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Peak performance every second with SAP EWM
25.07.2023
bilstein group remains on track for global success with new logistics centre
Logistics Next Level: Since mid-2022, the bilstein group has been shipping car and commercial vehicle parts all over the world from its new logistics centre in Gelsenkirchen. Behind this is a huge, highly automated intralogistics machinery on a floor space of 45,000 m², intelligently managed and controlled by SAP standard software. The mega project involved a best-of-breed approach, which the spare parts specialist implemented together with IGZ Automation GmbH. The latter acts as the SAP EWM general contractor for the intralogistics, has taken over the logistics planning, consistently realised the entire mechanics and control technology as well as SAP EWM and continues to look after the system with an onsite service team after the project has been completed.
Starting from eleven logistics locations worldwide, the bilstein group supplies more than 170 countries with spare parts of the well-known brands febi, SWAG and Blue Print. The range comprises more than 62,000 different items, most of which were stored in Germany at the headquarters in Ennepetal and distributed from there. With the new building in Gelsenkirchen on the premises of the former and traditional industrial site »Schalker Verein«, the company now has significantly expanded capacities. In addition, the bilstein group took the opportunity to comprehensively equip itself for further growth and the logistical challenges of the future with state-of-the-art technology and highly efficient logistics processes - precisely where heavy industry used to have its home. In this way, the bilstein group is breathing new life into the location and at the same time catapulting the time-honoured »Schalker Verein« into the age of digitalisation.
»In view of the scope of the project - at around 120 million euros, the largest single investment in the history of our company - and the numerous challenges, especially due to the pandemic, I am particularly pleased that the construction work was completed on schedule,« says Jan Siekermann, Managing Director of the bilstein group. In fact, the realisation from the start of construction to Go Live took a span of just 32 months, which is equivalent to a true »sprint« for such a project dimension.
Partnership at eye level as a success factor
Ambitious projects, especially on such a scale, need reliable partners. »For the realisation of this demanding logistics project, we decided on a partner who supported us in the idea and planning up to the really time-sporting realisation. And now looks after the facility on site during ongoing operation through the IGZ onsite team. Furthermore, it was important for us to find a partner whose core competence is the digitalisation of business processes using SAP supply chain modules,« says Managing Director Jan Siekermann, explaining some of the key selection criteria for the general contractor IGZ from Falkenberg in northern Bavaria. Felix Wortmann, project manager of the bilstein group adds: »It was a real mammoth project with well over 100 of our own project members across all project phases. Since our customers and our day-to-day business always take priority, we needed a partner who understood us, but above all could also contribute their own ideas that were of value to us. This is where IGZ convinced us as a partner at eye level.«
Tight schedule, demanding service package
The construction work started in August 2019. The specification and coordination of the intralogistics supply trades was carried out by IGZ; at the same time, close coordination with the building and building services sub-project was necessary. Rough planning with area and concept planning including deployment analysis for SAP EWM (Extended Warehouse Management) was followed by detailed planning including planning simulation in order to consistently and repeatedly put the planning results to the test and achieve the perfect result.
The coordination effort was also considerable in view of the tightly timed implementation window. This challenge was solved by successive commissionings that took place parallel to the installation work. Thus, system parts were already being intensively tested while screws were still being tightened in other warehouse areas. This required a constantly agile and flexible processing of the daily tasks. In order to further accelerate the project process, a test setup with key elements of the new overall system was set up in advance at the IGZ headquarters in Falkenberg and put into production. This also allowed a high degree of process reliability to be demonstrated at an early stage and the ergonomics of the workstations to be optimised. And this gave the bilstein group the opportunity to familiarise itself with essential parts of the bearing physics at an early stage, to test these as well and to coordinate optimisations with IGZ if necessary.
The test times and commissioning times at the physical plant could be reduced to a minimum by using a digital twin. The digital twin is a detailed emulation of the entire intralogistics system in order to virtually commission the complete warehouse management and material flow control in SAP without recourse to the warehouse and order-picking technologies. The emulation was also used for extensive mass tests, which could not have been carried out physically with the intensity required. This ensured that the logistics system could start up without delay, which was actually achieved even faster than originally planned.
Processes and plant integration completely in SAP EWM
Central functional areas in the new logistics centre of the bilstein group are a 10-aisle manual wide-aisle warehouse with 15,000 pallet spaces, a mobile racking warehouse with 13,500 pallet spaces, an electric floor conveyor on two levels with 55 vehicles, a 13-aisle high-bay warehouse with 86,000 pallet spaces and a 15-aisle small parts warehouse (AKL) with 228,000 container spaces.
