Completed WMS projects
Thyssen Polymer GmbH
Selecting a Warehouse Management System
Branch
- Wholesale industry
- Buildings sites
The Fraunhofer-Institute of Material Flow and Logistics (Fraunhofer IML) was asked by Thyssen Polymer GmbH (TP) to identify and analyse potentials for improvement and to elaborate a target concept for the existing warehouses. In the scope of this project the team warehouse logistics assisted TP during the selection of a warehouse management system (WMS). Thyssen Polymer is a leading producer of plastic profile systems for windows, doors, winter gardens and facades.
Intention and goal
Because of a lack of IT support and capacity problems in the existing warehouses leading to the inefficient use of the available space Fraunhofer IML was asked to analyse the actual situation and to develop a target concept. As a result the existing warehouses were restructured with regard to the material flow, the occupation and information technology. The aim of this project was to find a supplier who meets the requirements concerning the warehouse as well as the information technology.
Definition of requirements
Based on the requirements defined in the target concept the team warehouse logistics together with members of the TP staff developed a functional requirement specification as basis for the tender documents. A special aspect of these specifications were the functional reserves for future requirements (paperless order-picking, integration of a stacker control system) as well as a freely definable reporting system.
International Market Survey WMS
The performance specification set the basis for the software requirement profile which was assessed together with members of the TP staff. Potential suppliers, i.e. suppliers who met the basic requirements (e.g. batch capability, import/export of data to/from other systems, SAP interface, resource planning, stacker control system) were identified by means of the International Market Survey Warehouse Management Systems which was developed by Fraunhofer IML. This survey studies the WMS market using a questionnaire and provides more than 2,500 single aspects of currently 76 WMS suppliers. Based on the results of this market survey 5 WMS suppliers were chosen.
Call for bids
The team warehouse logistics prepared the tender documents for these 5 suppliers and coordinated the feedback. Special importance was attached to the completeness and comparability of the bids. Thanks to the clearly defined structure incoming bids could be evaluated quickly and efficiently. The evaluation of offers included not just hard criteria regarding the scope of functions but also soft criteria like the market position of the supplier and an estimation of the implementation risks. Based on this comparison three bidders were asked to present their system.
Presentation
Finally, the team warehouse logistics organised the presentation of the offered systems. For this purpose 3 WMS suppliers got the possibility to present their offer, their product and possible solutions at a meeting with members of the TP staff where still open questions were discussed as well. After a final assessment the team warehouse logistics recommended one WMS supplier.
Result
As a result the warehouse management system was chosen which
- totally supports the restructuring of the IT at the warehouse sites and
- provides functional reserves for future IT requirements already today.
