Kärcher is one of the world’s leading providers of cleaning equipment. Their diverse product line includes pressure washers, vacuums, and appliances for residential and commercial applications. From their distribution center in Obersontheim, Germany, Kärcher ensures fast replacement of over 60,000 spare parts and accessories for customers around the globe. This adds up to approximately 2.8 million order lines a year.
Rapid growth, an increasing product range, and a demand to supply directly to end customers necessitated a new concept for their center in 2009. Kärcher turned to TGW Logistics to automate their warehouse logistics and optimize spare parts fulfillment.
To cope with their huge shipment numbers, Kärcher needed to automate warehouse operations, focusing on a faster, more efficient material flow. This meant rethinking their storage, picking, packing, and shipping processes.
The implementation of TGW Logistics’ automatic mini-load warehouse system provided approximately 95,000 storage locations for totes. Eight 252-feet-long aisles are equipped with Mustang storage retrieval machines. This automated warehouse logistics system supplies picking workstations with the required products.
The smart picking system consists of eight goods-to-person PickCenter workstations. Picking at these ergonomic workstations is done using two alternating source containers. Larger goods are picked in a separate area parallel to the small parts station. An energy efficient shuttle system works as an intermediate buffer to enable order consolidation–cutting shipping costs by reducing the number of packages sent to customers. The automated workstations promote higher order throughput by reducing the amount of walking required by employees. The system also allows for shorter processing times and supports order fulfillment via different channels (dealers, private customers, service installers, and shipment to international warehouses). Finally, the synchronized picking areas increase warehouse capacity, reduce transport costs through order consolidation, and reduce picking errors.
The shuttle system delivers small goods in totes to packing workstations. Larger goods are delivered manually. Packing takes place in the afternoon between 12:00-6:00 p.m., so orders are ready for shipment before departure time.
We looked for a systems integrator, covering as many aspects as possible. TGW offered all these features. They were able to implement the entire solution.
TGW Logistics Group
TGW Logistics thinks outside the box to solve supply chain issues and help companies reach short- and long-term goals. Let us turn your vision into a reality.
Erich Schlenkrich
Vice President Business Development Industrial & Consumer Goods