The Ziegler Group from Plößberg/Upper Palatinate is a globally active family business with currently around 1,500 employees. The company, which has its origins in wood processing, was founded in 1948 and has developed into one of the largest companies of its kind in Europe. In addition to wood processing, the group of companies also includes mechanical engineering and technology, prefabricated house construction, forestry, decoration and logistics.

The Ziegler Group has been offering its customers logistics services for sea freight, rail and truck transportation for many years. Among other things, the company maintains a former railroad site in Wiesau with a 125,000 m² intermodal container terminal. Trains depart daily from here to the most important German seaports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven. In addition, the company has its own fleet of currently 150 trucks of the latest generation.

The goal: to expand the value chain

Due to increasing requests from long-standing logistics customers for warehouse and storage space, the company decided in 2019 to expand its value chain with its own warehouse and additional logistics services. "The aim was to offer customers from the region full-service warehouse logistics," explains Manuel Forte, Warehouse Manager at Ziegler Logistik. As a result, a modern logistics center was built within a very short space of time in Wiesau, which is conveniently located close to the Ziegler Group's container terminal. This created the basis for the new business division. The first customers wanted to move in immediately.

The search: Software for logistics services

It quickly became clear to those responsible in Wiesau that the planned logistics services could only be handled professionally and economically with software support. And so the search began for a warehouse management system with which the company could also manage the entire logistics services division in the future. "We initially handled the processes with Excel, which of course repeatedly led to problems due to the complex interrelationships in the warehouse," reports Manuel Forte. To select the warehouse management system, the Ziegler team carried out a market analysis and visited other companies. "We got to know Dilos at one of our customers. The wide range of functions and the flexibility that the software offers convinced us very quickly," says Manuel Forte.

The integration: during ongoing operations
After the decision in favor of Dilos, the introduction of the warehouse management system began promptly. The biggest challenge arose from the existing processes. The Ziegler Group was already working for its first customers at this time. The warehouse management system now had to be introduced during ongoing operations within a very short space of time. "We already had goods in the warehouse, but no system yet," explains Manuel Forte. "This caused a lot of work in terms of stocktaking and entering all the master data. At the same time, we still had to manage the warehouse for our customers." The integration of the warehouse management system in live operation was successful - with no warehouse downtime and no disruption for customers. The Dilos team, which implemented interfaces and took care of most of the master data maintenance, provided important support. Four months after the initial contact, the system was already up and running successfully.
The company currently stores goods for six customers on an area of around 10,000 m² with high racks and a 2,000 m² block storage area. There are around 700 different items in the logistics center - from packaging material, fiberglass and decoration to cooking pots, bicycle components and clothing. "We act as an independent external warehouse for most customers," explains Manuel Forte. "We implement all processes from incoming goods to picking and packing with additional services through to outgoing goods. We then supply our customers' customers throughout Germany."

The result: all logistics processes in one system
The Ziegler Group uses Dilos to handle all warehouse services, from incoming goods to outgoing goods. Around 500 pallets are handled every day. The multi-client capable system sends the orders directly to the tablets mounted on the warehouse vehicles and thus controls route-optimized picking. All invoicing is also carried out via Dilos. The system is particularly appreciated by those responsible at the Ziegler Group for its flexibility. "When selecting the software, it was important to us that we could design it in such a way that we could always fully meet our customers' requirements," explains Manuel Forte. "Dilos offers all the functions we need for our full-service warehouse logistics. This was also a great support when it came to structuring our services."

The future: equipped for further growth
For the future, the Ziegler Group plans to expand the connection to customers' systems with additional interfaces. The aim is to further increase the efficiency of processes in order to generate further growth in the area of contract logistics. "The logistics expertise of the Dilos team also helps us to classify our ideas and then implement them in practice. We are certain that we are well equipped for further growth with the warehouse management system."

The article appeared in materialfluss 5/22.