Thanks to the 1000 m² warehouse that went into operation in mid-November, storage capacity has more than doubled in one fell swoop. "We use hybrid forklifts here, which only require an aisle width of 2.10 meters. This has given us 20 percent additional storage capacity," explains Christian Bannier, Head of Operations at Cybertrading GmbH.

The electrical wholesaler has around 125,000 products in its portfolio and serves almost 30,000 customers. New and refurbished IT network technology such as routers, switches, server technology, firewalls and fail-safe power supplies are stored in the existing and newly built hall. Around 17,000 packages leave Barleben every year for B2B users worldwide.

"In order to be able to process orders at short notice without any problems - we promise same-day delivery for orders of stock items within Germany - the labeling of the storage locations also plays a decisive role," says Bannier. "Transparent labeling at the storage locations and their integration into our ERP system is the only way to achieve a high level of efficiency." Multi-coloured man-down labels visually guide the employees and thus optimize picking and storage. "We decided to work with ONK again because of the excellent support they provided during the labelling of our first hall in 2019 and the professional impression they made," emphasizes Bannier.

Always follow the color to the correct shelf level

For the 1,200 new pallet spaces, ONK has produced the same label sets that have already proven their worth in the old hall for four years: Man-down labels and corresponding individual storage location labels. The man-down labels are for the lowest shelf traverse. ONK has printed the barcodes for the storage location below and the storage locations on the levels directly above next to each other.

ONK has placed a downward arrow next to the barcode for level 1 and an upward arrow next to the barcode for level 2. The barcodes for the parking spaces on levels 3 and 4 have a different colored background, yellow and light blue respectively. This means that the barcodes can be quickly and accurately assigned to the correct level and all levels can be scanned directly from the floor.

Labels made from PVC blanks defy forklift traffic

ONK made the multicolored man-down labels from rigid PVC foam. "This robust design guarantees us a long service life despite the high mechanical loads caused by the forklift traffic at the height of the first shelf beam," says Bannier. ONK supplied foil labels for the storage locations on levels 3 and 4. The barcode and color code of the man-down label are printed on them. This set offers Cybertrading two advantages: if one of the barcodes on the man-down or individual label becomes illegible over time, the other label serves as a back-up. And: during stocktaking, the individual label can be scanned independently of the man-down label.

ONK has also produced aisle signs made of rigid PVC foam to identify the new rows of shelving. They are attached to the ends of the shelves by means of steel spiral springs hooked into pre-drilled holes and identify the different rows with numbers. "In the run-up to production, ONK sent us test samples of the label set, "which convinced us straight away. The uncomplicated and sustainable contact with ONK convinced us again this time," concludes Bannier with satisfaction.