Warehouse Control System at the European Logistics Centre of Inter Cars
At the right place at the right time
We installed our flexible and modular warehouse control system (WCS) at the new European Logistics Centre (ELC) of the Polish automotive parts supplier Inter Cars S. A. near Warsaw. This system controls the complete material flow from inbound to outbound in real time: picking, packing and shipment are coordinated, throughput is optimised and costs are reduced. The products reach the right place in the desired time within the distribution centre.
Flexible and modular warehouse control system
Inter Cars is a leading distributor of spare parts for cars, vans and trucks in Central and Eastern Europe. The company, headquartered in Poland, has several hundred subsidiaries and branches spread all across the Baltic states and the Balkans. In addition, there is a nationwide network of approximately a thousand workshops.
“As a system integrator, we not only designed and installed the entire conveyor, picking and sorting technology, but also our flexible WCS.” It integrates and controls the material flows including inbound, quality assurance, picking and shipping.
The new European Logistics Centre currently stores around 7 million pieces like spark plugs, brake disks, V-belts, batteries, but also more bulky parts, like exhausts and hoods. The complex is comprised of four buildings, the largest one with 40,000 square metres, ten metres in height. It is equipped with a four-story shelving rack. The other warehouses have a surface of 5,000 square metres each. They store tyres and hazardous material, such as oils and varnishes, that must be kept separate for reasons of fire safety.
The products are divided into different clusters, similar to clothing sizes into S, M, XL and XXL, depending on dimension and weight. The totes filled with S and M parts are placed on a roller conveyor which forwards them automatically to the packing sorter, the BEUMER BS7 Belt Tray Sorter. “This system achieves a throughput of approximately 14,000 parts per hour”.
Clear overview of all processes
Besides the modules which control the material flow, our own BG Fusion tool is also in use. This visual display system offers the user a web-enabled user interface for configuration, control and reporting. It displays system data as alarms in a uniform and centralised way and shows status messages, fault messages and all relevant data. “The entire system status can be supervised via the interface to the machine control”, describes Lückmann. “BG Fusion combines machine and system data, enabling the responsible employee to trace the order status in real time.”
In addition, to be able to concentrate fully on its core business, ILS has also transferred the maintenance and servicing of the system to us. Our employees are on site around the clock. As part of the residential service they take over responsibility for availability of machines and systems. Our employees also perform preventive maintenance work. The team carries out maintenance and inspection work on the systems at defined intervals, checks the safety devices, electrical and control components as well as automation technology. And they can perform repairs that might be necessary in case of an unscheduled failure of components.
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Your Contact Person
Sandra Lückmann
Head of Sales