DRiV is the automotive aftermarket division of the automotive supplier Tenneco. The company has 9,000 employees worldwide, 17 production sites and 29 distribution centers. The European distribution center for the aftermarket sector is located at the Willebroek site in Belgium. From here, DRiV supplies end customers and dealers with automotive spare parts from over 30 brands such as Moog, Ferodo and Champion. Every year, 30 million spare parts from two million product lines are dispatched from the Willebroek distribution center. To optimize customer service, DRiV decided to implement an automation solution from Knapp.

Shuttle technology for flexibility and high storage density

The central component of the automation solution is the Evo Shuttle, a fully automated small parts warehouse with space for a total of 55,000 containers. The containers are stored three-deep on a total of 27 levels. The shuttle system was connected to the incoming goods department via existing conveyor technology and offers DRiV 30 percent more storage capacity than before thanks to the system's storage density. The Evo Shuttle is responsible for a number of processes. These include the storage and retrieval of items (space-optimized triple-deep storage), picking and packing and highly efficient goods-to-person picking.

Pick-it-Easy: Picking 2.5 times more productive

Five goods-to-person stations from the Pick-it-Easy workstation series have been set up for order picking, where orders are picked directly into shipping cartons. With the introduction of the new solution, picking productivity has increased 2.5-fold compared to the most efficient zone before the new solution was introduced. 62 percent of order lines are now picked from the Evo Shuttle.

Part of the solution is also an automatic packaging line with volume reduction. Before going onto the shipping ramps, the cartons are checked for errors, weighed, automatically sealed to optimize volume and given their shipping label. This process is fully automated, does not tie up any personnel resources and ensures sustainable packaging sizes.

The central warehouse processes - from goods receipt to dispatch

The goods are delivered on pallets. They are buffered on floor storage areas and then fed to the high-bay pallet warehouse or the decanting workstations. At the work stations, the goods are separated and repacked into containers or cartons, subjected to a height and weight check and fed to the Evo Shuttle or the manual warehouse via a conveyor system. The Evo Shuttle has space for 55,000 bins, which are stored on 27 levels in two aisles three-deep. 54 shuttles ensure a smooth flow in the warehouse and bring the small parts to the picking area as required. Large parts continue to be stored in the existing pallet high-bay warehouse.

The picking area is located on a platform above the dispatch area. At five ergonomic Pick-it-Easy workstations, orders are picked from the Evo Shuttle directly into shipping cartons according to the goods-to-person principle and subjected to an automatic weight check to ensure error-free picking.

After automatic document insertion, the open cartons are sent to the automatic carton sealer for direct shipping. Here, the cartons are compressed to the minimum required size. All cartons that cannot be closed automatically are transported to the manual packing station with four workstations. This is followed by automatic shipping label application and onward transportation. The cartons are fed to the dispatch ramps on the first floor via the conveyor technology from the packaging areas. This is where orders from the automated small parts warehouse, the manual warehouse and the pallet warehouse are consolidated. They are then dispatched to the customers.

Intelligent software for efficient processes

Any highly automated warehouse is only as good as the software that controls it. The brain of the new automation solution is the all-in-one software KiSoft One. It was connected to the Manhattan Warehouse Management System (WMS) from DRiV. Several interfaces were developed and routings, destination options and document and label exchange were integrated into the Manhattan operating system. The new software controls and coordinates storage, picking and dispatch. In addition, a complete sandbox system was integrated which, together with the existing Manhattan test system, enables all changes and improvements to be tested in advance. Only after successful testing are the changes imported into the live system.

Resource efficiency, scalability and speed

In times of a shortage of skilled workers, efficiency is becoming increasingly important. The new system's optimized processes enable employees to be deployed efficiently. This means that a higher output can be achieved with the same team. The flexible Evo Shuttle offers scope for growth. The system can be expanded and adapted to different container sizes. With Knapp as a technology partner, DRiV will be able to flexibly integrate additional technologies into the overall solution in the future.

The automated small parts warehouse and packaging automation accelerate throughput times, promote e-commerce growth and improve support for DRiV's growing customer base. At the same time, the optimization of packaging volumes has a positive impact on the company's transport efficiency and sustainability. The Evo Shuttle offers a high storage density that enables DRiV to store 30 percent more goods. The efficient use of space means that fixed costs can be covered more effectively and a building extension can be avoided. Installation during ongoing operations The project was implemented while the warehouse was still in operation. Good coordination and cooperation between the teams made it possible to maintain productivity during installation and commissioning.