carriages were still being produced here for the former Soviet Union.

The beginning of Perestroika saw the start of the complete conversion of the whole complex. Railway carriage production was relegated to the past. What remained were the administrative building and a few halls. In 1996 Universal Services – a company offering a wide range of logistics services, including refrigeration logistics – bought the land.

Newly Built Refrigerated Warehouse

In cooperation with a German logistics company, it quickly installed and opened a refrigerated warehouse in the still extant buildings. With success: “After the financial crisis in Russia at the end of the nineties, Universal Services was practically the only surviving logistics provider with experience in operating refrigerated warehouses,” says Michail Lyubovich, owner of Universal Services in Moscow.

Today Universal Services continues to operate successfully as a logistics service provider in Russia. The latest example: A newly built refrigerated warehouse on the old railway grounds. The company’s new complex provides logistics services to the meat wholesale trade in Russia, handling imports mainly from Europe, USA, Mexico, South America and increasingly Australia.

Handling Polyblock Pallets a Challenge

The frozen meat handled at this facility is delivered for refrigeration in the form of polyblocks on pallets. “Handling polyblock pallets is a huge challenge,” explains Lyubovich. “A standard rack designed for three pallets has room for just two polyblock pallets.”

On the other hand block storage won’t work either, because a maximum of just two polyblock pallets can be stacked on top of each other. “For this reason we decided to build a special refrigerated warehouse for polyblock pallets.”

Compact Channel Storage Systems with Shuttles

To maximise the use of space, Universal Services considered installing compact channel storage systems with shuttles in the new refrigerated warehouse. The range of services of a traditional compact storage system, which saves space by doing away with aisles, are augmented by shuttle systems, as they open the potential for optimising the fill level, throughput rate, article diversity and volumetric efficiency in addition to enhancing cargo handling protection.

Shuttle systems for their part allow the efficient storage of palletised goods and commodities in compact channel storage systems. At Universal Services in Moscow pallets, each weighing 1,300 kilogrammes, can be stored in over 9,000 slots. Depending on the type of pallet – Euro-pallet or CHEP pallet – the channel can take on 27 or 20 pallets, respectively. A total of six Under Pallet Carriers and two ETV 320 reach trucks ensure smooth and synchronised logistics operations inside Universal Services’ refrigerated warehouse.

Cooperation for Some Ten Years

As early as 2006, Michail Lyubovich had already seen such shuttle systems in action – albeit on video – at an industrial fair in Moscow. With this memory in mind ,the owner of Universal Services approached Jungheinrich, which had already been successfully cooperating with Universal Services for some ten years.

“In the end, our many years of positive experience with Jungheinrich was the decisive factor for awarding this crucial contract to Jungheinrich,” says the proprietor of the Moscow-based logistics company. Absolute satisfaction with the quality and level of service provided by the Hamburg-based intralogistics specialist shored up the deal. “We can’t afford to experiment!” he exclaims.

Storage Errors Virtually Eliminated

There’s no experimenting either when it comes to material flows. Incoming goods are palletised, checked, weighed, then scanned to log them automatically in the warehouse management system (WMS). The WMS assigns the storage location. A gravity conveyor takes the pallet from incoming goods to the refrigerated storage. There a stacker operator scans the pallet and the WMS immediately issues the instructions via the operator’s terminal to drive to a particular channel.

An RFID tag is fitted to each channel in Universal Services’ compact refrigerated warehouse. The WMS checks that the channel is the right one and that a shuttle is ready. If the OK signal is returned, the pallet is set down on the shuttle, and the shuttle takes care of storing the pallet automatically. In Lyubovich’s words, “Storage errors are practically ruled out.”

Use of Under Pallet Carriers

As the warehouse system at Universal Services is fitted with longer channels, it quickly became clear that Under Pallet Carriers (UPCs) from Jungheinrich would be the best solution. This kind of shuttle moves under the pallet and then takes up the unit load on its carrier platform.

“The way in which a UPC works is simplicity itself,” explains Alexej Vershynin, Head of Systems, at Jungheinrich in Russia and responsible for the project at Universal Services. “One of the reach trucks picks up the UPC on its forks and places it in the relevant pallet channel.”

Independent Control of All Travel and Lifting Actions

In the channel, the carrier moves independently under the pallet. There is no physical link between the truck and the carrier. So once the truck positions the UPC in the racking channel and the operator pushes the start button on the control terminal inside the reach truck, the onboard control in the shuttle takes over independent control of all travel and lifting actions.

Sensors recognise the positions of the stored pallets. The storage of new pallets and retrieval of stored pallets occurs without any collisions. While the shuttle is moving up and down the channel the reach truck driver is free to pick up another pallet for storing and place it at the start of the channel. This is the beginning of a new storage operation. The retrieval of pallets is similar, more or less in reverse.

Shuttle Automatically Moves Pallets to Front of Channel

For goods dispatch, the driver in the reach truck receives an order and instructions from the WMS. While he drives to the channel indicated, “the shuttle automatically positions pallets at the head of the retrieval end of the channel,” explains Vershynin.

In the case of completely clearing a channel, which frequently occurs at Universal Services because a channel full of pallets is roughly one load for a haulage truck, the UPC automatically moves each pallet to the retrieval end of channel storage.

Efficient and Smooth Material Flows

Here the operator picks up the individual pallets and drops them off at the gravity conveyor for transport to outgoing goods. This is where they are prepared for shipping and delivered deep-frozen by haulage truck to the meat wholesalers.

Michael Lyubovich can justifiably be proud not only of the new, space-saving refrigerated warehouse in south Moscow, but also of the efficient and smooth material flows achieved with the Jungheinrich shuttle systems.

jak – 2012

Tomsk. Producing high-quality beer is not the sole mission of the Tomskoje Pivo brewery in Tomsk, Russia: the company also demands a high degree of efficiency in its production and warehouse logistics. And for that it uses counterbalanced trucks from Jungheinrich.

When the sun sets over Tomsk, things get even busier at the local brewery. For that is when the staff at Tomskoje Pivo – one of Russia’s oldest breweries – revs up production at full steam. A total of 1.6 million hectolitres of beer are brewed annually in this city located in the west Siberian lowlands, some 3,500 kilometres east of Moscow. “Then there are the other 400,000-plus hectolitres of alcohol-free beverages we produce every year, such as mineral water or kvass,” explains Vasily Russkov, Deputy General Director at Tomskoje Pivo.

Back in 1876 the German Karl Krüger established this brewery. Shortly thereafter – 130 years ago – Tomskoje Pivo moved to its current location, where it has remained ever since. Since then production volumes have developed similarly to the population in the university town of Tomsk, which went from around 50,000 residents at the end of the 19th century to well over 570,000 today.

The Tomsk-based brewery produces a wide variety of beers, from lager and pilsner to dark and top-fermented beer. The markets for these products are located primarily in western and eastern Siberia as well as central Russia. Vasily Russkov pauses for a second and then notes “it can actually be rightly said that we deliver to almost the entirety of Russia – plus Kazakhstan.”

“Quality Is Paramount”

Of course the brewery’s original target market was not nearly that large. But it can be safely said that today well over 700 people are employed in a wide range of capacities at Tomskoje Pivo – from brewing to transport and logistics, including an in-house quality assurance and research lab. Pointing to the company lab, Russkov comments that “quality is paramount here!”

These high standards involve not only beverage production, but also logistical processes at the brewery, where Jungheinrich counterbalanced stackers guarantee smooth pre- and post-production processes. “The excellent price for such an outstanding level of quality is what motivated us to make increasing use of Jungheinrich stackers for our logistical processes,” reports Russkov, who is also in charge of purchasing and logistics at Tomskoje Pivo. “This is especially true in comparison with other leading providers who are represented on our market.”

Part of the brewery’s fleet consists of Jungheinrich EFG 316k electric stackers. “The ‘k’ signifies a particularly compact stacker with an extremely tight turning radius,” explains Mark Spitsyn, Administrator of Rental and Used Equipment  at Jungheinrich in western Siberia. The advantage of the tight turning radius becomes fully apparent at the brewery, where full barrels of beer need to be readied for shipment. Two to three battery-powered stackers are permanently active here, manoeuvring back and forth in a limited amount of space.

