Company success is pleasing, but growth is always a challenge. "At some point, our logistics were bursting at the seams. Our old, predominantly manual warehouse with only 1,500 pallet spaces could no longer cope with the annual increases in turnover of more than 20 percent in some cases," says Andreas Prey. The 33-year-old is Logistics Manager at PSZ electronic in Vohenstrauß in the Upper Palatinate. The company produces and assembles cable and system solutions for heating and air conditioning technology, machine, plant, equipment and special vehicle construction as well as for market leaders in medical technology. PSZ electronic employs around 1,000 people worldwide, with production facilities in Germany, the Czech Republic, Albania and Tunisia. Everything comes together at the logistics center in Vohenstrauß: It is the central hub for the movement of all raw materials and finished goods. The flow of materials between the various production sites is controlled from here, as is delivery to the target customers. "We currently have several tens of thousands of items in our product range, which have to be packed in a wide variety of ways and labeled specifically according to customer specifications," says Prey. The company uses QR codes for this purpose. These have great advantages over simpler barcodes, such as EAN or NVE codes, which are widely used in logistics, in terms of the density of information they can provide.

The customer becomes a partner
On the way to a new, more efficient logistics solution, Prey sought expert advice: "As Jungheinrich is one of our customers, we very quickly got talking to our colleagues about what expansion of warehouse capacity and what system conversion might be an option for us," Prey recalls. "The task was: How can the existing space be better utilized in order to achieve maximum storage capacity? And, very importantly, how can we ensure that we can react flexibly to the challenges of the future?" explains Prey. The result of the consultation and project planning process with Jungheinrich logistics experts was a completely new warehouse. The conventional wide-aisle warehouse has been replaced by a semi-automated narrow-aisle warehouse with over 5,000 pallet spaces. For reasons of picking efficiency, safety and ergonomics, the system was designed for crosswise storage with a rack depth of 800 millimetres. The racks are approached by two EKX 410 narrow-aisle forklift trucks, which are equipped with inductive guidance, terminals, scanners and warehouse navigation and can be operated intuitively and reliably by the PSZ warehouse staff. At the touch of a button, the warehouse navigation system guides the narrow-aisle truck to its destination. All the information comes together in the Warehouse Management System, the Jungheinrich WMS Series 2. Even the basic version of the WMS is able to synchronize the entire material and information flow. This allows the warehouse to be efficiently managed, controlled and optimized. Thanks to various modules, the software can be flexibly adapted to changes in the warehouse.

Optimal support for storage and retrieval
"With this," says Prey, "we are taking our logistics to a new level. With the new warehouse, we can now optimally map and support the storage and retrieval processes for all our different articles. Be it the movement of standard Euro pallets, pallet cages or cartons and containers for picking in small parts logistics." He refers to the enormous variety of products with their different requirements for packaging materials and dimensions. For example, a PSZ cable harness can be eight meters or just a few centimeters long. The changeover from the old to the new warehouse took place at the turn of the year 2016/17. "We deliberately wanted to make a hard 'cut' and carry out the changeover from the old to the new warehouse from one day to the next," says the PSZ logistics manager. "That was great teamwork." For four weeks in December, everyone - the PSZ employees as well as their colleagues from Jungheinrich - pulled together. It was important to Prey to involve the employees in the project right from the start. "The system is easy to understand and you very quickly become familiar with the various functions," says Prey. "The employees liked our new narrow-aisle warehouse and the WMS Series 2 straight away. On the one hand, the new semi-automatic warehouse makes their work processes easier. On the other hand, they experience the processes much more transparently, enabling them to better classify their own actions in the big picture, which in turn significantly increases their identification with their work."

More consistent order processing with a better overview
The logistics specialist is particularly pleased that the new warehouse has significantly improved the quality of work for each individual employee. Prey reports: "In the old warehouse, employees spent a large part of their time searching for the product they were looking for, but now, thanks to real-time inventory management, they know at all times what quantity of the required item is where. The wireless data solution in combination with the Jungheinrich WMS Series 2 warehouse management system creates the perfect conditions for this. Unlike in the past, order processing is paperless. This creates a better overview, more transparency and consistent order processing. The work is much more efficient and easier, and the error rate is reduced to a minimum."

More sophisticated logistics possible
"The semi-automated warehouse and the WMS bring us even closer to our production sites around the world, but also to our customers and their needs," emphasizes Prey. "Thanks to digitalization and our comprehensive, intelligent intralogistics concept, we are now capable of much more sophisticated logistics than before." This is well received. "Anyone who visits us here in Vohenstrauß wants to see the new system. We are happy to show it off - it looks impressive and simply good." Logistics Manager Prey is enthusiastic about the collaboration with Jungheinrich: "Everything was just right from the start: from the planning and implementation phase to the go-live and the subsequent ramp-up phase supported by the Jungheinrich experts." This intensive cooperation cannot be taken for granted. The personal highlight for Prey was the day of the changeover: "Right from the start, everything worked exactly as we had imagined - a seamless move to a new level of intralogistics. We are now equipped for the future. It couldn't be better. Further growth and new customer requirements can come. We are prepared for this."