Nipro PharmaPackaging Germany, based in Münnerstadt in Lower Franconia, is part of Nipro Corporation Japan, a global leader in the healthcare sector. Around 500 employees work in two plants in Münnerstadt. Every year, Nipro produces over 200 million glass syringes and glass bottles for the pharmaceutical industry. The ambitious growth plans envisage doubling these production volumes by 2030. "With our limited warehouse capacities and the increasingly complex production processes, it was clear to us that we needed to optimize our warehouse processes in order to ensure this planned company growth," explains Jens Niebling, Supply Chain Specialist at Nipro.

One obstacle to the desired growth was the fact that the stocks of goods were not previously managed using a stock management system. They were not stored in storage bins with defined bin numbers or coordinates. The trained warehouse employees only knew in which hall the goods were located and then the time-consuming search began. Another problem was that there was no information about where older stock close to the expiry date was stored so that it could be removed first. The aim of the reorganization at Nipro was therefore to digitally support and optimize the material flow and thus the internal supply chain.

Nipro also opted for SAP's warehouse management software (SAP WM or SAP Warehouse Management) due to its previous positive experience with SAP merchandise management, and enlisted the support of long-standing SAP partner FIS Informationssysteme und Consulting. As a joint project, warehouse management has been digitalized and the material flow made more efficient since 2020.

"As we had to implement the new system during ongoing production, we didn't want to take on too much and split the project into two sub-projects," explains Martin Ochs, Senior Solution Architect at FIS. In the first step, the warehouse was converted to coordinated storage bins and an organized and software-supported warehouse management system was introduced with SAP WM. The previous paper-based work was converted to hand scanners and radio data transmission. After digitized warehousing for finished products was implemented in the first sub-project, the second step is now in preparation: automated production supply. This will enable intelligent replenishment transactions for production as well as new smart removal strategies for optimal use of space.

Automatic material flow without manual bookings

The supply chain runs much more efficiently following the introduction of the logistics software. "Today, when a production order is released, SAP WM automatically determines where the goods or material are located in the warehouse, what should be consumed first and communicates this information to the forklift drivers' mobile devices via a transport order," says Ochs, explaining the individual steps of the new software solution. Manual booking by the employees is therefore no longer necessary. By scanning the barcodes at each storage location, the removal and delivery quantities of the goods are verified and booked in the ERP system. The warehouse employees then pick the goods and take them to the designated location. Here too, SAP WM automatically determines the appropriate storage location and displays it on the employees' end devices.

The putaway process is similar. The employees scan the incoming goods, which are booked directly into the ERP system. SAP WM then determines the ideal storage location for the goods and displays this on the warehouse employees' devices. This is where another FIS development comes into play, which prevents new materials from being placed directly in front of older ones in block storage. The new products are therefore stored in a different rack location. This ensures that the older materials and goods can be picked first when the next goods are removed. "We have thus created an automated material flow without manual bookings and with seamless real-time communication between all employees and systems," summarizes Ochs.

User-friendly working with mobile devices

A particular highlight of the joint supply chain project was the new UI5 Creator for mobile devices developed by FIS. The innovative FIS product simplifies the workflow of warehouse employees enormously. The Creator converts the ITSmobile application from HTML to a user-friendly HTML5 (SAPUI5). "With the UI5 Creator, our employees benefit from a flexible and responsive display of the dialogs on the devices. They can ergonomically adapt the display to the hand scanner, zoom in much more easily or select different color settings depending on the lighting conditions in the warehouse. This makes day-to-day work in the warehouse much easier," explains Niebling.

Another advantage of the FIS solution is that the handheld device does not display an error page if the WLAN connection is lost, for example if the employee is working in a remote section of the warehouse without sufficient WLAN coverage. Instead, the device automatically reconnects to the Internet via Reconnect and the employee can continue working without interruption.

The digitalization of warehousing was very well received by the employees, especially as they were involved in the project at an early stage. Nipro is thoroughly satisfied with the newly gained efficiency. "Thanks to the holistic logistics consulting provided by FIS, we are now ideally positioned for the targeted growth," summarizes Niebling.

from materiafluss 6/2023