If the goods have to leave the warehouse quickly today

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Published on: September 22, 2020 / Updated on: September 26, 2020 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Who hasn't been there? A customer urgently needs an item. It's almost closing time, but the goods have to be with the customer by tomorrow.

If the goods need to leave the warehouse quickly today - Image: @xpert.digital

When goods need to be moved out of the warehouse quickly today – Image: @xpert.digital

These small business crises happen every day in Germany. A statistical comparison to marital crises would be absurd. The difference, however, is that one can sense it can escalate into a tragedy if the goods don't arrive at the customer's on time. The worst-case scenario: the entire construction site grinds to a halt because precisely that one part that was ordered from "us" is missing.

It affects all sectors, from manufacturing to retail, regardless of whether the order is placed online or by phone.

As bad as all that is, it gets even worse: the order can still be processed, the goods can still be shipped, the goods are there, but there's a problem in the warehouse. Whether it's due to staffing or technical issues, they can't access the goods. System failure.

We all know this: some are affected more than others. But that's no coincidence. A closer look reveals why.

Planning, maintenance, and preparation of one's own inventory are just as essential as the business idea. A focus on distribution and sales is crucial. And just as one plans for all eventualities in this area (customer liquidity, pricing, profit optimization, etc.), the same attention should be paid to ensuring smooth technical operations.

For a financial check, there's SCHUFA; for a technical check, there's TÜV. But these are just snapshots and don't cover the whole picture.

In Germany, we do indeed have high quality standards, and the qualitative differences between various logistics providers are not significant. Nevertheless, the details matter. This includes issues such as material wear and tear, goodwill gestures, and the company's approach to mistakes – how quickly and efficiently the company resolves such matters.

However, there are also differences in the preliminary planning, the proposed solutions, and their implementation. Ultimately, the decision regarding which storage system to choose is based on trust, and the security lies in years of experience.

The same applies to warehouse automation. Automating processes in intralogistics is already standard practice. Many companies draw on decades of experience and solutions.

Thanks to e-commerce and drivers like Amazon Prime (order today, delivered tomorrow), customer demands and expectations have increased. In short: it has to be fast and uncomplicated. Order today, receive tomorrow.

Ordered today, delivered tomorrow – Image: @xpert.digital

That's the B2C version. But there's another one, too: the loyal customer base, built up through years of painstaking work. Customers who trust you, and where that trust is a key characteristic of your company. Especially in the B2B sector, this is a crucial factor for growth.

Full automation to ship thousands of small orders on the same day?

With digitalization and the rise of e-commerce, it's becoming increasingly clear that ordering processes are being tailored to the needs of individual customers. Processing high order volumes quickly and securely requires full attention and automation. In some cases, existing automation processes are reaching their limits.

This development was faced by the electrical wholesaler Elettroveneta . The Italian wholesale group, headquartered in Padua with 34 other branches, belongs to the French Sonepar Group from Paris.

Elettroveneta faced the growing challenge of ensuring its loyal electrical trade customers received the parts they needed for the next day's work. During peak hours in the late afternoon, when electricians finished their workday, demand surged to 500 order lines per hour.

An automated container shuttle storage system (AS/RS) for the main distribution center in Tribano

Elettroveneta has specialized in the distribution of electrical installation materials for over 30 years. The wholesaler offers customers over 30,000 items and receives thousands of orders daily , some for very small items – the highest number typically occurring between 4:00 PM and 7:30 PM. Up to 500 order lines must be picked per hour during this time. To ensure that customers receive their orders the very next day, DAIFUKU implemented its fully automated shuttle warehouse system.

Capacity for approximately 37,000 containers

The Shuttle shelf M from DAIFKU – Image: DAIFKUKU

The small parts warehouse, a stacker crane with goods-to-person picking, offers space for 37,000 containers. The DAIFUKU features three double-deep aisles with 19 storage levels over a length of 90 meters. The shuttle warehouse supplies six picking workstations with storage containers – simultaneously, partially picked order containers are returned to the storage system.

Expansion options included – Designed for the future – Scalable

A conveyor system transports goods (in containers) from goods receiving to the small parts warehouse or directly to goods dispatch. The system is designed to allow for the implementation of a fourth aisle and two additional picking workstations should further growth occur.

Another aspect for full automation

The coronavirus pandemic has shown that full automation can prevent a threatened closure. Despite full warehouses, Amazon had to close its logistics centers in France due to a court ruling. The court determined that employees were not adequately protected against the dangers of the coronavirus. This would not have happened with a fully automated system .

Suitable for:

Buffer storage: For e-commerce, retail and manufacturing industries

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What will be crucial for the future will be how we secure the infrastructure of our key industries!

Three areas are of particular importance here:

Digital Intelligence (Digital Transformation, Internet Access, Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things)
Autonomous power supply (CO2 neutrality, planning security, safety for the environment)
Intralogistics/logistics (full automation, mobility of goods and people)

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