It is the largest logistics construction project realized to date in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. With an investment of 70 million euros, Grass GmbH has created the conditions for profitable and sustainable development. On a 52,000 square meter site near Hohenems, a distribution center has been created that makes use of modern automation solutions. High-bay and manual warehouses have around 38,800 pallet spaces on 22 levels. Eleven aisles are designed in such a way that a production facility could also be added at a later date.

With more than 200 sales partners in 60 countries, Grass needs a solid logistics base. The Würth Group company is one of the global flagships when it comes to furniture movement systems. However, it was concluded that not all growth opportunities had been fully exploited due to infrastructural limitations. The objective of the largest investment in the company's history was therefore clearly formulated: The new central warehouse was to significantly shorten response times; the goods, including individualization, packaging and customer- and order-specific picking, were to be concentrated in one high-performance location. The aim was to create a solution that would handle the entire logistics of all European production plants.
With the support of TUP's intralogistics expertise, a logistics center was created in 2018 that meets this requirement. Despite the coronavirus pandemic conditions, the software manufacturer was able to prove its strength in process consulting and guided Grass on the way to an efficient intralogistics infrastructure. After jointly completing the specifications in workshops, TUP customized a Grass-own Warehouse Management System (WMS) based on the modular principle characteristic of the manufactory: Gralis is based on TUP.WMS and has a material flow computer (TUP.MSF), forklift guidance system (TUP.FGS) and mobile device connection (TUP.SML).

Gralis operates independently in the incoming goods area: Trucks dock and the fully automated system collects pallets without the involvement of personnel. The counterpart at the end of storage is a sequential goods issue. Tours are pre-sequenced using two separate double-deep dispatch buffers: The retrieval takes place within an order heavy before light in order to optimize loading onto the truck.

With a view to the future, Grass has developed a global system with multi-client and multi-site capability. This means that additional distribution centers can be easily connected. Overview dialogs allow monitoring of warehouse operations. The dialog system can be called up web-based, so the user no longer needs a Java environment and can start applications on any browser-enabled device.

The parameterization of the system was outsourced from the source code to a set of rules. This can be used to define and configure rule catalogs for topics such as zone coordination, consolidation target or shipping label language using specially selected criteria. The result is a very clean and easy-to-understand system. Transparency is further enhanced by warehouse and transport goods orders, as these are called in TUP. This is because each object transported in the system manages its own orders: From labeling to inspection to specialist searches. The set of rules, including this type of order, is also connected to the pallet conveyor system via an interface, which ensures that actions are processed in an orderly manner. For example, parts lists can be ideally served for the picking process.

Order picking is a special feature in the joint intralogistics world of Grass and TUP. The software manufacturer has developed an innovative practical concept based on the requirements of the global fittings manufacturer. "The pick-by-light concept has been expanded and implemented with a combination of overview screens and mobile devices (MDEs) instead of conventional hardware. The result is the hybrid picking system. It supports the user on various levels, including the ergonomic provision of pallets," explains Eduard Wagner, CIO of software manufacturer TUP.

In this hybrid working environment, each pallet picking station is equipped with a control screen and permanently assigned mobile MDEs. The devices are linked to each other at each workstation and across the entire work area and communicate as a unit with the conveyor technology. The screens guide the user visually and at the same time provide him with a multimedia overview; he receives further information on the current pick and his worklist in real time. They can also interact directly with the WMS via detailed MDE dialogs. "Additional tasks, such as customer-specific requests, can be made immediately accessible and implemented during the picking process," adds Wagner. With the TUP solution, Grass benefits from the advantages of the different approaches.

"Optimizing supply chain management is a key challenge if we are to be successful in the long term," said the Grass management in the context of the announcement of the new building. With the new structure of Grass' intralogistics, supported by TUP, nothing stands in the way of this claim.