Treppendorf is the Mecca of many musicians. Every year, thousands travel to the small village in Upper Franconia, which has just 201 inhabitants. Their destination: the music store Thomann. Around 90,000 items are permanently in stock in the logistics center. Once you have decided on an instrument in the store, you can load it into the trunk of your car just half an hour later - although the lion's share of sales is generated in the online store.

Online shoppers not only receive their goods quickly, but usually in a single package - regardless of whether they have ordered one item or ten. What is sustainable and saves shipping costs is a logistical Herculean task: bringing together small and large items, fast and slow movers.

Intralogistics partner TGW

TGW Logistics Group has been Thomann's intralogistics partner for many years. In 2008, TGW began automating the southern dispatch center (VCS) in Treppendorf as general contractor. "When orders and the number of items increase sharply at the same time or requirements change, companies need to think about expansions sooner rather than later so that they are available at the right time," says Markus Kammerhofer, Director Sales Retro at TGW. "Thomann's turnover has increased by a double-digit percentage in recent years, so the system commissioned in 2008 could never cope with today's volume," adds Norbert Groth, Technical Director Logistics at Thomann. In addition to the South Shipping Center, the North Shipping Center (VCN) has therefore also been in operation since 2017.

In 2009, Thomann had a system at its disposal that could process 20,000 parcels a day. A four-aisle automated small parts warehouse (AKL) with 70,000 bin storage locations and picking for fast-moving items was built, and TGW installed eight "Mustang" storage and retrieval machines. After two expansion stages in 2010, Thomann also had an automated pallet warehouse with five aisles and 18,000 storage locations at its disposal. The heart of the system was a Natrix sorter, and employees packed the goods at 32 packing stations.

Successful expansion concept

© Thomann

Hans Thomann was proud of the system performance after the twelve million euro investment: "The output was 40 to 50 percent higher than before. The throughput time could be reduced to 28 minutes. TGW's expansion concept was successful. The picking process was optimized for the various product groups of different sizes - from instrument cables to electric pianos. The system was controlled by TGW software. The approximately four million customers were able to select their desired goods from 65,000 items. However, both the number of customers and the number of articles increased. Therefore, Hans Thomann decided to build the Versand-Center-Nord (VCN) - again with TGW as Partner of Choice.

This area went into operation in 2017/18. The order for the high-bay warehouse comprised 21,000 pallet storage locations, plus a shuttle system with six aisles and 110,000 storage locations for small parts. Thomann also invested in automated carton erectors and closers as well as an efficient goods-to-person picking system. TGW also modernized the WMS. Today, Thomann uses the TGW Warehouse Software for the Warehouse Management System (WMS), Warehouse Control System (WCS) and Material Flow Controller (MFC).

Processing time reduced to 20 minutes

Because the expansion stages with TGW were successful, Thomann gave the green light for further projects in 2020. The high-bay warehouse was to be expanded to improve replenishment. In addition, a new outgoing goods loop with automatic labeling for up to 2,000 parcels per hour went into operation in the VCS at the beginning of 2022. As the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the e-commerce business, Thomann is considering further expansion projects.

Thanks to the expansions, Thomann has reduced the throughput time from 28 minutes to around 20 minutes - and this with an increase in articles from 65,000 to 90,000. Instead of four million customers, more than twelve million are now supplied with goods from Treppendorf throughout Europe.

Expansion during ongoing operation

"The top rule is: ongoing operations must not be disrupted during the expansions and modernizations," emphasizes Norbert Groth. According to the experts from TGW's retrofit department, the success factors for project implementation include detailed planning, intensive testing, a comprehensive specification sheet, a precise definition of the processes and a sophisticated schedule. A so-called big bang was never possible in Treppendorf. Because the e-commerce business does not allow for week-long company vacations and a six-day week is common in the warehouse, the gaps had to be closed between Friday evening and six o'clock on Monday.