Benefits at a glance

• 10 % more storage volume on the specified area
• 99 % safe access by using “pick-by-light” operator prompting
• 500 order lines per hour
• 70 % less personnel resources

Customer

Heinz Arnold GmbH manufactures and markets high-precision milling tools for various machining applications. Growing exports and a continuous rise in the number of products made it necessary to reorganise the product distribution.

Task definition

Construction of a new logistics centre for cutting tools. The existing store was no longer capable of meeting the logistic requirements. The intended area of 300 m2 with a room height of 3.5 m had to be maintained to store 15,000 different items. The picking performance was calculated at 500 lines per hour. Other goals were real-time stock management, error minimisation of the order picking and 24 hr delivery readiness.

Solution

Horizontal carousels were installed due to the available space. The storage volume of 15,000 items is accommodated in the storage units of the carousel by means of containers of various sizes. Access times were achieved by using the “batch” picking principle. The optimum batch size determined was 20 containers. A pick-by-light system shows the target container and target volume to the picker to permit rapid, direct and error-free access. The warehouse management software used controls 4 machines simultaneously using batch accumulation. This avoids waiting times for the two pickers.

Scope of delivery

• Four horizontal carousels with a total of 230 trays
• Storage capacity 9500 containers with a total payload of 157 t
• Dimensions: WxDx H 30 x 11 x 3 m
• Pick-by-light system with coloured displays
• Flatscreen on each of the 4 access stations
• “Warehouse Edition” Power Pick Global storage management system
• Interfaces to container conveying system