For the storage of small and spare parts as well as for efficient article picking, the company placed an order with SSI Schaefer for the delivery and installation of 13 SSI Logimat storage lifts - a semi-automated solution.

In recent decades, Austria's oldest printing press manufacturer, which is part of the Koenig & Bauer Group, has built banknote and security printing presses. Equipped with two small parts warehouses and two storage lifts, the previous storage and picking solution was no longer state of the art. For a long-term orientation and modernization, the printing machine manufacturer therefore decided to dismantle the system and enter into a partnership with SSI Schaefer. Together, they developed a new semi-automated solution that included the delivery and installation of 13 new SSI Logimat storage lifts. With a height of 9.5 meters, the storage lifts offer storage space for around 27,000 different items. Right from the start, the focus was on simple operation and operator support with the help of the Wamas Logimat software as well as direct SAP integration via PLC Easy Connect from Status C. SSI Schaefer was also able to score points with its understanding of the process as well as with suggestions for optimizing and improving the current workflows at Koenig & Bauer.

Inefficient work processes, in which the operators had to search for items in the old lifts, required a rethink. Those responsible at Koenig & Bauer then visited a reference system from SSI Schaefer in Graz, which impressed them. "We were given a detailed insight into the technology as well as the company's own software with corresponding order handling and supporting tools. The parallel software-controlled operation of three SSI Logimat storage lifts by one person was particularly impressive. The simplification and the guided way of picking with the LogiPointer also spoke in favor of the SSI Schaefer solution," explains Rudolf Vogl, Managing Director of Koenig & Bauer.

The 13 new storage lifts will be installed where two old small parts warehouses were previously located. One of the old warehouses was already uninstalled in December 2019 to provide assembly space for the first storage lifts. "Another key factor in the awarding of the contract was SSI Schaefer's direct ability to act. Four storage lifts were already delivered and installed during the first construction phase in 2019. This was particularly important as the filling process has to go hand in hand with the dismantling of the existing storage system," continues Ernst Gram. The material from the second old small parts warehouse will then be transferred to the new storage lifts, which will also be dismantled to make room for the remaining nine storage lifts.

"With personal consultation, discussions at eye level and the optimization of the existing warehouse solution, Koenig & Bauer was offered a tailor-made solution," summarizes Benjamin Mayr, Sales Dynamic Systems at SSI Schaefer.