One vehicle “concentrates” on the pallets, which arrive at the loading point via a roller conveyor. The stacker picks the first pallet up while the next one is still rolling in, then loads it on top of the second pallet. The stacker then picks up both pallets and deposits them at a specified location nearby. Stacker no. 2 now takes over, bringing the stacked pallets to a stretching machine, where they are wrapped and transported to block storage. During peak hours, a third truck is already waiting in block storage to take the pallets to the shipping zone, where they are generally loaded onto lorries.

“Like Feeding Unused Diesel Fuel Back Into the Tank”

“Our electric stackers are not only extremely manoeuvrable,” continues Mark Spitsyn, “but also consume very little energy, thanks to their state-of-the-art 3-phase AC technology and high level of efficiency.” The vehicles also feed regenerative energy from braking back into the battery, causing the Jungheinrich man to smile and make the comparison: “Imagine a car being able to feed unused diesel fuel back into the tank!”

Speaking of diesel: For transporting beer barrels and beverage crates in open areas, Tomskoje Pivo also employs Jungheinrich diesel stackers with hydrodynamic drive – so called torque converters, model DFG 320. “With their dynamic drive systems these trucks are ideal for transporting loads over medium to long distances,” comments Spitsyn. Their high-volume engines deliver high torque even at low RPM, resulting in a reduction in noise as well as an “extremely low rate of fuel consumption for this class of vehicle,” according to Spitsyn.

The engines consist of rugged industrial engines designed for use in high-performance forklifts. “These are highly reliable and have a long service life, even for particularly rough tasks,” says Spitsyn, adding that the engines were ideal for operations in a Siberian setting, with temperatures as low as minus 30° Celsius in the winter and a warm, steamy climate in the summer.

But no matter what kind of weather, work goes on at the Tomsk brewery 24/7, requiring not only rugged and high-performance vehicles, but a high degree of ergonomics as well. The whole drive train of the Jungheinrich torque converter is mounted in oscillating bearings, helping reduce the transmission of vibrations to the operator. The ample-sized operator’s cabin allows freedom of movement, and the large foot space with car-type arrangement of the pedals creates ideal conditions for our operators here.

Russkov explains however that the operators were not always of this mind: “There was some opposition at first, since our drivers were simply accustomed to using other forklifts.” But this resistance soon faded after a short period of familiarisation with the new equipment. Nowadays, says Russkov, the drivers have nothing but good things to say about Jungheinrich stackers. And this positive attitude is an important element in ensuring that logistical processes at the Tomsk brewery run smoothly and efficiently, delivering high quality – 24/7.

jak – 2013

Shanghai. Jungheinrich trucks have become a familiar sight at the new Zhongwei Packing central warehouse, although two years ago the Shanghai-based company had never heard of the Hamburg-based intralogistics specialist. The company’s decision to invest in Jungheinrich equipment was driven by a key client’s recommendation and its own ability to think big.

Strategic vision was always a strength of Shanghai-based Zhongwei Packing. For many years this logistics specialist has operated VW Shanghai’s central warehouse for spare and subcontracted parts, having transferred operations just last year to a new, expanded venue in the west of the Chinese metropolis. “The new logistics centre was necessary not just because of China’s economic growth, but also and especially because of the immensely expanded range of VW products,” explains Haifeng Wang, head manager at the Zhongwei Packing Central Warehouse. “Buying this property at the right time was the right strategic decision.”

Occupying a total of 40,000 square metres of floor space, the new central warehouse was commissioned in March 2013. Around 160 warehouse employees there guarantee the punctual and accurate delivery of goods to their more than 200 customers in eastern China and Shanghai. Brought in daily on big 40-tonne trucks, the extremely large variety of incoming goods are unloaded, checked and stored at the warehouse. Delivery to the client takes place directly after an order is received, with the goods being transported on small-sized trucks. “We store the parts here for a maximum of one month,” says Haifeng Wang.

A special feature of the Zhongwei Packing warehouse, which is divided into several different sections, is its “pallet-free” storage principle: Whether they are stored in the two high-rack warehouses or the “normal” warehouse, all goods reside in special lattice boxes, each one measuring around two Euro pallets in size. Zhongwei Packing Shanghai stores more than 10,000 lattice boxes at the facility, filled with nearly every conceivable VW subcontracted part. (As Haifeng Wang puts it: “We store everything here except tyres”). An exception with regard to the lattice boxes involves large car body parts, which are stored in their own specially designed area.

Robust, Reliable Stackers

Haifeng Wang takes us to this special area of the warehouse and shows us a stacker which has loaded virtually the entire left side of a VW Polo on its forks, before taking a sharp turn and storing the large body part safely and gently into the rack. “These are punishing operations – not just here, in this section, but throughout the warehouse. At the same time they involve handling expensive, high-grade parts,” Haifeng Wang  explains. “That is why we require easy-to-operate, yet at the same time robust and highly reliable forklifts.”

This, he remarks, is why his company decided in favour of Jungheinrich last year. The recommendation came originally from VW, but the farsightedness in making the long-term investment came from Zhongwei Packing. “No, we didn’t know Jungheinrich before that, but after some intensive consultation and visits to reference clients we were able to make a highly conscious decision,” reports Haifeng Wang, adding that “after more than two years of experience in the field, we are very, very satisfied! Not just with the trucks, but also with the entire cooperation between Jungheinrich and ourselves.” Haifeng Wang emphasises: “The extremely fast reaction time of the Jungheinrich after-sales crew sets a benchmark for the entire industry.”

Tailored to the Requirements of Zhongwei Packing

Some 40 Jungheinrich trucks currently guarantee smooth logistics at the central warehouse, including four EKS 210 order pickers in a section of the high-rack warehouse. “Jungheinrich especially developed these trucks to handle the growing diversity of items at major warehouses around the world – including Zhongwei Packing – at the same time as batch sizes per order continue to diminish,” explains Xiong Wei, Technical Supervisor at Jungheinrich China.

In practice this means that the required goods for an order need to be picked and delivered faster than ever.  This means tougher requirements in terms of flexibility, order picking quantity and time. According to Xiong Wei, the EKS is tailored to the needs of Zhongwei Packing – a sentiment vigorously seconded by Haifeng Wang, who adds: “We were especially convinced by the numerous safety functions these trucks have to offer – something which is unrivalled by comparable stackers, even ones made in Germany.”

There are many other types of forklifts in operation at the Zhongwei Packing central warehouse – from electric low-platform forklifts to reach trucks and electric counterbalanced forklifts. One thing these trucks have in common is that they are all produced at the local Jungheinrich plant. “Here we are producing modern, energy-efficient industrial trucks to European standard,” states Xiong Wei. And Haifeng Wang agrees, remarking that “the quality of these trucks is just as good as the ones we order directly from Germany. We cannot see any difference between them.”

In August 2013 Jungheinrich commissioned a new plant in Qingpu, in greater Shanghai. This plant develops and produces pedestrian-controlled industrial trucks as well as electric counterbalanced stackers and reach trucks for the entire Asia-Pacific region. Just a few of the trucks from Qingpu which are in use at Zhongwei Packing include over two dozen electric counterbalanced trucks with lifting capacities between 1,600 and 2,000 kilogrammes. As is the case for all other trucks, these are equipped with the latest generation of Jungheinrich three-phase A.C. technology. According to Xiong Wei: “Our electric stackers are not only extremely agile, but also consume very little energy, thanks to the new three-phase A.C. technology and the high degree of efficiency.” The Jungheinrich trucks also feature regenerative braking, which feeds the energy from braking back into the battery. It is as if, remarks Xiong Wei, “the diesel consumed by a car engine were to trickle back, drop by drop, into the fuel tank.”

Haifeng Wang is still standing in the part of the warehouse where the electric counterbalanced truck from Jungheinrich has loaded in “half a VW Polo”. Opposite this hall is the – highly visible – charging station for the battery-powered stackers. The three-phase A.C. technology from Jungheinrich makes it unnecessary to change the battery, despite the punishing operations. “A single overnight charging session is more than sufficient,” says the warehouse manager.

