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Intelligent loading - Warehouse software for lean and efficient loading processes

14.02.2014

CIM GmbH Logistik-Systeme implement their dispatch area functionality at the Doka Group. The WMS extension module steers the entire process right from allocating delivery orders to a staging area right up to loading the packed orders into trucks or containers. For eight years now, the Doka Group has been using CIM’s warehouse management software PROLAG®World to manage goods and processes in their warehouses. Doka belongs to the Umdasch Group and is a leading provider of formwork complete solutio

Based in Amstetten, Germany, Doka loads approximately 8,000 trucks per year and around 4,000 containers to be shipped overseas. Despite this substantial number of transports, each forklift knows exactly which freight is destined for which truck or container. The entire loading process has gone paperless and is now steered by PROLAG®World.

System-controlled loading process

“As well as our general warehouse management procedures, we are also aiming to have the system steer the entire loading process. That’s why we’ve chosen to integrate the dispatch area module into our PROLAG®World system”, explains Mr. Aschauer who is the central warehouse manager at Doka.

The dispatch area in PROLAG®World is responsible for loading goods onto means of transport such as trucks, containers and so on. “One of our main objectives in connecting the dispatch area was to switch over to paperless transactions. This streamlines our processes and improves the efficiency and quality of the loading procedure”, continues Aschauer. Industrial PCs with 2D image scanners have replaced paper-based processing. Employees can see the PROLAG®World dispatch area template on the PCs and receive all of the information they need to load a vehicle, such as order number, package weight and unloading point. The buttons for loading or closing the delivery orders are also displayed by the PCs installed in the forklifts.

At the picking areas, the delivery orders are picked, packed for shipping and prepared for loading. The employee scans the barcode of the loading area, which is communicated to the truck driver at the plant entrance. PROLAG®World tells the employee which delivery orders are to be loaded onto the relevant vehicle. The driver scans the packages, collects them with the forklift and simply presses the load button.

“By integrating the loading process into PROLAG®World, we always have up-to-date information about loaded transport orders. Thanks to the system control, we can be sure that the correct goods are loaded onto the correct means of transport. This ensures that we achieve high quality in our loading processes”, explains project lead Maria Pöchacker.

Loading photo

Plans for the future include sending one or more photos with each loading order. Cameras will be attached to the forklifts and connected to PROLAG®World over an interface. The forklift driver will be able to take a picture at the touch of a button, which will then be uploaded onto the server and saved for archiving and documentation purposes along with the loading order.

PROLAG®World since 2006

The DMB central warehouse of the Doka Group has been working with PROLAG®World since 2006: The WMS manages a small parts warehouse comprising six shuttles, a ground storage area of approximately 12,500m² as well as an automatic high-bay warehouse. The high-bay area comprises 14 aisles with 7 double-deep, side-flexing storage and retrieval machines on 21 levels and around 60,000 pallet slots. The range includes up to 7,500 different articles: everything from micro-parts weighing just a few grams right up to 11-metre profiles with a piece weight of 2,300 kilograms.

Software architecture

The software is programmed in Java and steered by the forklift terminals via the Internet Explorer. An Oracle database is used as the data repository. The host system, Microsoft Dynamics Axapta, is connected to the warehouse management software over an interface. Data is transferred between the loading point, the WMS and the host system quickly and securely over standard interfaces.



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