Future-proof warehouse - in just two weeks

Due to frequent breakdowns, Terex Cranes decided to modernize its production warehouse. "The risk of the entire plant coming to a standstill due to a defective component in the warehouse was too high for us," says Wolfgang Anton, Project Manager Production Control and Supply Chain Management. Not only were the electrics, drives and sensors to be replaced, but also the entire control technology and warehouse management software. The contract for the modernization was awarded to viastore: the Stuttgart-based company is a leading international provider of intralogistics systems, intralogistics software and intralogistics services.

Modernization meticulously planned and implemented
The viastore experts differentiated which modernizations are urgently required and which still have some time to go. "We divide the system components into different categories according to the level of risk that a failure poses to the overall operation. We use this to draw up our modernization roadmap: What all needs to be done, and how can we implement it within the given time and cost framework?", describes Christian Fehlau, sales representative Retrofit at viastore.

Günter Schuster

viastore replaced the old S5 control systems for the storage and retrieval machines and the conveyor technology with modern S7 systems. The experts had already set up and tested the control cabinet, cable chain and controllers in advance. They therefore only had to set various parameters on site. In addition, viastore converted a retrieval section on the side of the high-bay warehouse into a storage section and set up a contour control system. The two storage and retrieval machines were given a completely new control system and electrics. In addition, the viastore experts replaced the travel drives and lifting gear and modernized the distance measuring system, which viastore converted to a laser measuring system. "The more efficient positioning alone can increase the performance of the storage and retrieval machine by up to 20 percent," reports Swen Mantel, Head of the Retrofit department at viastore. "In contrast to the old DC drives, the new frequency-controlled drives can approach a position with pinpoint accuracy using barcode positioning."

"We were planning open-heart surgery on our production."
Günter Schuster Head of Production Control and Logistics at Terex Cranes Germany

The new drives were brought into the aisles via the conveyor system.

Adjustments were also necessary to the software: "With the introduction of viadat as standard software for managing and controlling intralogistics, we have taken the opportunity to make these processes more efficient and future-oriented," explains Günter Schuster, Head of Production Control and Logistics at Terex Cranes Germany. Swen Mantel adds: "When modernizing, we always check the existing processes and make suggestions as to how warehouse operations can be improved." The interface between the WMS and the higher-level SAP system required a little more effort due to the numerous Terex specifics - although viastore can draw on extensive experience as a certified SAP partner. The viastore software specialists tested and simulated the interaction between the WMS and SAP before the actual modernization. This meant that this implementation was not time-critical.

Installation of the new linear actuators.

Radio data transmission for end-to-end transparency
"With the new system, all items have a barcode and the pickers have handheld scanners," says Guenter Schuster. This allows them to easily scan the pallet and the required part. "This reduces picking errors to almost zero," says Schuster happily. "We pick our goods and buffer them in the high-bay warehouse until production calls them off," says Wolfgang Anton, describing another improvement. "If an item is missing for an order, the system remembers it. If it is delivered while the order is still in the buffer, the missing part is stored and simply retrieved together with the pre-picked pallet when the order is called up. However, if the order has already been called off, we do not even store the subsequently delivered part, but send it directly to production. This means that the scheduling department is informed very quickly if a part is missing. The handling effort has been significantly reduced," Anton is pleased to report. The new software also helps with stocktaking: "We have high requirements for cycle counting. Counted parts are automatically imported into the WMS every month. The feedback is also automatically sent back to SAP. That saves a lot of time and effort." Terex Cranes was able to put the modernized warehouse back into operation exactly two weeks later.