He then points to the empty field behind the charging station, explaining that his company had already purchased the land to enable future expansion. As soon as it becomes necessary, Shanghai Zhongwei Packing will erect an additional warehouse on this plot of land. The size of the entire warehouse complex will then grow to some 70,000 square metres of floor space – a further far sighted investment.

jak – 2015

Ruhla. As the general contractor Jungheinrich installed an automated high-bay warehouse for REV Ritter. Using its creativity, ingenuity and wealth of specialist expertise, the Hamburg-based company was able to achieve unanticipated cost savings for the midsize company.

As Gero von Randow, a leading science journalist, put it, technology must not only work well, it must also resolve real world challenges and provide tangible benefits. REV Ritter has made this credo its own. Based in Mömbris near Aschaffenburg, Germany, the firm is a leading manufacturer of electronic products and installation materials, notching up earnings of some 65 million euros in 2008.

With more than 300 employees in five production facilities in Germany and Austria, the Ritter Group, which focuses mainly on the European market, boasts an export rate of 25 percent. In addition to its core brand REV, the company acquired the brand rights to “Minimax for home” in 2006 for marketing a range of high-grade fire protection products.

“We had to look for alternatives”

In 2007 REV Ritter created a joint venture with the Munich-based lighting manufacturer Osram GmbH and launched a new brand on the market under the name Ritos. This joint venture sells functional lamps for the end-consumer, for example for special lighting applications in the kitchen, bathroom or hobby basement. Moreover REV Ritter also supplies retailers in Europe, in particular DIY outlets.

At the start of the nineties, thanks to substantial growth in its production, REV Ritter had to face the challenge of scaling up its activities. “As our location in Mömbris did not offer serious options for expansion,” explains Karlheinz Ritter, General Manager of the family firm, “we had to look for alternatives.”

Installation of a High-Bay Warehouse in Thuringia.

This was how REV Ritter took over the former East German manufacturing facilities of VEB Acosta in Thuringia. To keep pace with market developments, a gradual conversion and expansion of Plant 4 in Thal (near Ruhla) was carried out over the intervening years. “The unfavourable production conditions, for instance the differing heights of the 18 facility buildings, some of them very small and with poor access, made this necessary,” recalls Ritter.

The installation of a fully-automated silo-type high-bay warehouse has been the proudest achievement to date. “Because of the slope we built on, part of the warehouse was recessed up to three metres into the ground,” explains Andreas Soika, Logistics Systems project manager at Jungheinrich and responsible for the construction and commissioning of the high-bay storage for REV Ritter.

Overnight Preparation for Next-Day Order-Picking

Some 6,800 pallets can be stored in the warehouse on seven levels. A high bay warehouse storage and retrieval vehicle with good cornering capability is used for storing and retrieval cycles in the six aisles. Additional pallet areas are used for overnight preparation for next-day order-picking. “This means we can ensure that material handling in the warehouse gets off to a flying start the following morning,” relates Ritter.

The automatic high-bay warehouse is immediately adjacent to the former warehouse — now mainly used for order picking. It has three floors: order picking of bulky goods and display articles for special customer campaigns is done on the ground floor. Order picking palletised goods in cardboard boxes is carried out on the first (upper) floor.

Vehicle Without Traction Drive Faster and Cheaper

“On the second floor C-items and small parts are order picked from shelf racks,” adds Ritter. Conveyors from the high-bay warehouse keep the two lower floor levels provisioned, while a vertical conveyor links all three floors. “We use a high-bay warehouse storage and retrieval vehicle without traction drive,” says Soika. “This makes it much faster and cheaper than a material handling lift.”

The HOST registers all incoming pallets via a defined interface. The notification contains all data on the article and the quantity. The system sets the quantity of articles that can be stored on a pallet. “The pallet is ready for storage once the operative has attached a label with the relevant information to a standardised spot on the article,” says Ritter.

Thorough Check

Then the pallet is placed on the conveyor, where it undergoes a thorough check. “This is done on the basis of a contour and pallet check,” relates Andreas Soika. Two flaps between rollers check pallet and fork space. “As soon as something is amiss,” adds Soika, “the system generates an automatic error message.” The pallet is then automatically taken out of circulation for fixing or replacement.

The production area has its own storage route to save transport distance and hence time and money. Irrespective of the route the pallets take to the high-bay storage, the storage and retrieval vehicle does the rest.  The pallets are stored single deep or double deep – only the same articles are permitted for double-deep storing.

Cost-Efficient Solution

The whole racking system based on the silo-design was made from off-the-shelf racking materials. The base of the racking system was secured to the floor with a dowel anchor system to avoid any drastic invasive intervention in the reinforced floor base plate.  Andreas Soika: “We consciously selected the most economic structural design to keep Ritter’s costs down in relation to the relatively expensive base plate.”

The structure was designed to ensure that outer racks and the top of the racks are load-bearing. The core of the warehouse almost bears no load. “With common sense and creative ideas we were able to save the customer lots of steel and plenty of money,” Soika adds, “while achieving the proper stiffness and necessary structural integrity of the building.”

Order Picking is Paperless

The HOST also sends customer orders to the warehouse management system. Subsequently, an availability check is performed, which also looks at pending and as yet unprocessed incoming goods notices and, if relevant, information from the production side.

Order picking at all levels is paperless, thanks to wireless technology.  Operatives are equipped with handheld terminals with integrated barcode scanners. The terminals show each picking order plus all relevant information, such as the article in question, the quantity, and the order picking address.

“The path each order picker takes is optimised”

“To make things easier for the operatives and ensure more efficient order picking each article is always located in the same place,” explains Karlheinz Ritter. “To save time the path each order picker takes is optimised.”

Scanning the EAN (European Article Number) barcode and confirming the quantity means all retrievals are logged. Once the order picking for a particular customer order has been finished, the pallet is stretch wrapped, a shipping label is attached and it is dropped off at the dispatch area.

Trust, Acceptance and Fair Cooperation

“For some time we had been looking at installing a high-bay racking system with an order picking area,” relates Ritter today. The first contact with Jungheinrich, as manufacturer of industrial trucks and as general contractor for integrated systems, goes back to 2002.

Plans were drawn up two years later, but were initially relegated to the desk drawer. “But one day we got a call from REV Ritter,” recalls Jungheinrich project manager Andreas Soika, “with the request to update the original offer.”

Serious and Practical Impression

Although Jungheinrich’s quotation was average in terms of the price, and the scope of delivery was also similar to the other bidders, the Hamburg-based company got the nod. According to Ritter, Jungheinrich’s offer made a serious impression and was eminently feasible — confirmed time and again during the implementation phase.

“For us trust, mutual acceptance and good cooperation are crucial for the successful conclusion of such a complex project.” Gero von Randow was proved right. “The technical solution put forward by Jungheinrich not only works smoothly,” says Karlheinz Ritter, “it matches our way of doing things and completely takes real world conditions into account.”

jak – 2009

Moscow. The packaging manufacturer, Alcan, relies on the support provided by Jungheinrich to fulfil its logistics activities in Russia. The rental stackers provided by the Hamburg company ensure financial flexibility for Alcan.

Alcan’s principles: Environmental protection, safety and health

“It was clear to us from the beginning that the only way to ensure our high quality standards was by using professional partners,” says Irina Kozhemyakina. Whilst preparing the bid, a series of requirements was formulated regarding the selection of suppliers – from environmental protection to safety in the company to the health of the employees.

“Of course we undertook investigations in the run-up,” says Ms. Kozhemyakina, “what type and how many trucks we need.” This was necessary, among other reasons, because there are many different materials and goods of various sizes being produced at Alcan. The Logistics Manager: “Jungheinrich has made us a very good offer in this respect – not only in financial terms but also in regard to the equipment. For example, we need special equipment to transport rollers, clamps, which many companies could not offer us.” It was only logical that Jungheinrich receive the order.

Jungheinrich rental fleet: No interest, no service charges, no follow-up costs

Alcan uses solely rental trucks. “In addition to financial flexibility, there are a number of reasons to hire fork lift trucks,” explains Luuk Snijders, head of hire and used equipment at Jungheinrich Russia. One of the examples give by the manager is the fact that interest, depreciation, insurance and service costs are already covered by the hire rate. In addition, the majority of vehicles in the Jungheinrich rental fleets are less than a year old, ensuring that the customer always has the latest technology available.

