The Jungheinrich FMS ensures an even distribution of operating hours across all industrial trucks. © Jungheinrich

In 2021, logisticians will be looking at one such optimization option: the Jungheinrich Fleet Management System (FMS). The web-based tool for a convenient overview is no accidental find. Werner & Mertz has been working with Jungheinrich for a long time; the entire fleet of 150 industrial trucks in Mainz comes from the Hamburg-based company. And because Werner & Mertz knows that, as Hardt puts it, "every unused truck is a wasted resource", precise truck data is essential for its logistics specialists.

The entire fleet of 150 industrial trucks at Werner & Mertz in Mainz comes from Jungheinrich. © Jungheinrich

Even when the improvement enthusiasts wanted to convert their industrial truck fleet from lead-acid batteries to lithium-ion technology, data played a decisive role: Joachim Müller, Jungheinrich energy expert Gerwin Voss and 25 other Jungheinrich employees from a wide variety of departments took a close look at what the best solution was for Werner & Mertz before optimizing the fleet. To do this, they collected a lot of data: on truck use, energy consumption, energy sources, transportation routes, loading costs and much more. In the end, the Jungheinrich experts recommended the changeover.

It is also this experience that has led to the switch to modern lithium-ion technology being used to introduce another fundamental and sustainability-promoting innovation: the new Jungheinrich Fleet Management System FMS.

Deeper insight

Above all, the Werner & Mertz logistics experts hope that the cross-location management of the fleet will give them a deeper insight into all vehicle data and a broader overview of all relevant commercial key figures. Because if they know exactly the condition and utilization of every low or high lift truck, every reach truck, three-wheel, four-wheel or narrow-aisle forklift, they can use the equipment more efficiently or even save on some. Werner & Mertz has high expectations of the FMS, not only in terms of planning reliability across the fleet, but also with regard to the safety of its employees. The modular structure of the FMS allows customers to choose from the available functions as required: Werner & Mertz receives the access control and the shock management module with the automatic recording and documentation of shocks, i.e. vibrations to vehicles.

Decentralized fast and intermediate charging ensures permanent vehicle use in three-shift operation. © Jungheinrich

This module immediately proves its worth. Jungheinrich salesman Joachim Müller, who has been supporting the Mainz-based company for 16 years: "At Werner & Mertz, we had a reach truck being used in a rack where we registered shocks via the FMS. It turned out that this was not due to the driver, but to the nature of the floor. So we reversed the one-way route, reducing the shocks by two thirds and the strain on the employees on the vehicle and the vehicle itself."

The FMS delivers what it promises

Two years after the implementation of the FMS and the switch to lithium-ion technology, it is time to take stock. Marco Bördner, Operations Engineer at Werner & Mertz Service & Logistics, starts by assessing the visual appearance: "The FMS dashboard has a very good structure and is so user-friendly that we have even used it as a prime example for internal dashboards at Werner & Mertz. Compared to other systems, it has a much more modern design." But for Bördner, the inner values of the still new tool are also right.

With the FMS, he is now also able to forecast operating hours - a major advantage for a fleet with equipment that has to run in a three-shift system seven days a week. And by no means the only one, as Bördner explains: "With the FMS, we can distribute the operating hours evenly across the vehicles and thus reduce our costs for service and maintenance work. We can see the operating hours driven, we can see the service and maintenance times, we can see the shocks that occur in the event of collision damage and we can see which employee was on the road with the vehicle at what time."

Lithium-ion batteries pay off

As with the FMS, Bördner can also draw an extremely positive conclusion with regard to the switch to lithium-ion: "The advantages of lithium-ion are very clear: we have gained space because we no longer have to store additional exchangeable batteries. The performance of the vehicles is higher. The batteries are low-maintenance and have a longer service life than lead-acid batteries." Not to mention the savings that Werner & Mertz makes with lithium-ion technology. Bördner explains: "With lead-acid, we had the disadvantage of having to change batteries frequently and the time and expense involved. Here we save around 28,000 euros a year. In addition, the battery changes often resulted in consequential damage. As this is no longer necessary, we save up to another 14,000 euros a year."

In the near future, Werner & Mertz intends to increase automation and will use the data obtained with the help of the FMS for this purpose. It is clear to Chief Logistics Officer Andreas Hardt that the forward-looking company also wants to go down this path with Jungheinrich: "We have constant ongoing requirements that we have to meet dynamically. Jungheinrich's flexibility is exemplary here. We would recommend Jungheinrich to anyone who wants comprehensive fleet management from a single source, which includes excellent service in every respect and technologically sophisticated solutions. Jungheinrich supports us very strongly in becoming even more sustainable than we were before."