Jessica Heinz: The companies with a greenfield project, which involves a new warehouse with a lot of conceptual freedom, are in the minority. In most cases, the aim is to make the most of the available space and conditions in terms of space and performance. The main task is therefore the transition from manual to semi-automatic or from these to fully automatic processes under the given framework conditions. Ultimately, not every warehouse has to be high-tech. Even small manual warehouses can be optimized in terms of efficiency through the use of Dematic technology. For some customers, it is sufficient to implement suitable pick-by-light or pick-by-voice systems in order to meet the performance requirements with very efficient personnel deployment. We always calculate the best overall system for the customer, regardless of the degree of automation. All considerations are always based on calculations of the cost-effectiveness of investment and personnel costs. As a full-service provider of a wide range of systems, we always have the right individual solution at the ready. Depending on the sector of the project, the decision criteria and therefore also the questions of the interested parties vary. In general, quantifiable parameters such as handling volume, handling speed, integration time of new articles or new forms emerge. In view of developments that are usually difficult to predict, automation systems with flexibility are required: It must be possible to handle order peaks and declines in daily business efficiently and future growth must also be able to be technically supported by appropriate modularity and scalability.

- Specific inquiries from the grocery sector relate to automation systems that are able to process orders without errors. An order accuracy of 100% usually also requires a very high degree of automation. For companies in the food sector in particular, the connection to the in-house ERP or compatibility with existing software is very important, followed by the capabilities of the provider's software itself. We are broadly positioned here: In addition to Dematic iQ, we have also been an SAP partner with appropriately specialized employees for many years.

- Online fashion retailers attach great importance to accuracy, fast processing, a real-time inventory and, of course, the ability to automate the processing of returns as far as possible.

One thing is required across all sectors: The time from order to commissioning must be significantly reduced compared to what was common and standard three to five years ago. As soon as an automation project, and therefore the budget, has been approved, it is time to order and implement. What is valued here is both a transparent and fast quotation process as well as an appropriate and therefore not too long delivery horizon. Naturally, we focus on meeting our promised delivery dates. The implementation time can be significantly reduced on the basis of standardized and modular systems. Just one example: with the AutoStore storage, buffer and piece goods picking system that we sell worldwide, these critical "time-to-market" times can easily be halved. Thanks to precise planning, gift ribbon manufacturer C.E. Pattberg, for example, was able to put the system into operation six months after opting for the AutoStore system.

mfl: Which markets and segments do you want to focus on in 2019 and what are your main arguments going into the race?

Heinz: As in the previous year, e-commerce and therefore fashion and grocery as growth markets will be one of our focal points. We are continuing to optimize our solutions for all warehousing and order picking processes, which have to be handled extremely quickly and without errors and therefore require a high degree of automation; speed and timing must be optimized consistently and strategically. The end user sets the pace: In addition to multi-channelling, ultra-short delivery times and therefore contact times in the upstream process chain - intralogistics - are the factors that dominate competition. Complexity and small parts are also increasing: Many individual orders are called up from warehouses with a broad and heterogeneous range of items, each with small order and therefore access quantities. Accordingly, it is important to minimize access times and thus the overall throughput time. Other requirements are flexibility and scalability. In view of fashion, seasonal and promotion-induced goods, online retail is a very order-volatile industry. It must be possible to absorb peaks at short notice. In addition, e-commerce is currently one of the fastest growing sectors. It is difficult to predict in the short and medium term how the growth of online retailers will develop for individual companies in the coming years. What is therefore required is not only an extremely flexible solution for peak times, but also a scalable one that can be expanded step-by-step as the company grows.

Our technical answers for these parameters are the Dematic pocket sorting system optimized with Arvato, our dense and fast 2nd generation Dematic multishuttle system and the ultra-compact and extremely fast AutoStore, which Dematic sells worldwide.
With the increasing expansion of e-commerce into the food retail sector, extremely fast and damage-free order processing is also required here. The Dematic Multishuttle Freeze meets these requirements in the ambient and freeze range from -30 to +40° C.

Further advantages can be gained for the customer with software that is optimally tailored to their needs. In addition to our established WES (Warehouse Execution System) Dematic iQ Optimize, we are currently launching Dematic iQ InSights, an APM (Asset Performance Management) system. All data is intelligently networked, analysed and visualized in order to avoid malfunctions and optimize the service life and efficiency of the entire system.

Our picking solutions range from pick-by-light and pick-by-voice systems to goods-to-person concepts for maximum picking performance and fully automated systems. The further development and increased use of high-performance picking stations such as Dematic RapidPick will further increase the performance of goods-to-person picking. Following successful beta tests, we can now also offer a high-performance solution for the automation of all work steps involved in order fulfillment with the Dematic Robot Piece Picking Module.