Snijders: “Alcan, therefore, has complete planning reliability with regard to the costs and the individually agreed upon contract period.” Equity protection and tax allowances also provide the customer with considerably more resources for other internal investments, as the company’s budget would not be burdened by renting-related investments.

Jungheinrich Russia has a rental fleet of over 700 vehicles at various locations throughout Russia. “This means we are able to provide our customers with fork lift trucks and pallet trucks at short notice during seasonal fluctuations or during unexpected volumes of transport,” adds Snijders. If required, Jungheinrich Russia can also draw from a worldwide fleet of 25,000 Jungheinrich fork lift and pallet trucks.

“The range provided by Jungheinrich offers us a very economical solution with extremely low conditions of payment,” says Irina Kozhemyakina. The employees are also satisfied in terms of technical standards. In-house analyses showed that “the perfect steering ability of Jungheinrich’s trucks, the ride comfort and the excellent readability of the display were particularly highlighted by all truck drivers.”

But there was one factor that impressed the logistics specialists at Alcan the most. Irina Kozhemyakina: “If there is ever a problem, one call is all that’s needed.” The response time in such cases has been less than an hour, the problems being solved within 24 hours. “This is something we have never experienced before in Russia!”

The overall impression of Jungheinrich left on Alcan Istra was not just “a guarantee of continuing fruitful collaboration between the two companies,” as Zhanna Zhdanova, responsible for Communications and Marketing at Alcan Packaging, expresses. It is clear that this cooperation will also benefit the group as a whole. Indeed, the Moscow-based daughter company was quick to recommend the mother company in Paris to rely on the possibilities offered by Jungheinrich in the future.

jak – 2009

Gols. Visitors to the wine cellar of the Heinrich Winery in the Austrian state of Burgenland will witness a lot more going on there than just the frothy bubbling of fermenting grapes. They will also see the bustling activity of several Jungheinrich trucks which, together with gravity, provide for smooth logistics at the winemaking facility.

Once the Heinrich winery has completed the grape harvest, things really go into high gear. That is because the Heinrich Winery, located in the town of Gols in the state of Burgenland in eastern Austria, produces roughly 4,000 hectolitres of red wine annually – wines which are marked by their robust character and strong embodiment of the local terroir. The grape varieties at Heinrich consist primarily of Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch, St. Laurent and Merlot.

In and of itself, this would not set Gernot Heinrich apart from the other local vintners. But a look behind the scenes reveals that Heinrich has not only worked on the ideal solution to storing his wine – he has also given a great deal of thought to the logistical aspects.

Laws of Gravity

“When we started excavating a large area in back of our house, the neighbours thought we must be putting in a swimming pool,” he recalls wryly. But over time they could see that Heinrich was actually building a three-storey wine cellar, designed to serve as a combined production, storage and logistics centre for the vineyard’s outstanding red wines.

“Our wine cellar is ruled by the laws of gravity,” explains Heinrich. In practice this means the grapes are processed without the use of pumps, making it necessary to transport wine tanks back and forth between the different floors. To master this logistical challenge, Heinrich decided to employ Jungheinrich stackers.

From the Harvest to the Bottling

But before that, the grapes need to be harvested from the various vineyards belonging to the winery, after which they are transported to the wine cellar in boxes which can hold between 100 and 400 kilograms. Here they are placed on a sorting belt to pass through a de-stemming machine, separating the grapes from the stems and then gently plunking them down onto a second conveyor belt, before gravity induces them to fall into the wine tanks.

“Over the following weeks the grapes begin to ferment,” explains Heinrich, “and gravity sees to it that the resulting wine flows into wooden casks.“ To ensure the quality of the young wine and aerate it, the wine is frequently poured from one cask to another. “At the end of this process, to guarantee a homogeneous product, we then pour the wine from the casks back into the tanks, and from there into bottles,” says Heinrich. Once the bottles have been filled they are placed in crates, then stacked on pallets and brought to the storage area.

Several Jungheinrich trucks are needed to perform the logistics tasks at the winery, including EFG 220 and EFG 320 counterbalance trucks, assigned to transport operations in the storage area. These consist of 48 V battery powered stackers equipped with Jungheinrich three-phase A.C. technology, which allows them to achieve “top throughput rates thanks to their high standards in accelerating, driving and lifting,” comments Claus Hurst, Jungheinrich engineering consultant for Burgenland. This pays off particularly during peak times, when “all our stackers are in operation,” declares Heinrich – a time when rental trucks are even occasionally brought in as reinforcements, he adds.

The load handling attachment for the counterbalance trucks is pivoted, allowing the operator to tilt the boxes full of freshly picked grapes so gently they are not damaged when spilling out onto the sorting belt. The trucks also have recessed sections of the overhead guard, allowing them to be driven directly into the drive-in racks where the boxed and palletised wine bottles are stored.

“Drive-in racks are ideal for storing large, heavy quantities of goods when the variety of stored items themselves is small,” says Hurst. Jungheinrich drive-in racks have an open side for forklift access. These aisles are filled from the rear to the front, making additional access aisles unnecessary. “Both rack systems combine the advantages of block storage with rack storage, guaranteeing compact space utilisation and at the same time tall stacking heights and gentle handling of the stored goods,” relates Hurst.

Based on a total width of just 1,120 millimetres and the recessed areas in the frame of the overhead guard, the stacker can be operated quickly and safely in the aisles between the drive-in racks. It is designed for lift heights of over 7 metres and can transport payloads of up to 2,000 kilograms.

These counterbalance trucks are consequently not quite capable of transporting the winery’s mobile wine tanks, which can weigh up to 3,000 kilograms. But since the tanks need to be transported between the different storeys there, specially built trucks from Jungheinrich are required.

The task here consists of transporting heavy loads through narrow aisles to the freight elevator, so the Jungheinrich special build plant in Lüneburg, Germany, designed heavy-duty electric platform trucks with standard drives, but a specially designed load section.

Functionality and Quality More Important than the Price

“Special built products are always going to be a tad more expensive,” explains Gernot Heinrich, “but they are necessary and we want them!” Needles to say, he adds, price originally played a role when Heinrich ordered its first Jungheinrich stackers over ten years ago.

But functionality and quality are more important than the price on paper, he continues. “And Jungheinrich has more than met our requirements in those areas – not to mention the excellent fittings and ergonomic design of their trucks.”

jak – 2008

Waterloo. Anyone who gets their tyres changed at Pneu Vanhamme can’t fail to notice the company’s service mindedness. So it was only natural that the Belgian tyre dealer contacted someone with a similar attitude when it was ready to change its warehouse concept: Jungheinrich.

When you enter the sales room of Pneu Vanhamme you don’t feel like you’re visiting a tyre shop, but rather a modern art exhibition. Individual tyres are positioned in front of large-scale posters.

Partition walls lend the visitor a feeling of privacy. Indirect lighting above the various seating arrangements suggests a lounge-type atmosphere, where clients can relax and enjoy a refreshing cup of coffee or cappuccino.

Service Mindedness Plays a Major Role

“I want the client to feel pampered when he visits us,” says Karyn Vanhamme, Managing Director at Pneu Vanhamme, one of Belgium’s largest tyre retailers, stressing that for her company, atmosphere, quality and service mindedness all go in hand in hand.

That’s because service mindedness plays a major role at the family-owned enterprise in Waterloo, near Brussels. Founded by father Constant Vanhamme, the business is run today by daughter Karyn, backed up by her two daughters and a son-in-law. At peak times the firm employs two dozen staff members.

Storage Conditions Have Changed Drastically

Peak times are for example spring and autumn, when it is time to change the tyres. “Changing tyres and storing them is a key market for us,” explains Karyn Vanhamme. “Many private customers have us change their tyres and store them as well.” Then there are the leasing firms, with whom there are special contracts stating that Pneu Vanhamme will not only change the summer tyres and snow tyres on the vehicles in their fleet, but also store them.

“The situation for snow tyres has changed greatly in Belgium over the past few years,” says the managing director, although there is no official requirement to use snow tyres in Belgium in winter. Nevertheless domestic demand has gone up by a large margin, with a consequent leap in storage requirements for tyres. While tyre centres located directly in urban centres are running out of space, Pneu Vanhamme was able to take advantage of its ample space reserves.

