Under the 'WESCO' brand, consumer goods from the areas of waste bins, kitchen and bathroom accessories and bread bins have been produced for more than 100 years and sold in more than 50 countries worldwide. In addition to the household goods and kitchen technology range, the product range now also includes outdoor kitchens. The furniture from the 'alumobil' series is manufactured at the Schwarzenberg site, while the premium modules are made to order at the Arnsberg site.

Westermann has been using the ProStore warehouse management system from Paderborn-based IT company TEAM GmbH at its Arnsberg site since 1997. The previous version was updated, modernized and functionally expanded in 2009. Westermann has now commissioned TEAM GmbH to migrate ProStore to the current version 10.10. ProStore 10 is a modular and browser-based application and, according to the company, creates the ideal conditions for implementing a Logistics 4.0 concept. At Westermann, the introduction of ProStore 10 will take place in stages.

Stage 1 covers the existing ProStore functionalities with warehouse management and inventory management, replenishment of the picking areas and other cross-sectional functionalities such as master data, evaluations and stocktaking. In addition, an existing external warehouse and a service provider that acts as an extended workbench for Westermann & Co. will be integrated.

In stage 2, the functional areas of order management, picking, packing and shipping, which were previously mapped using the existing Mapics ERP system, will be introduced. In future, the individual delivery orders will be transferred from Mapics to ProStore.

The corresponding picking orders are generated on the ProStore side based on the delivery orders. Depending on the order type, various picking methods such as single and multi-order picking, pick & pack, two-stage picking and negative picking are used. Picking is carried out paperless using WLAN-based mobile terminals. Furthermore, additional functionalities will be introduced with ProStore in stage 2, such as value-added services, reverse picking for returned items, supplying production with the required materials and inventory management of cardboard boxes. The first stage was already introduced at the end of May 2021. According to current planning, stage 2 is scheduled to go live in the 4th quarter of 2021.