IGZ implemented all processes, including large and small parts picking at ergonomically designed workstations in SAP EWM including the material flow component SAP MFS (Material Flow System). In addition, it integrated the extensive control technology for all warehouse technology trades from its own value creation. IGZ also supervised the coordination of the mechanical sub-trades until the project was completed.
»As a long-standing partner of SAP, we create benefits for our customers with SAP standard software and accompany them on the path of digital transformation of their business processes,« explains Alfred Meyer, Managing Director of IGZ Automation GmbH. »In this project, we were able to contribute all our experience and many innovative ideas.« Thus, IGZ not only realised the SAP EWM warehouse management including the SAP ERP integration, but also the SAP MFS material flow control integrated in EWM for a continuously networked, high-performance process design.
Highly efficient, robotics-controlled individual item picking
Another reason for the decision in favour of IGZ were the best practices brought along by the Falkenbergers, which can be perfectly integrated into the logistics processes of the bilstein group. For example, pick-by-robot, which was installed at two workstations. There, the IGZ robots pick goods autonomously in parallel to the goods-to-person picking stations. Their task is order-related pre-picking of the articles as well as compaction and container splitting. Pre-picked totes can thus be stored or served directly at the workstation ready for dispatch. This saves valuable time. Compaction and splitting optimise the tote fill level and thus also the warehouse fill level, as the order-related distribution of stock increases availability.
Furthermore, this avoids competing accesses during subsequent commissioning. The robot is also controlled directly from SAP EWM/MFS. The Rotary Gripper patented by IGZ is a component of Pick-by-Robot and enables an automatic gripper change so that a wide range of articles can be gripped by the IGZ robot and heavier parts or parts with a smaller cubic shape can also be picked up and delivered safely. The output per robot is up to 500 picks per hour. This scalable solution, which can be installed via plug & play, pays off especially in multi-shift operation and the use of additional robots can be realised at the picking stations configured for this purpose.
Visualisation and fault handling centrally in one system
The IGZ onsite service team, deployed specifically for the bilstein group at the Gelsenkirchen logistics centre, ensures maximum system availability as part of the long-term customer service and also provided active support during the ramp-up phase. The Smart Logistics Cockpit (SLC), including system visualisation in SAP EWM, is the control and switching centre for the IGZ onsite service team, control centre and first level support. This is where all the combined data from SAP EWM/MFS and the PLC level come together. Thanks to proactive, automatic alert messages, interruptions are reduced to a minimum, as the causes of problems can be quickly identified using detailed views and faults can be specifically rectified without loss of time.
For example, self-configurable key performance indicators (KPIs) from all plant areas and comprehensive dashboards including detailed evaluations can be called up quickly. But the IGZ Best Practice SLC also provides a comprehensive view, for example for the logistics manager. Integrated cameras also enable remote fault analysis: the SLC is based on a role-specific authorisation concept and can even be used on all common mobile devices. All currently relevant information, as well as statistical and historical data, are thus always and everywhere available, detailed and aggregated. Fault handling is thus carried out centrally in one system, which in turn saves time. Stationary control panels are no longer required, nor are additional visualisation solutions.
Efficiency and relief for staff in view
»A core requirement for the logistics concept was to be prepared for the logistical demands of the future - and to do so with efficient processes,« Felix Wortmann emphasises. For example, goods practically only have to be picked up once, as the electric floor conveyor transports the shipping modules to the different order-picking areas, where the customer orders are completed. With 55 vehicles, there is sufficient capacity for this, even with further growth. »The two robot units integrated into the picking process for individual item picking represent a further relief for the employees,« Felix Wortmann continues. »With the seamless integration of the new logistics centre into the supply chain, the bilstein group is ideally equipped for future customer requirements.«
Future security as a joint task
The chosen best-of-breed approach at technology and supplier level also contributed to the success. This ensured that only components in the areas of mechanics, IT and control technology were integrated that fully met the performance specifications of the bilstein group in the long term. »For IGZ Automation GmbH, this was the largest general contractor order in our company history to date,« notes Managing Director Alfred Meyer. »But we at IGZ are even more proud that the bilstein group has placed its trust in us for this demanding large-scale project and that we are therefore allowed to help shape the future to a certain extent.« IGZ not only supported the project until it went live, but also beyond that in the ongoing operation of the plant.
In future, around 25,000 order items with up to 167,000 picks will be dispatched daily via Gelsenkirchen alone. In view of the continuing dynamic growth, it can be assumed that the proverbial journey will continue at the new logistics location. After all, the current new logistics centre building represents only the first construction phase. The 200,000 m² of space acquired in total on the site of the »Schalker Vereins« still offer sufficient options for further expansion after deducting the freshly built 45,000 m².