Completed WMS projects

Berker GmbH & Co. KG

Selecting a Warehouse Management System for the new central warehouse

Branch

  • Electronics Industry
  • Buildings sites

The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (Fraunhofer IML) was asked by Berker GmbH & Co. KG (Berker) to plan and realise a central warehouse. During this project the Team warehouse logistics supported Berker in selecting a Warehouse Management System (WMS) for their new central warehouse. Berker ist ein international tätiges Unternehmen und Anbieter hochwertiger Elektroinstallation – vom zeitlos-klassischen Schalterdesign bis zur intelligenten Gebäudesystemtechnik. Berker is a leading international supplier of high quality electrical installations – from timeless, classic switch designs through to intelligent building systems technology.

Aims and Objectives
Structural problems caused by the multi-level distribution resulted in long delivery times and delays in service. For these reasons, the Fraunhofer IML was charged with restructuring the distribution and logistics for Berker. The new central warehouse was to consist of a mini-load installation and a pallet warehouse. When selecting the supplier of the warehousing technology, technical aspects as well as the included WMS as part of the scope of supply were taken into consideration.
The aim was to select a supplier that can successfully fulfil the demands on warehousing technology as well as on information technology.

Defining the requirements
The demands on a WMS were defined according to the storage strategies and business processes developed for the new central warehouse. The main aspects to be considered were the new multiple-deep storage concept and clustering (items that are often picked together, such as switches and matching switch covers, are also stored close to each other).

International Market Study WMS
The functional support offered by the various WMS offered by the warehousing technology suppliers was compared using the International Market Study Warehouse Management Systems. This study is carried out by the Fraunhofer IML and offers a comprehensive overview of the WMS market. It includes the performance profiles of more than 70 WMS suppliers and covers over 2,500 individual aspects.
Berker’s specific requirements were taken into consideration by extending the questionnaire to including the aspects “multiple-deep storage” and “clustering”. The answers given by the warehousing technology suppliers were subsequently validated by the Team warehouse logistics.

Workshop – Selecting a WMS
During a one day workshop the Team warehouse logistics carried out an Online WMS Selection together with Berker. The requirement profile developed for Berker was compared with the performance profile of the various WMS.
The results of the Online WMS Selection process were then included in the decision on the most suitable warehousing technology supplier.

Results
The selected supplier of warehousing technology

  • whose mini-load installation fulfilled the requirements on the warehousing technology and
  • whose WMS fulfilled the requirements on the information technology of the central warehouse.

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