Small Warehouses More Difficult to Size than Big Ones

The only question was: How do you store thousands of tyres efficiently and safely. “Because storing tyres in such big quantities was also new to us,” explains Karyn Vanhamme. The solution lay in getting advice from an expert in warehouse design. As the manager puts it: “We knew it would not be sufficient to just set up a few standard racks. We needed a real pro.” One of the pros who were contacted was the Hamburg-based Jungheinrich firm, which ended up winning the bid. “Apart from the quality of the products, a key factor for us consisted of the fast reaction time and of course the price.”

“This was not the kind of warehouse we build everyday,” recalls Wilfried Elsen, Head of Logistics Systems for Jungheinrich in Belgium. According to Elsen, it lasted a good while until all calculations were complete, because in practice it is much more difficult to size a small warehouse than a large one.

Furthermore the minimum but also maximum storage depth needed to be calculated on the basis of tyre diameters to prevent the tyres from rolling out or sliding too far backwards. As Elsen sees it: “Ultimately it boils down to preparation. If the job is prepared right, the results will also be right!”

Project Was Implemented Within the Span of Two Weeks

The new tyre warehouse at Pneu Vanhamme was integrated in an existing building. It offers space for 5.000 to 6.000 tyres, depending on the tyre widths, which are vertically stored in multi-bay racks on two levels with a total of seven shelves – three on the lower level and four on the upper level.

“Needless to say there were also a series of changes during the project which didn’t crop up till the implementation phase,” Elsen relates, explaining that aisle end protection needed to be built into the second level since, in practice, it proved impossible to erect the racks flush with the walls. Just the same the Pneu Vanhamme project was implemented within the span of two weeks.

Barcode and WMS Allow for Clear Definition of Storage Slots

When a car or van drives up to Pneu Vanhamme for a tyre change, the licence plate number is recorded at the front desk. “The license plate number serves de facto as the article number of the tyres to be stored,” comments Wilfried Elsen. Once the tyres are changed at one of the 11 changing stations, they are transported to the warehouse. The tyres are stored completely by hand. The racks are double-depth to allow for two tyres adjacent to each other and two behind each other.

The tyres themselves are marked with a storage sheet bearing barcode and the appropriate licence plate number. “All the numbers which are issued during storage are taken into our WMS system,” explains Karyn Vanhamme. Using these numbers staff members are always able to clearly define the storage slot for the tyres.

The storage slots themselves can be unambiguously identified by the rack rows and level numbers. Before storing the tyres the staff member scans the barcode on the tyres and can then see in the WMS system where to store the tyres. The same process is reversed to fetch the tyres from the shelves. The entire tyre changing process generally lasts no more than half an hour for the customer. Almost too short to enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the Pneu Vanhamme lounge.

jak – 2008

Moscow. Delivering quality service at reasonable prices is writ large at Victorya. To fulfil its commitment this fresh produce supplier with distribution centres in Moscow enlisted the services of Jungheinrich as its general contractor.

In Moscow, when people think of fresh produce, one name always crops up: Victorya. With head offices on the eastern periphery of Moscow, the firm has been doing business since 1954. For almost fifty years Victorya was charged with keeping the central districts of Moscow, including the Kremlin, supplied with fresh fruit and vegetables.

The company was privatised in 1992, but its main business activity remained the same: wholesaling fruit and vegetables – in other words, storing and distributing temperature-sensitive food. “Our wholesaling activities are carried out on the basis of a contract with the Moscow city government,” explains Roman Ignatenko, project manager at Victorya in the Russian capital. “Our scope also includes keeping social institutions in Moscow supplied.” In addition, Victorya is active in warehousing, renting out warehousing space and producing canned fruit and vegetables.

2.000 Pallets a Day

The establishment of Victorya’s logistics centre is still underway. At present the first terminal is already in service. This warehousing unit is divided into four refrigeration areas, differentiated according to their technical specifications. In total the firm can boast close to 17.250 square metres of storage space, which accommodates more than 24.500 pallets.

“In all we can handle up to 2.000 pallets in one day,” says the project manager not without a little pride in his voice. At the moment we can unload up to 23 lorries at the same time. “On this side we have 13 gates for docking big trucks,” explains the project manager on the walking tour of the warehouse. “On the other side another ten small lorries can be unloaded.”

Forklifts and Shelves of Jungheinrich

Victorya acts as the wholesaler for different producers who send their fresh produce for storage and distribution. Once the ESE 120 and ESE 220 series pallet trucks from Jungheinrich have unloaded the goods, they are subject to quality control and then barcoded with information on the product, e.g. weight, size, sell-by date, as well as the number of cartons on a pallet and the storage location.

This data is transmitted wirelessly to the proprietary warehouse management system (WMS). “Our WMS has been in operation for a number of years, but our IT specialists are constantly updating it in line with the latest developments and requirements,” adds Roman Ignatenko.

WMS Specifies Storage Area

Once all the relevant information on the goods being stored in the central warehouse has been saved, Jungheinrich EFG 216 counterweight and EFG 110 reach trucks transport them to the warehouse. “The narrow aisle system with Jungheinrich 15-metre-plus racks enables us to store almost 25.000 pallets in this distribution centre alone,” reports Ignatenko.

When the goods are to be made ready for delivery, the WMS sends the driver a message, shown in the cab display. The retrieval and dispatch occurs in the reverse order to the storage operation. Either whole pallets are retrieved or individual items are order picked from the slots in the narrow aisle storage and dropped off at the goods dispatch area, where they are prepared for shipping and loaded on to waiting lorries or readied for shipping by rail to the final destination.

Extremely High Throughput Rates in Narrow-Aisle Warehouse

Six Jungheinrich electric trilateral stackers ensure the storing and retrieval cycles in Victorya’s narrow aisle warehouse run smoothly and efficiently. The EKX 515 k series forklifts, manufactured at Jungheinrich’s Bavarian production plant in Moosburg, are high-rack order picker/trilateral stackers with a capacity of up to 1.500 kilograms.

“This kind of truck easily masters the required 15 metre lift heights,” relates Alexey Vershynin, head of system technology at Jungheinrich Russia, “and thanks to the 80 volt three-phase drive, the forklift can handle very high material throughput rates in the narrow aisle warehouse.” The design of the EKX 515 k, also referred to as a combination stacker, because this truck can be used for stacking and order picking, puts the focus on the driver/operator, says Vershynin.

Considerably More Comfort and Safety

“The forklift driver climbs into the spacious cabin through a generous entrance. Furthermore, the very low traverse/pivot system and lift masts give the driver an excellent view of the payload and the path ahead.” The folding comfort seat on springs and optional heating and lumbar support adds to the well-being of the driver on-board.

Roman Ignatenko can also vouch for the enhanced comfort and improved safety of the EKX 515 k. For instance, at the centre of the cab is the electrically-adjustable operating console with integrated steering system designed for switchless, two-handed operation. As the central control and information unit it boasts multiple innovative performance enhancing features, a high resolution colour display as well as soft-touch keys and a membrane numeric pad.

Jungheinrich Always at Client’s Side with Reliable Expertise

“The driver can activate individually tailored travel programmes,” adds Alexej Vershynin. The switchless sensors register the driver’s touch and transmit the information to the on-board computer. “The driver uses the tried-and-tested thumb control to regulate travel and hydraulics,” concludes Vershynin.

Victorya selected Jungheinrich on the basis of “its reputation for outstanding customer service in Russia“ (Ignatenko) – but for more than just industrial trucks. It also selected the Hamburg-based company as its general contractor for the entire construction of the warehouse. “For us it was the icing on the cake”, relates project manager Roman Ignatenko, “that Jungheinrich was able to deliver an all-in-one solution.”

Victorya Wants to Continue Cooperation

Apart from the forklift trucks, this included the complete racking system. “This made it easier in terms of integrating warehouse design, logistics and processes for increased productivity,” adds Ignatenko, “as well always having Jungheinrich at our side to provide its qualified expertise.“

Jungheinrich’s all-round professional expertise, according to the project manager, fits in extremely well with Victorya’s overall mission in Moscow – i.e. to operate Moscow’s biggest logistics centre at a high service level and at reasonable cost. For this reason, too, Victorya wants to continue its cooperation with Jungheinrich for the construction of a second terminal.

jak – 2012

Aarau. Jungheinrich has constructed a new automated high rack warehouse for the logistics service provider Lagerhäuser Aarau AG in Buchs, Switzerland. The special features: Six order picking aisles in the high rack storage area immediately adjacent to the five aisles, redundant conveyor technology assisting reciprocally, if required, and rack servicing cranes that can adapt their operations to the order books.

