The special feature of the solution is that all storage locations are identified twice - with multi-colored man-down labels and individual location labels that are identical in terms of color and barcode. This not only optimizes the picking processes, but also the inventory processes. Home24 eLogistics maintains three logistics centers for the online furniture company of the same name, which is one of the leading companies in continental Europe and offers more than 100,000 items. With around 70,000 square meters, the shipping center in Halle, which opened in 2019, is the largest. The 60,000 square meter warehouse in Walsrode, Lower Saxony, was opened back in 2015.

Both warehouses have now been reorganized in order to standardize the processes. "Walsrode previously had a different warehouse management system to Halle and the barcodes used had not yet encoded the warehouse coordinates," explains Jens Kraska, overall project manager for the construction of the logistics center in Halle and sub-project manager in Walsrode. "Both warehouses have the same setup with individual location labels, which help us immensely because they not only speed up the picking processes, but also the inventory."

Flexible use of shelves

Around 3,400 colored man-down labels form the basis of the identification system. They are attached to the left-hand support of the cross beams at visual height, with a directional arrow to the right pointing the order picker to the corresponding shelf compartment. Up to 15 barcodes are arranged one above the other on the labels - for all five levels and three storage locations per compartment. In addition to individual barcodes, the levels are also assigned specific color codes as background colors, for example yellow for 01, blue for 02, etc. This enables the forklift drivers to assign the correct level at a quick glance in the first step. The warehouse coordinates are printed in plain text below the barcodes. "The nine-digit clear coordinate 'speaks' to the forklift driver. From this, he can read the unit, shelf row, shelf level and bay," says Kraska. As each shelf compartment has space for three load carriers, an additional bar indicates the actual storage location. It is either on the left, in the middle or on the right. "The middle space is not currently occupied," says Kraska. "This gives us flexibility, as we use small and large furniture corlettes and manage the warehouse chaotically." The forklift driver scans the barcode on the multi-colored man-down label and stores or retrieves the material at the actual storage location.

Additional single label for inventories

Each storage location then has an additional individual label corresponding to the multi-level label in terms of barcode and color - around 44,000 in total in Walsrode. The individual storage locations on the lowest shelf level are marked with self-adhesive floor markings made of PVC rigid film. They are yellow, the color code for level 01, and printed with the respective barcode and the clear written coordinates. "The floor markings are highly adhesive in order to withstand the stresses and strains of our industrial trucks," explains Kraska. "A permanent floor marking paint would be more robust, but the barcodes could not be displayed as well on it." From level two, the storage locations are marked with labels made of PP film. The set of multicolored man-down and single-space labels has two advantages: if a barcode on one of the two labels becomes illegible over time, the second label provides security. In addition, the single location label functions as an adventure label. It can be scanned independently of the multi-level label without having to remove goods from storage.

"In order to find the most suitable solutions for us, ONK worked with us in advance to develop the parking space labels based on our requirements and sent samples for testing," says Kraska. The ONK installation team then applied the tens of thousands of labels.

The article appeared in materialfluss 1-2/22.