Ten lifts, over 5,000 storage spaces and a project team locked away on the factory premises. In the collaboration between Mayer & Cie. and status C, no hurdle was too high, no process too complicated and no night too long. The result: high-performance intralogistics that has arrived in the here and now.
SAP WM implementation
Warehouse lift integration with status C connect:IT
Introduction of mobile scanners with status C scan:IT
Mechanical engineering
January - March 2023
30% reduction in picking time
50% less paper consumption
New, more efficient picking and putaway strategies
Establishment of user-friendly UI5 interfaces
Mayer & Cie. is the world market leader in the manufacture of circular knitting machines and is based in Albstadt. The Swabian family business is growing continuously - but growth is often accompanied by growing pains. More materials in the warehouse and in production mean an increased need for storage space and inevitably create greater complexity. Familiar processes that used to work are suddenly error-prone, non-transparent, slow and a source of frustration for an innovation leader like Mayer & Cie. The hardware in the form of ten warehouse lifts was already in place - what was missing was the right software.
The digitalisation of processes at Mayer & Cie. began with status C. However, as always, the path to automated and largely paperless warehouse and production logistics started with a detailed analysis of the current situation. Together with the project managers at Mayer & Cie., status C then developed a completely revised picking and putaway strategy to cope with the increased complexity. SAP WM was also introduced into the plant, along with the smart warehouse lift integration status C connect:IT and - primarily in goods receipt - the mobile solution for paperless data capture status C scan:IT. This made stock discrepancies in the manual process a thing of the past.
The standards-based solutions from status C can be mapped directly in SAP and are ready for immediate use after a short customising phase. In the case of Mayer & Cie, however, over 5,000 storage locations first had to be manually decoded, translated and made recordable in SAP WM before things could get started. In a night-time rush, the company migrated everything it could over the weekend so that operations could continue as usual on the following Monday - only more efficiently and fully digitised. The fact that this migration marathon was so lengthy that those responsible at Mayer & Cie. and status C were locked in the factory premises and had to be freed by the cleaning staff is only mentioned on the side.
"The ability to recognise problems and find solutions is a key priority for status C. With an absolute team player mentality and a high level of expertise, actions and words were always very close together with the status C consultants. What was promised was also kept."
"The people involved in the project were open to consultation at all times. There was none of the usual 'that's how it's always been', so we were able to act as one with great commitment."
The bidirectional connection of the storage lifts now allows parallel picking at all ten lifts, which has reduced the waiting time for picking by a remarkable 30%. But that's not all. The individual production needs of Mayer & Cie. require order picking for three separate work groups: Pre-assembly, final assembly and spare parts. Thanks to the plug & play add-on status C connect:IT, the lifts can now independently pre-sort which orders are to be outsourced for which of the three work groups. The processes required for production define the interaction between hardware and software - and not the other way round. In addition, status C scan:IT unleashes its full potential during palletising in the incoming goods department, makes everyday life easier for employees thanks to intuitive UI5 interfaces and contributes to paperless logistics.
The cornerstone for the project was above all the shared understanding of digitalisation. In close collaboration, both Mayer & Cie. and status C examined, scrutinised and ultimately optimised the entire value chain - always with a very high level of expertise and the desire to push boundaries. Team leaders and employees were trained on-premise by status C in a targeted and solution-orientated manner, so that not only the modular plug & play solutions were immediately ready for use, but also those who ultimately work with them on a daily basis. And when all stakeholders are equally involved, the go-live of the system is much more enjoyable.