Lagerhäuser Aarau AG, a company belonging to Lagerhäuser der Centralschweiz AG, is an old-established Swiss company founded in 1873 just as a transport and storage company. They now have their own logistics centres in Spreitenbach, Schafisheim and Hunzenschwil.

Lagerhäuser Aarau AG is specialised on complete logistics solutions for customers in the most varying branches. These include Nestlé, Masterfoods, Cadbury, Gustav Gerig and Blattmann-Cerestar in the food and semi-luxury food sector and in the non-food sector for example General Motors, SIBIR, ABB, Elcotherm, Swatch, Piaggio and Electrolux.

Various Tasks

Apart from transporting and storing goods, Lagerhäuser Aarau AG takes care of a smooth process in additional logistics services. Among these services are stock management and quality control but also order picking and pricing as well as co-packaging.

This includes for example shrinking, bandaging or packaging in special containers and creating displays. Apart from one hundred percent traceability of goods, the company also guarantees a 24 hour service with its own modern vehicle fleet.

Looking Back

To accommodate steadily increasing market requirements, Lagerhäuser Aarau AG already decided earlier to build another high rack warehouse in Hunzenschwil. The location presented itself because of the motorway proximity to the north and the railway connection running parallel in the south.

An automated high rack warehouse was built exactly between both traffic carriers on an area of approximately 10.000 square meters and this is now known virtually throughout the country due to its several times awarded front elevation. Lagerhäuser Aarau AG was searching for a suitable partner for the demanding task of designing, planning and implementing an effectively operating automated high rack warehouse.

High Flexibility and Quick Reaction Time

Invitations to tender for the project were issued to the entire German-speaking region. In the opinion of the client, Jungheinrich was most convincing among more than a dozen potential suppliers. Ulrich Gloor, Head of Logistics and also member of the Board of Lagerhäuser Aarau AG, Schafisheim, recounts: “Apart from the excellent conception, the decisive factor above all was the high flexibility and quick reaction time of Jungheinrich.”

The ability to adapt to the wishes and expectations of Lagerhäuser Aarau AG was very impressive. “During the entire project process, cooperation was at a very high and above all partnership level,“ Gloor continues. “I value this kind of cooperation very much!”

Project Handed Over One Year After the Order Was Placed

After programming all controls, commissioning the warehouse administration system and interfaces to the ERP system, the entire project was handed over to the customer just one year after the order was placed. Lagerhäuser Aarau AG then started to store the first goods and together with this, an automated high rack warehouse of a special kind was commissioned.

It has an integrated order picking level on the ground floor – this means at the second lowest racking level. “Dynamic order picking of goods can be carried out like this – right within high storage racking,” reports Thomas Bürgisser, Head of Logistics Systems at Jungheinrich AG, Switzerland, and responsible for the entire project at Lagerhäuser Aarau AG. 1.000 order picking positions in total are here.

Effective Logistics

The high rack warehouse is 38 metres wide, 110 metres long and 25 metres high. There is capacity for more than 20.000 pallets. The installation is designed for stacking and retrieving 160 pallets per hour. This means 80 pallets each per hour via Goods-in and Goods-out in the south (by rail) and respectively in the north (by lorry).

The effectiveness of the entire logistics is evident when looking at the apron in the north. Fork lift trucks pick up the palleted goods arriving by lorry and deposit them on the apron. The staff then record the products with a hand-held barcode scanner. The barcode data is transferred by radio to the warehouse administration system that controls the internal process, i.e. the entire logistics at Lagerhäuser Aarau AG.

Fully Automated Stacking and Retrieval of Pallets

The products then go from the apron into the high rack storage where they are again identified and checked by the barcode scanner. Faulty goods are removed. One of the two vertical conveyors picks up the pallet and takes it up to a 3.80 metres high structural steel platform. The pallet now reaches the pick-up point of the rack servicing cranes (RGB) in high rack storage via roller conveyors and crosswise moving carriages.

The five rack servicing cranes in the high rack storage of Lagerhäuser Aarau AG are rail guided and move in aisles of 100 metres length between two double-deep racking rows in each aisle. The RGBs work with telescopic forks and can pick up two pallets each. The job of the rack servicing cranes is the fully automated stacking and retrieval of pallets with one tonne load weight each.

Precise Clock Cycle Processes

“Process-safe control of retrieval is, of course, also ensured,” explains Thomas Bürgisser. When the warehouse administration system requests the retrieval of a pallet, the rack servicing crane goes to the pallet position filed in the system, picks up the pallet and transports it to the conveyor system on the apron.

The pallet is then picked up by a crosswise moving carriage and taken to the conveyors. Barcode labels are now automatically put on the goods. The label contains all specifications that guarantee complete tracking of every individual consignment.

“Efficient control of the entire material flow”

The pallet finally gets to one of a total of 26 gravity roller conveyors with a capacity of 17 pallets each. The goods are transported with Jungheinrich electric front stackers to the Goods-out pick-up position and made ready lorry- and tour-specifically for lorry transport.

“SPS control in our warehouse ensures that processes run to precise clock cycles. It allows the warehouse host computer constant monitoring as well as efficient control of the entire material flow”, explains Ulrich Gloor.

Jungheinrich Responsible for Service

There is also high redundancy at the ready in the conveyor system and this ensures availability also for regularly carried out maintenance work. Thomas Bürgisser: “This means that operations were planned by us in such a way that every moving carriage can also take on the work of another one without capacity loss.”

The same also applies to maintenance work on the vertical hoists at Goods-in. “Jungheinrich is responsible for maintaining the entire installation,” adds Gloor. “The service is professional and is carried out reliably and on time, also during weekends.”

Special Safety Gates

Not only identical pallet loads are deposited in the automated high rack warehouse of Lagerhäuser Aarau AG. When an order picking order comes in, the rack servicing crane takes a pallet with the required goods directly to one of the order picking positions dynamically administered by the ERP system.

As the six order picking aisles are directly adjacent to the five RBG aisles, a special safety system was necessary. For excluding theoretical danger to employees, Jungheinrich equipped the interface between RBG and order picking positions with special safety gates: When required, the rack servicing crane automatically opens and then closes the gate again.

“Real added value for our customers”

“We have one gate per pallet position,” recounts Thomas Bürgisser. This means for 1,000 order picking positions also 1,000 safety gates. Ulrich Gloor: “This concept has certainly been a very big plus point against the competition of Jungheinrich.”

In line with the order picking order, the required articles are order picked manually with Jungheinrich electric pedestrian pallet trucks and then made ready for despatch. “The goods can be tracked quickly and completely via the batch number,” explains Gloor. „This is a service with real added value for our customers.”

Order-related RBG performance

Even an automated high rack warehouse does not run for 24 hours and seven days per week at full performance. Jungheinrich offered a special solution to Lagerhäuser Aarau AG for possible under-capacities, for example as occurring in marginal seasons. “When the warehouse has a little less to do, the rack servicing cranes only work at half speed,” says Ulrich Gloor. Instead of the horizontally designed 240 metres per minute, the RBGs then only move at a speed of 120 metres per minute. This applies similarly to vertical movements. A speed of 30 instead of 60 metres per minute is then only available here.

“Jungheinrich integrated different stages here for us to regulate the speed of the rack servicing cranes according to the number of orders in hand,” says Gloor afterwards. This not only had a positive effect on wear and tear but also on maintenance costs. “This Jungheinrich solution also contributes towards saving energy.”

jak – 2010

La Valetta. If you don’t have much land to build on, you build upwards. This is particularly true for a small country like Malta. This was one of many reasons why, when it came to building a new warehouse, Malta’s market leader for beverages, the Simonds Farsons CISK plc brewery decided to go with the classic narrow-aisle option. High rack stackers from Jungheinrich are now responsible for ensuring smooth operations there.

