© Thilo Härdtlein

Harder: In any case, if you make a mistake with racking, you have a higher project risk than is the case in many other areas. Jungheinrich pallet racking alone consists of a modular system of around 48,000 parts that can be individually combined. It is therefore important to take customers on a journey at an early stage in order to keep them fit for the future right from the initial planning stage. This gives us the opportunity to accompany a customer from manual to semi-automatic and then to automatic storage, depending on their requirements.

Brilka: And the modular system that you provide is crucial. It must guarantee a high degree of scalability. From simple shelving to multi-storey shelving systems.

material flow: Is this also clear to all customers?

Rümmler: You have to inform the customer clearly. I agree with Mr. Harder, it has to be considered at an early stage. There are shelves that cannot be extended or can only be extended with enormous effort.

Harder: A customer who has budget Y for project X tends to design the shelving only for this load case, for this one type of operation. If he tends more towards flexibility, it becomes more complex. That is the law in shelving construction.

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materialfluss: How do you deal with the desired flexibility, Mr. Brilka?

Brilka: META has clustered shelving technology according to its complexity. For us, Level 1 is the catalog business with simple standardized shelving. Level 2 is the entry into the project business with more complex shelving systems. Level 3 is where large-scale projects and multi-storey systems come into play. Here we want to form the basis for system integrators and offer our DNA and core expertise. This enables us to respond better to customer requirements.

material flow: Are the cycles from the first shelf to full automation getting faster and faster?

Harder: Every customer has their own pace. Many start with a manual narrow-aisle warehouse. The industrial trucks still have the technology in their belly. In the next step, we then add an assistance system with warehouse navigation, which allows the warehouse position to be approached semi-automatically. That's already a huge boost. Finally, fully automated vehicles can be used - depending on the customer's requirements.

materialfluss : Customer is a good keyword, as quite a few of them crossed your path at LogiMAT. What do you take away from the trade fair today, a few weeks later?

Rümmler: The trade fair was very well attended. We realize that fewer and fewer products are being shown. This plays in our favor, as we are independent of technology as a system provider. Customers are coming to us more and more with solution requests and not just with intralogistics - but also with questions about workflows in production. Many customers are not necessarily interested in the small details, but trust us; the processes and material flow are much more important to them.

Brilka: The trade fair went very well for us too, and I agree with Mr. Rümmler's opinion that system solutions are becoming increasingly important. That's why we also exhibited solutions for mobile racking or multi-storey shelving systems in Stuttgart and received many inquiries for this very reason. We also noticed that the trade fair has become more international. The added value we offer our customers through partnerships with other companies, this year in the area of lighting, also attracted a great deal of interest from visitors.

materialfluss: According to the press release, Jungheinrich had the largest ...

Harder: As in previous years, Jungheinrich was once again the largest exhibitor at LogiMAT in 2019. From February 19 to 21, we presented innovative, safe and efficient solutions for the challenges of intralogistics 4.0 to international trade visitors in Stuttgart. On a total area of 1,164 square meters, we showcased our portfolio of trucks and solutions and presented visitors from all over the world with intelligent intralogistics solutions from a single source. It is Jungheinrich's passion to find not just any solution, but the best solution for our customers. And that pays off. LogiMAT 2019 was a complete success for us. Our high expectations in terms of visitor numbers and customer contacts were even exceeded once again. LogiMAT has become the leading trade fair for intralogistics for Jungheinrich.

Heptner: I think that with such internationality, it becomes even more important to maintain the level of quality. Everything that companies offer here is based on standards and regulations, some of which are unfortunately becoming increasingly complicated. That needs to be defended.

materialfluss: Mr. Brilka, has this always been the case or do you have to pay special attention to the "newcomers" now?

Brilka: No, that is indeed new. You have to look closely at how these providers are holding up and how prices are developing. We have a head start here in the area of consulting, for example, and can differentiate ourselves with this, as well as with our products and quality.

Harder: Jungheinrich has been active in racking construction for more than sixty years. We have always focused on in-house developments, individual solutions and the highest quality. For us, it is not just a matter of complying with the standard. We work according to the standard of the international RAL quality mark, which is proof of particularly tested quality.

materialfluss : The former class reunion of the industry is only taking place on very small islands at today's LogiMAT, the number of suppliers is increasing ...

