A good combination: Shuttle solution with SAP EWM

The plant in St. Valentin is the production site for the large machines manufactured by ENGEL. Until recently, the production parts for this were stored in a pallet high-bay warehouse and other decentralized locations, picked and made available to the individual production sites.

The project: Construction of a new small parts warehouse

Due to the high capacity utilization of the high-bay warehouse, an expansion was necessary. In addition, the organization of small parts was to be facilitated. For structural reasons, it was not possible to expand the high-bay pallet warehouse, so Engel decided to build a new small parts warehouse. This decision was made in order to create additional storage capacity on the one hand and to consolidate decentralized storage areas on the other.

The challenge for Knapp in this case was to set up a central small parts warehouse in a limited amount of open space and at the same time to create a connection from the spatially separated incoming goods area to the picking area. In addition, the warehouse control computer of the existing high-bay warehouse and the existing SAP ERP functionality (WM module) were to be replaced with an integrated warehouse management system (WMS) and material flow system (WCS). Engel therefore decided to use SAP EWM (Extended Warehouse Management) from Knapp as the warehouse management and material flow system for both warehouses.

Logistics Manager Martin Wegner from Engel Austria explains the decision in favor of Knapp as follows: "With the new system, we wanted to create additional capacity in the storage area to secure the increasing production volume and increase picking performance. We opted for a Knapp solution because, in contrast to conventional high-bay warehouses, the system offers the option of scaling both the performance and the storage capacity and adapting it to the production volume. Reliability was also a clear argument in favor of the YLOG shuttle system from Knapp."

SAP interface adapted to customer requirements

As an SAP partner, Knapp also offers SAP EWM-based warehouse management and material flow solutions. As the material flow functionality is directly integrated into SAP EWM, other warehouse management systems are no longer necessary. With the help of the specialists at Knapp, the SAP user interface was adapted to customer requirements and made intuitive to use at Engel: Staff are guided through all work steps with the help of Knapp's easyUse user interfaces.

Facts about the project:

Sector & Business: Industry, injection molding machine construction Location: St. Valentin, Austria SKU: 12,000 items in the YLOG-Shuttle warehouse Storage area YLOG-Shuttle warehouse: 310 m² Number of YLOG-Shuttles: 5 storage locations: 240 in the incoming goods area over 6 levels; 7.776 in the YLOG-Shuttle warehouse over 18 levels Performance: 150 double cycles/h Lifts: 3 work stations: 3 YLOG-Shuttle warehouses and 5 pallet high-bay warehouses with easyUse user interfaces with SAP WMS/WCS: SAP EWM from Knapp

The process flow

All items delivered to the incoming goods area are mapped in the SAP system and are assigned to either the pallet high-bay warehouse or the YLOG small parts warehouse according to their size and prepared for storage.

The goods are stored in the entrance area. The small parts are sorted into containers and transferred to YLOG shuttles at container workstations at the touch of a button, which collect these containers and store them temporarily in the buffer area. When the workload is low and at the end of the shift, the transfer process to the remote YLOG shuttle warehouse begins. To create a connection, a link was established using rails mounted on the ceiling. The flexible design of the YLOG-Shuttle system even makes it possible to connect racking areas through the existing high-bay pallet warehouse.

Swivel wheels allow longitudinal and transverse travel

A key advantage of the smart YLOG shuttles is their maneuverability. Thanks to their swivel wheels, they are able to move lengthways and crossways and therefore reach every storage location on the shelves. This means that even if a shuttle breaks down, all items and containers are available at all times.

Light display helps the order picker

The SAP user interfaces, designed according to the Knapp easyUse principle, inform the picker how many items are to be removed from the bin compartment. For an efficient and error-optimized workflow, the workstations are also equipped with light indicator technology that illuminates the area of the item to be removed from the bin. The removed items are then picked onto pallets and consolidated with the large-volume items from the pallet high-bay warehouse. The fully picked and consolidated pallets are transported by forklift or manually to the individual production locations, where they are processed or assembled.

Contact:Engel Austria GmbH 4311 Schwertberg, Austria Tel.: 00 43 / 50 620-0 E-Mail:[email protected] www.engelglobal.com

Knapp AG 8075 Hart/Graz, Austria Tel. 00 43 / 5 04952-0 E-Mail:[email protected] www.knapp.com