In Malta, the area is scare. Therefore, Simonds Farsons Cisk is building upwards. Actually, Malta used to be more of a wine than a beer drinking nation. But a series of external influences, mainly the stationing of British soldiers there, created a gradual shift in favour of beer. In the early 1920s, the then Farsons & Son Ltd. company built the small Mediterranean island’s first brewery in the town of Hamrun, producing Malta’s first locally brewed beer. The first Farsons Pale Ale hit the market in 1928. This not only had a tremendous impact on Malta’s budding beer culture, but on the nation’s industry as a whole.

Farsons built a new brewery in 1950, which it has continually modernized ever since. Currently production extends over an area measuring more than 24,000 square meters. “For a long time we were just a traditional brewery,” explains Paul Micallef, Chief Operations Officer at Farsons.

Completely New Brewery in Planning

In 1952 the company developed its first proprietary soft drink named “Kinnie” and launched the production of soft drinks for export. Later Farsons began to produce the first Maltese bottled water and fruit juices under license. These products are sold today throughout Malta, as well as in neighbouring countries like Italy, Greece and Egypt.

After inaugurating a state-of-the-art beer brewing block in 1990, the company opened a new warehouse and distribution centre as well as a new soft drinks packaging hall in 2008. This project involved an investment sum of around 10 million Maltese lira (approx. 25 million euros). According to current plans, by the end of 2012 the company will have constructed and inaugurated a brand new brewery.

Number of Dealers Reduced

Farsons’ decision to erect its own warehouse and distribution centre led to a simultaneous decision to gradually reduce the number of dealers. “We initially cut the number of dealers from 13 down to eight, then from eight down to five,” reports Albert Calleja, the company’s Chief Development Officer. Since 2008 Farsons has been operating with just one exclusive dealer for the island of Gozo, part of the Maltese archipelago located six kilometres northwest of the main island.

According to Calleja: “By reducing the number of dealers and building our own warehouse, we can now exercise complete control over our warehousing and distribution process. As a result, we can maintain our high quality standards, which is essential nowadays in order to survive.”

Jungheinrich as Partner Already Known

Building the warehouse involved navigating a few shoals and mastering a number of challenges. On the one hand, there was the issue of scarce, i.e. expensive land in Malta. Since the company owned land in the direct vicinity of the brewery in Mriehel, the decision was taken to erect the warehouse and distribution centre there. “We didn’t have any experience in the many things that needed to be considered when building such a warehouse,” confesses Paul Micallef. “In our case we were able to rely on the help of several competent external partners.”

One of those partners was Jungheinrich. The Hamburg-based company supplies Malta with industrial trucks through its exclusive dealer Mekanika. “We were already familiar with Jungheinrich,“ reports Calleja, “and as a result, decided to contact Mechanika about our requirements.” The cooperation began with some informal brainstorming which immediately resulted in a tentative warehouse layout. “We also received lots of very helpful support from Jungheinrich in terms of the technical specs for our new warehouse,” reports Calleja.

“Technology which had never been employed in Malta before”

“Although block or channel storage warehouses are typical in the beverage industry, two key parameters were critical in planning this project,” explains Thomas Peters, a Jungheinrich project engineer who was heavily involved in designing the layout of the new Farsons warehouse.

On the one hand, Farsons wanted and needed to build the warehouse vertically due to the small size of the site and above all its position on a hillside, which all but ruled out the construction of a block storage warehouse. On the other, the operators wanted to ensure all goods would be directly accessible, which argued against a channel storage warehouse. And so, together with Jungheinrich, the decision was made to construct a narrow-aisle warehouse.

Layout for the Complete Warehouse

“We were a bit nervous about that solution at first,” admits Calleja today with a chuckle. In the first place, the plan involved technology which had never been employed in Malta before, including the operation of high-rack stackers. In the second place, it quickly became evident that staff members were, as Calleja puts it, “initially less than enthusiastic” about working on a high-rack lift at a height of up to 15 metres, adding: “We actually did seriously look into the possibility of deploying ‘man-down’ equipment,” he says, referring to the type of lift where the driver stays at the bottom.

“We were quickly able to dispel any anxiety about the narrow-aisle warehouse,” recalls Peters today, elaborating that both parties thoroughly looked into the topic and “discussed all the necessary details at a relatively early stage.” After supplying the layout for the complete warehouse, Jungheinrich was ultimately commissioned to deliver narrow-aisle trucks and install the requisite induction guidance system.

11,000 Pallets on 5,000 Square Meters

The new Farsons warehouse and distribution centre is around 5,000 square metres large and can store more than 11,000 pallets. Apart from a smaller section for exquisite wines and spirits, which is maintained at a constant temperature of 15 degrees Celsius, the beer and soft drinks produced right next door are stored in a divided bulk warehouse.

“The beer storage section has a constant temperature of 21 degrees Celsius”, explains Christopher Borg Cardona, Distribution Manager at Farsons (Sales & Marketing) Ltd. “We also need to filter the light in this section,” he adds, “since the ultraviolet rays there can negatively impact the quality of the beer, which is filled in clear-glass bottles.”

“Truck can easily lift goods up to a height of 15 metres”

To guarantee efficient stock storage and removal procedures, Farsons now relies on narrow-aisle trucks from Jungheinrich. Whereas for the wine and spirits section Farsons deploys an EKX 410 three-way stacker and order picker, for the highly demanding requirements in the bulk warehouse it uses three Series 5 stackers, which were first brought to market in 2007.

The trucks deployed in the bulk warehouse consist of the EKX 515 model, with a lifting capacity of 1,500 kilograms. “This truck can easily lift goods up to a height of 15 metres,” explains Gilbert Debono, Sales Manager for Industrial Products at Jungheinrich dealer Mekanika. “Due to the 80-volt three-phase AC technology, these trucks are especially high-performance, which is enormously important, particularly in the beverage industry.”

Developers Placed a Premium on User Ergonomics

The developers of the EKX 515 (also referred to as a “combi” i.e. combined stacker because the operator can use it for stacking as well as for order picking) placed a premium on the user ergonomics, explains Christian Lammek from Jungheinrich’s dealer support team for southeast Europe.

“A generously sized entrance allows the driver to climb comfortably into the spacious driver’s cab. He also excellent visibility towards the track and load due to the extremely low swivel shift guidance and the free lift masts”, he comments. Driver comfort is enhanced by a cushioned, adjustable folding seat which comes optionally with heater and lumbar support.

Much Greater Measure of Comfort and Safety

The significant edge in terms of comfort and safety offered by the EKX 515 has also been observed by Christopher Borg Cardona. A switchless two-handed operating concept is just one of the features responsible for this. At the centre of the workplace is an electrically adjustable operating console. As the central control and information unit, this provides a number of innovative performance characteristics, such as colour display and soft-touch keys with membrane numeric keypad.

“The operator can call up individually adjusted travel programs via an access code,” adds Debono. Switchless sensors register the operator’s touch and transmit this information to the onboard computer.

High Quality of Warehousing and Distribution Processes is Guaranteed

“Drive and hydraulics are controlled by thumb movement,” explains Lammek. The continued high quality of warehousing and distribution processes at Farsons is guaranteed — all project participants are unanimous on that score. And this definitely has to do with the deployment of the high-tech combi stackers from Jungheinrich.

“Even if we were not immune from a few start-up problems which are almost obligatory for a complex project of this kind,” recounts Calleja with a smile. But Jungheinrich, reports the manager, always turned up instantly whenever problems with the initial software implementation cropped up.

Technicians are Always Available on Call

For this and other purposes, Jungheinrich has its own engineers on call, who are capable of reaching virtually any site in the world within a span of 48 hours. One of these engineers is Rudolf Kornbauer. Based in the Bavarian town of Moosburg, where the EKX 515 stackers are produced, his ability to solve the implementation problems not only elicited the enthusiasm of his co-workers, but also the management team at Farsons.

As Albert Calleja puts it: “We were surprised at the precision with which someone could master the complexity of this equipment!” This enthusiasm continues unabated. Farsons has already ordered an additional EKX 515 order picker/trilateral stacker from Jungheinrich.

jak – 2010

Hilpotstein. The secret to the success of Keller & Kalmbach’s new central warehouse lies in its order picking system. In addition to enhanced process efficiency, a key requirement consisted of ergonomically designed order picking workstations – a job for Jungheinrich, as the general contractor. 