Rümmler: In addition to quality, we also want to set ourselves apart from new providers with our consulting services. Taking the customer by the hand at an early stage - right through to clean project management. This is very important to our customers. No customer or supplier wants to hear about collapsed or dismantled warehouses. The last euro does not always play the decisive role. Adherence to deadlines is also very important, every day counts.

Heptner: I always emphasize that the basic work with standards and rules must be placed in the foreground, otherwise the advice is worth nothing afterwards.

Harder: We regularly carry out tests on our shelves in our in-house test center right up to the performance limit. This is how we guarantee consistent quality. That is significantly more than is usual in the industry. Tests are described in DIN EN 15512 or the test annex, but it doesn't say how often they have to be carried out. Often, the components are simply tested once destructively and static values for the systems are then derived from this. We, on the other hand, do this regularly and repeatedly. That is also necessary. After all, this is about safety in the warehouse.

material flow: Do you communicate this effort to the customer?

Heptner: Like the standards, the quality mark does not arouse any loud cries of enthusiasm. But binding quality rules, minimum technical specifications and, above all, the monitoring of production by a neutral third party are extremely important and must be conveyed again and again.

Brilka: We have completely separated service and repair from sales to avoid giving the impression that we want to sell in order to sell. We want to guarantee safety.

material flow: What possibilities does the material or progress offer? What else is "in it"?

Harder: We were involved in research projects with wood, but that didn't catch on.

Brilka: We no longer see any great potential in the material. Rather in the modular system that is available. And in the engineering of the solutions or in good project management. META is a member of the Digital.Hub Logistics of the Fraunhofer IML in Dortmund and we can therefore access a network of start-ups and cooperation partners. We are very active here and offer our customers added value.

material flow: What is the situation at viastore? We recently heard there, in a different context of course, about "dumb steel and intelligent software"

Rümmler: We are concerned with the overall solution for our customers. I don't want to talk about "stupid" steel, but for us it is one trade among many. As a full-service provider, we have many trades. Conveyor technology is important, but AGVs and tugger trains are also on the rise. The intelligence behind this is our software. We can make the material flow transparent and control it for the customer from incoming goods to production and from there back out to outgoing goods. The customer actually sees the benefits here rather than in steel construction. They don't see the benefit of one more or one less traverse. He works with the software, which provides him with the performance.

Harder: You have to admit that the industry could make more effort to communicate the benefits of shelving technology better. Standards and interpretations of standards need to be made easy to understand. Simply complying with the standard is not a sales argument.

Heptner: Association recommendations that can be reduced to one page and convey the core information are the best (smiles).

material flow: What is the situation in the service and maintenance sector? Can you differentiate yourself here?

Rümmler: Maintenance and service of the entire system are the customer's lifeline. After all, an automatic storage system that stands idle for several hours would be fatal for them. In this respect, service is a separate and important pillar in our company.

Brilka: With our training program, we offer training on racking safety with the aim of identifying and assessing damage to the racking system and initiating further action. Furthermore, we guarantee the subsequent delivery of spare parts for several years.

Harder: Aftersales is fundamental for Jungheinrich. In the mid-2000s, we were one of the driving forces behind the inclusion of aftersales as a topic in the shelving sector. Together with market players and the association, we launched the concept of the association-certified racking inspector. Not just anyone can carry out a shelf inspection on the side. On the contrary: it takes a lot.

materialfluss : Finally, an outlook: What else can your customers expect in 2019?

Brilka: We still have a lot planned. For example, we will be launching a completely new shelving system, META Multifloor, in the summer. It is in the performance class above the META Clip and covers many more areas of application.

Harder: We presented a huge range of innovations at LogiMAT and still have something to save for 2020 (smiles).

Rümmler: We are concentrating less on technology and more on customer benefits. We have done this so far and will continue to do so. We monitor the market for new technology and want to integrate it with the greatest possible customer benefit.

Heptner: We analyze specialist topics and evaluate them. We also use workshops for this purpose. We will provide assistance here. In addition, the system of association-certified shelf inspectors will be further optimized. That is our core task: to equip members with knowledge and make them fit for the demands of the market.

materialfluss: Thank you very much for the interview!

The round table took place at WEKA in Haar. You can find more than 25 other round tables at www.materialfluss.de/thema/special-materialfluss-round-table.htm as well as videos on the YouTube channel of the intralogistics trade medium.