At a total of 120 million euros, the new building is the largest single investment in the history of the owner-managed company. IGZ Automation is supporting this mammoth project as SAP EWM general contractor. At the end of October, an important milestone in the two-and-a-half-year implementation phase was reached and celebrated with the inauguration of the logistics building.

The bilstein group reached the limits of its storage and logistics capacity at its headquarters in Ennepetal. For this reason, another logistics center with XXL dimensions has been built in Gelsenkirchen. From here, the leading supplier in the independent aftermarket will ship tens of thousands of different article types to more than 170 countries around the world. Following the ground-breaking ceremony in fall 2019, the next major milestone has now been celebrated: In the presence of Gelsenkirchen's Lord Mayor Karin Welge, the logistics building was officially inaugurated on October 27, 2021. Jan Siekermann and Karsten Schüßler-Bilstein, Managing Director of the bilstein group, welcomed invited guests to this happy occasion and invited them to take a tour of what has been built so far.

IGZ Automation from Falkenberg in the Upper Palatinate region of Germany was chosen as the partner for the logistics planning with a largely automated logistics system. "As the SAP EWM general contractor, IGZ is responsible for the complete planning of the intralogistics and the implementation of the sophisticated logistics project," explains IGZ Managing Director Alfred Meyer. Apart from the implementation of the warehouse management and material flow system with SAP EWM/MFS (Extended Warehouse Management/Material Flow System), IGZ, as general contractor, is supplying the entire pallet conveyor technology, the storage and retrieval machines (SRM) for both the automated high-bay warehouse and the automated small parts warehouse (AS/RS), including container conveyor technology and the extensive electric floor conveyor system (EBB).

The SRMs were installed in the HBW and mini-load warehouse towards the end of 2020. At the beginning of 2021, the first sections of the extensive intralogistics system were gradually put into operation. The system performance tests began in September and were successfully completed in mid-October. Alfred Meyer adds: "Just four months before go-live, the bilstein group can take over an entire system with an availability of more than 99% and a proven performance of even more than 100% in many mass tests and thus test its business processes in an integrated manner."

Time saving through test setup

Unusual, but essential for the bilstein group, was that system tests were also carried out in spring 2020. In other words, at a time when the plant in Gelsenkirchen had not yet been built. The aim was to prove the process reliability of the system at an early stage. IGZ had therefore set up an extensive test setup with important key elements of the system. Among other things, sample vehicles, picking stations including picking robots and parts of the electric floor conveyor were put into operation and thoroughly tested. IGZ involved the bilstein group intensively in these tests in order to tailor the concept to the specific requirements and thus achieve maximum performance. The aim was also to combine the picking stations, the upstream sequencing lifters and their supply via EBB into a harmonious whole. Felix Wortmann, Project Manager at the bilstein group, draws a positive conclusion: "The test system set up by IGZ enabled us to try out various solution scenarios in advance and without any risks. The system was then transported to Gelsenkirchen for these tests and saved us a lot of time overall."

Current status of SAP EWM sub-project

On the software side, the project is currently in the final phase of integration testing. All functions developed in SAP EWM/MFS are being functionally and integratively tested in their later process sequence and the entire process is being validated. Subsequently, since November, the processes have been tested for their interaction with the plant and conveyor technology and prepared for subsequent productive operation. This will ensure a smooth transfer to subsequent live operation. In addition, the IGZ best practice "Pick-by-Robot" is being added to the automated small parts warehouse picking system. This will provide the logistics staff with support