Many small and medium-sized companies in Germany and Europe still handle their warehouse processes manually using tables, lists and paper printouts. "However, this is neither efficient nor up-to-date in the long term and is detrimental to earnings and competitiveness," states Christoph Hock, Product Manager Software Solutions. "Even with fleets of three to four industrial trucks on average, it quickly becomes confusing if the management of incoming and outgoing goods as well as storage and retrieval is organized using paperwork."

The Linde Warehouse Navigator promises help with the step into digital warehouse management. Its range of functions can be adapted to different warehouse scenarios and expanded step by step. The developers have placed great emphasis on clear, configurable user interfaces, and mobile devices can be integrated. Training and go-live support are part of every package solution. The required software licenses are either purchased or rented on a monthly basis. This also includes the fees for cloud hosting.

With the Linde Warehouse Navigator, all orders and stocks as well as goods movements in the warehouse can be controlled, monitored and documented paperlessly. The basis is the warehouse management system (WMS) with the management of all warehouse types as well as standard strategies for storage and retrieval. "Even in the entry-level version, we also offer our customers key figures that they can use to further improve their processes," says Christoph Hock. For Product Manager Hock, the highlight of the software is the 3D visualization of all storage locations with current occupancy on the entire factory premises. Selected items are color-coded and their position in the warehouse is easy to identify. "This function is particularly helpful for block storage," says Hock. In addition, the load carriers are permanently tracked via the optional Real-Time Locating System (RTLS).

In conjunction with the RTLS, the forklift guidance system (SLS) coordinates the routes of the industrial trucks in real time and displays all forklifts and AGVs operating in the warehouse. Transport orders are either generated manually by the employees, for example via drag-and-drop in the warehouse visualization or via a forklift call system (call button). Alternatively, orders are placed automatically, for example from the ERP system via an interface or when predefined threshold values are not reached. The optimum route to the destination is shown to the drivers using arrows in the 3D view. The source and destination of the transport order are also highlighted in color.

The third component of the Linde Warehouse Navigator is the picking guidance system. The system bundles smaller orders with many individual items for parallel picking (multi-order pick). Larger orders can be divided into several partial orders and then consolidated.