Steady growth and a lack of expansion options at the headquarters in Koblach prompted Amann Girrbach to look for a new location. The company found what it was looking for in the "time-honored" Kunert site in Rankweil. For the logistics managers at Amann Girrbach, this meant that the logistics infrastructure also had to be rebuilt from scratch. The requirements were clear: "All production areas should be connected to an automated small parts warehouse and the logistics should still be as flexible and adaptable as possible," explains Logistics Manager Sascha Riedmann.

Solution with a single system

The choice ultimately fell on Servus Intralogistics, also from Vorarlberg. The Servus system, with the intelligent transport robots at its heart, meets all requirements. Servus not only supplies the two production areas of the "Zirkon" and "Sintron" product groups, but also handles all transportation between incoming goods, the automated small parts warehouse (AKL) as well as order picking and outgoing goods."

Transport relocated under the hall ceiling

In addition to the benefits of system-guided logistics, there are further advantages for Amann Girrbach compared to conventional intralogistics systems. The transport robots from Servus do not travel on the floor like conventional driverless transport systems, but use the previously unused space "overhead" under the hall ceiling for their routes. This means that the valuable space in the production area can be used for value-adding activities.

The motto is: pull instead of push!

Other advantages for Amann Girrbach include increased process reliability, the avoidance of search times, access only by authorized personnel and rapid availability of incoming goods. By switching from "push" to "pull", peaks can be smoothed out in favor of a continuous material flow. The availability of the overall systems also meets the high demands of the automotive industry. "Thanks to the reliability of the Servus system, we have no downtimes in the material supply and were therefore able to reorganize our picking processes," explains Logistics Manager Sascha Riedmann. In general, all the processes involved were examined in advance at a joint workshop and, where possible, made more efficient. Servus delivers the goods to the right place in production at the right time according to the pull principle. "The Servus system enables us to transport every item quickly and reliably to a wide variety of distribution points in the shortest possible time," says Riedmann, referring to the circulation and stock levels, which have been greatly reduced as a result.

Increased efficiency in logistics and production

Just-in-time material provision in particular has not only increased efficiency in logistics, but also in production. "As the material is delivered on time and in the correct quantity, the employees in production can concentrate fully on the value-adding activities," says Riedmann. Increasing efficiency is one thing, increasing quality is another: At Amann Girrbach, a single system now takes care of both warehouse and production logistics. This means one point of contact for all intralogistics. Riedmann comments: "Although this is also a positive effect, what is much more important is that all data is now available in real time and we are able to check every stock item in a short space of time." And another welcome side effect: the high data quality of the stocks means that stocktaking work is reduced to a minimum.

Flexible into the future

The 13 transport robots currently in the Amann Girrbach system complete 288 transport jobs per hour. If the throughput increases, additional Servus ARCs (Autonomous Robotic Carriers) are simply added to the system. To connect additional areas, the corresponding routes and stations are installed and finally connected to the existing route network. The new areas can then be served immediately. If a higher storage capacity is required, additional storage aisles are installed where they make the most sense and not necessarily where there is already a small parts warehouse. Amann Girrbach has already networked six areas. And more are likely to be added as the business develops successfully. With the introduction of the Servus system, the dental prosthetics specialist has laid the foundation for the networked factory.