Two questions for René Holzer, CEO Gilgen Logistics AG

René Holzer, CEO Gilgen Logistics AG © Gilgen Logistics

materialfluss: What is the main challenge facing a manufacturer and supplier of storage and picking technology? What are you most frequently asked about, including at trade fair stands?

René Holzer: The customer wants a solution that is individually tailored to them and their goods. Efficiency and quality are standard requirements for automation solutions. In order to be able to react to new market requirements and adapt capacities to increasing throughput, the technical solutions must always be flexible and, above all, scalable. One of the greatest challenges lies in the relatively short implementation times for individual and customized automation solutions. As a complete system supplier, the material flows in the overall system must be optimally adapted to customer requirements as early as the planning and layout phase. As soon as the overall layout of the system has been defined, the new Gilgen LDR concept (Logistics, System & Design) allows the data from the 3D CAD system Inventor to be transferred directly to the ERP system for further processing. After this process step, the purchase requisitions and production orders can be generated automatically in the ERP system, resulting in significant time savings in procurement management. Thanks to the parameterization of the hardware and software, no programming is required for the element functions in order to achieve high time savings and efficiency during commissioning. Sophisticated technical modules and components in the PLC and HMI areas are integrated into the overall system as simply as possible. Thanks to the visualization with intuitive operating concept, the current status of the entire system down to the individual conveyor element can be seen in real time. The functional status can also be displayed on the visualization down to the actuator and sensor levels. This allows the Gilgen support team to provide customers with rapid assistance and faults can be rectified quickly via remote access. Cross-system communication offers additional benefits, allowing any third-party software and interfaces to ERP systems to be integrated. Customers have a great desire for sustainable solutions. We are responding to this by focusing on durable components and sustainable materials in our systems. Efficiency is also important, for example energy recuperation or more efficient drives in high-bay warehouses.

mfl: Which markets and segments do you want to focus on in 2019 and what are the main arguments for your products and services?

Holzer: We focus on the food sector with various temperatures in the refrigerated and deep-freeze range down to -38°C, for beverage production, for the mail-order business and for retail and wholesale. The turnkey systems are realized with in-house products from a single source with our own hardware and software components. The coordinated system control and the warehouse management system optimize the material flow in the warehouse and production areas and allow for an independent and customer-oriented overall solution. The standardized intralogistics solutions are planned, developed and manufactured in-house at Gilgen and offer economical goods and material transport. The modular design of the components and the energy-saving, frequency-controlled drive technology enable flexible, in-house transportation of Euro pallets, half pallets, plastic pallets, roll containers and containers. We also focus on hospital and laboratory logistics, logistics in libraries and archives, as well as the automation of mail distribution centers. Of course, we also look after older logistics systems, where we modernize them with a focus on control, measurement and drive technology.
technology to make the systems fit for the future.

Two questions for Peter Beilenhoff, Head of Sales at META-Regalbau

Peter Beilenhoff, Head of Sales META Shelving Construction © META

material flow: What is the main challenge facing META? What are you most frequently asked about?

Peter Beilenhoff: The defining topic is digitalization under the heading of 'Industry 4.0'. For us as a manufacturer, this means that order picking techniques are changing and we have to adapt our product range accordingly. That's why we work so closely with Safelog. We also continue to focus on other picking solutions, which is why we have been in contact with the Fraunhofer IML and its Logistics Innovation Lab for some time now. Our involvement in the Digital.Hub Logistics also gives us a very good insight into future digital solutions. With our extensive portfolio of shelving and storage technology as well as steel construction, we offer our customers what is probably the most important basis for their warehouse. We support our customers in the planning and implementation of this entire warehouse concept, so that the end result is a holistic warehouse planning solution. This is what our customers most frequently request at trade fairs around the world. We have been a partner in the construction of large racking systems for many years. The references we have recently completed worldwide demonstrate the benefits of our storage systems, as the flexible and robust META CLIP shelving systems, for example, demonstrate their many advantages in the warehouses of a wide range of e-commerce providers.
many advantages. Conveyor systems, offices and connected steel structures can also be included in the design. As the systems can be easily adapted to changing requirements, customers save time and money.

mfl: Where is META's focus in 2019?

Beilenhoff: We continue to focus on a broad mix of sectors in our target markets: from individual shelving units for industrial or trade customers (sold via our specialist retail partners) to large and multi-storey shelving systems for our customers, for example in e-commerce. We see a trend in the growing demand for our outstanding service. META is ideally positioned for this, as we can offer efficient picking and LED lighting solutions in addition to our comprehensive warehouse planning. We also impress our customers with our service quality. To this end, we have also strengthened our position on the market with the offensive for shorter delivery times, for which we have put a new warehouse of over 10,000 m² into operation. Finally, with the new online configurator META Calc, we have a tool for quick and easy online configuration of our systems.