There are a number of sights to see driving along the A9 autobahn from Munich to Nuremberg. But when you reach Hilpoltstein there is a real eye catcher – a building complex painted brilliant white, with huge blue letters at the top of the tallest building announcing the name “Keller & Kalmbach”.

Established in Munich in 1878, the company was originally a hardware wholesaler. Today Keller & Kalmbach is one of Germany’s leading wholesalers for fasteners, screws, fastening technology and dowels along with special parts, hand tools, power tools and lifts. The company also manufactures work safety and factory equipment as well as chemical-technical products.

An Investment in Growth and an Investment in Rationalisation

Keller & Kalmbach has its head offices at Unterschleissheim near Munich, currently employs more than 450 people and most recently had annual revenue of more than 150 million euros. The company’s 20,000-plus customers come from the automotive sector, heavy industry and the contracting sector. Keller & Kalmbach maintains a total of 22 branches in Germany.

„The latest milestone in our company’s progress was the construction and commissioning of the new central warehouse for our C parts wholesaling and distribution operations based in Hilpoltstein, to the south of Nuremberg,” says Dr Ingomar Schubert, Head of Supply Chain Management at Keller & Kalmbach. After an 18-month building phase the white warehouse complex located directly on the autobahn was commissioned in summer of 2009. For Schubert, the completion of the new distribution centre was not just an investment in growth, it was also an investment in rationalisation.

Jungheinrich: Planner and General Contractor

For some time the handling capacity at the previous central warehouse – with 9,000 pallet slots and some 60,000 slots for small parts containers – in Unterschleissheim near Munich was no longer able to keep up with the turnover demands at Keller & Kalmbach. Because it was not possible to extend the premises at Unterschleissheim, the nine smaller branch warehouses in southern Germany initially had to cope with burgeoning demand for storage space.

“To meet the surge in growth at Keller & Kalmbach, both qualitatively and quantitatively, it was necessary to build a new, modern distribution centre,” relates Schubert. Jungheinrich was given the go-ahead as the planner and general contractor. “The crucial criterion for winning the contract was that Jungheinrich was a one-stop supplier,” emphasised Schubert. But after-sales service was also a particularly important aspect for Keller & Kalmbach: “After all, our business would not be where it is today without our own professional after-sales service!”

Four Warehouse Sections

The new distribution centre includes four warehouse sections: an automated pallet rack warehouse as an order picking store for large items and as a supply magazine, an automated warehouse for small items stored in cartons and as an order picking store, an automated tray warehouse for storing empty kanban containers and a warehouse for oversized goods. The Jungheinrich Warehouse Management System (WMS) is being used to manage all storage areas.

The well-conceived layout of the warehousing areas means Keller & Kalmbach can react flexibly to future developments and, if necessary, expand storage space. According to Schubert: “This means we can use our new central warehouse flexibly over a very long period of time – even if there are big changes to our business.”

Main Emphasis: Selecting the Right Order Picking System

To achieve extremely high order picking efficiency, special emphasis was placed on the layout of the order picking system when the distribution centre was designed. The concept behind the order picking area was based on the goods-to-man principle. At each of the ten order picking workstations, orders can be picked from different staging units. The relevant conveyor systems from the pallet and the two small parts storage areas run on different levels.

“Thanks to the systems running on different levels, Keller & Kalmbach retains the desired high degree of flexibility with respect to work flows at the order picking workstations,” explains Dr Stefan Seemüller, Head of Automatic Systems in Jungheinrich’s Logistics Systems department.

Six Operations: Highly Flexible Order Picking System at Keller & Kalmbach

• Order picking from warehouse pallet to shipping pallet
• Order picking from small parts container to shipping pallet
• Order picking from small parts container to shipping carton
• Order picking from warehouse pallet to shipping carton
• Filling kanban container with items from warehouse pallet
• Filling kanban container with articles from small parts containers

Goods-to-Man Principle

“We decided to go for an order picking system based on the goods-to-man principle with manual retrieval and decentralised delivery,” remarks Schubert, “in which not only the goods but also the kanban containers are automatically provided.“ According to the logistics expert, the main reasons for this involved the even load throughout the year, the homogenous distribution of the different articles and the high article weights.

Based on these requirements Jungheinrich designed and installed the order picking workstations to allow them to be easily provisioned with diverse staging and shipping units. The ergonomic and technological design of the total of ten multifunctional order picking workstations at Keller & Kalmbach helps the operatives perform the various order picking procedures more efficiently.

High Ergonomic Requirements

“The ergonomic design of the order picking workstations was one of the explicit customer requirements,” recalls Seemüller. For instance, the redundant carrier now only has to be pushed forwards and not to the side – the operative no longer has to twist his body.

In addition, all hand movements are now carried out at an ergonomic height. “This is important, because we depend on manual order picking, which is necessary in view of the great diversity of the articles,” adds Schubert. To ease any doubts Keller & Kalmbach might have had about delivering on the high ergonomic requirements, during the planning phase Jungheinrich set up a demo order picking workstation at its Moosburg facility to be able to highlight practicalities and features to the client.

„We were able to exploit the full rationalisation potential“

Although the level of rationalisation at the combined order picking workstations was already considerable, Keller & Kalmbach were not yet satisfied.

Schubert: “If the operative can now also pick and directly fill the shipping container, the advantage is that the article now only has to be handled twice – once when the articles arrive at incoming goods and twice when the order is being picked. This means we were able to successfully exploit another major rationalisation potential!”

Strengths of the Order Picking System

At Keller & Kalmbach picking orders are bundled into one assignment. The Jungheinrich WMS uses certain criteria for aggregating customer orders received in the HOST system and then sends a pooled assignment to the workstation. “In theory one assignment can contain an infinite number of picking orders,” relates Dr Markus Heinecker, Head of Warehouse Management Systems at Jungheinrich.

According to Heinecker, another highlight of Jungheinrich’s order picking system is the shipping type designation. “Keller & Kalmbach distinguish between different shipping types, including pallet shipping or dispatching small quantities in cartons.” Whereas pallet shipping is handled by a large haulage company, a parcel service is used for shipping small boxed consignments.

Efficient Management of Special Orders

“Jungheinrich’s WMS uses the article weights stored in the master data to calculate the total weight of the picking order and automatically ensure that the right shipping units are provisioned – carton or pallet,” explains Markus Heinecker, adding, “All the information is automatically sent to the relevant transport provider so that the shipping order is placed and executed.”

In addition, the warehouse management system assigns a status to each order picking workstation. Heinecker: “If a picking station is flagged as ,active’, this means all picking orders can be handled.” If the station is assigned ,passive’ status, the WMS can only send certain picking orders – for instance, from a specific customer or high priority orders.

Operatives Involved in Decisions at their Workplaces

Picking stations can also be blocked, for example, if not all ten picking workstations are required. We have integrated this status feature in the order picking system so that the whole system can work flexibly and special orders can be efficiently managed,” sums up Markus Heinecker.

Apart from the ergonomic design of the order picking workstations and the high efficiency of the processes, Keller & Kalmbach also wanted its operatives to be involved in decisions at their workplaces. This was the rationale behind Jungheinrich setting up an interactive order picking interface for carrying out all actions.

Flexible Decision Processes

This is important for organising provisioning. Normally, as soon as the quantity drops below a set minimum threshold for an article in the carton storage system, the WMS automatically issues a provisioning order to the pallet warehouse. An appropriate pallet is then retrieved and delivered to the picking station. Here the goods are then automatically stored singly and in cartons in the small parts storage system.

However, the operative can also decide that provisioning is needed. “This is usually the case,” explains Heinecker, “if the remaining quantity on a pallet is so low after retrieval that it is not worth having the pallet conveyed back to the pallet store.”

Increase Efficiency

“The order picking workstations at Keller & Kalmbach facilitate flexible and efficient working practices,” says Dr Ingomar Schubert by way of conclusion, “as all goods are provisioned and available at the picking station irrespective of the type of container or carrier used to deliver them.”

Schubert continues: “This means you only need concentrate on the tasks which cannot be automated, thus reducing the monotony and enhancing the efficiency of our processes, which in turn makes our staff more motivated and productive.” Similar to when staff members, be they from Keller & Kalmbach or Jungheinrich, see the bright white warehouse complex looming up at the Hilpoltstein exit on the A9 autobahn.

jak – 2010