The Customer
In addition to its existing logistics location in Leipzig, Apologistics GmbH has put Europe‘s most modern, fully automated logistics center with 20,000 m2 for online pharmacies into operation in Duiven, Netherlands. Apologistics supports its mail-order pharmacies with more than 100,000 products, from the storage and provision of goods to order picking and “same-day” delivery to customers.
The Requirements
Klinkhammer supplies, integrates and digitizes the entire material flow of the automated warehouse, from state-of-the art robot picking technology up to the automated dispatch. More than 400 employees would have to be employed for a comparable, manual distribution center of this size with highest delivery quality. Due to the high degree of automation, Apologistics gets by with a tenth of the workforce.
The Solution
The modern material flow control and warehouse management software of Klinkhammer are the brain of the system in the logistics center. They optimize the performance of the system and map fully automated processes with a large number of interfaces to automated storage, picking and dispatch systems. Robot piece picking not only increases picking accuracy, but also efficiency, in particular in case of “lot size 1 picking”.
The Customer
The Sanofi group, headquartered in Paris, is one of the world's leading healthcare suppliers. According to the IMS, Institute for Healthcare Informatics, Sanofi is the fourth-largest pharmaceutical company around the world and has been renowned in the ambitious emerging markets for a long time. In addition to the over-the-counter drugs (OTCs), Sanofi also focuses on solutions for diabetes, vaccines and innovative drugs in therapeutic areas of oncology, thrombosis, cardiovascular diseases, central nervous system and internal medicine.
The Requirements
The expansion of the product portfolio resulted in an increasing need for new conveyor technology solutions allowing to smoothly handle pallets with a weight of up to one ton. At Sanofi's production site in Lüleburgaz/Turkey more than 1,000 euro-pallets daily are moved over the conveyors installed in the incoming goods and shipping department.
The Solution
The Klinkhammer Group has been awarded the contract by Sanofi, Turkey, to plan and realize the conveyor technology, including two vertical conveyors, one pallet changer as well as the complete control and visualization system. Because of very strict quality specifications and requirements according to GMP in the pharmaceutical sector, pallets have to be changed. The highly performing logistics system by Klinkhammer puts up to 60 pallets per hour from wooden to hygiene pallets or vice versa. Making investments in new conveyor technology had become necessary as additional product lines have complemented the already manifold range of products. At Sanofi, not only liquid and solid pharmaceuticals are manufactured at one site, but also ointments. These three production areas are now connected via a conveyor bridge. The core of the system is a pallet changer featuring a capacity of up to 60 pallets per hour which provides the production areas with raw, auxiliary and operating material. Thanks to the optimized conveyor section, finished goods are transported completely automatically from the productions areas to the central shipping department. Besides the mechanical components, the Klinkhammer Group also realizes the control of the system as well as the visualization and material flow control.
The Advantages for the Customer
The material flow optimization helps to increase the throughput of goods while reducing manual operations. This considerably increases the efficiency of the logistics system.
Retrofit in the channel warehouse
The Customer
For more than 50 years, the family business Apotheker Walter Bouhon GmbH has been producing cosmetic products under its frei öl brand. They are available both in pharmacies and, with a selected range, in drugstores.
The Requirements
Retrofit: As the system's control technology and software were over 20 years old, the control components and PLC programming of the automated pallet warehouse and pallet conveyor technology were replaced. The moving control cabinet of the storage and retrieval crane was completely modernized, as was the system's safety concept. The material flow control and storage location management system was also equipped with the latest KlinkWARE 11 software generation. The retrofit brought the system up to the latest state of the art and increased overall productivity.
The Solution
By renewing the hardware, upgrading the software and modernizing the system visualization, all processes were once again reviewed, streamlined and new processes were integrated. Spare parts are available again, system availability has been improved and modern interfaces have been installed. A semi-automated incoming goods area offers space for 80 pallet storage locations on staging lanes. The lanes are served by a cross-travel carriage with a satellite vehicle. This is where the spot checks are carried out and the goods are stored in the fully automated, single-aisle pallet channel warehouse. This storage technology is characterized by a particularly high storage density. Up to 15 pallets can be stored in a row, with a total capacity of 2,100 pallet spaces. Order consolidation takes place continuously during dispatch. The tours are provided semi-automatically. A shipping buffer line provides a high degree of flexibility.
Extension in 2 stages of construction during ongoing operation
The Customer
Fresenius is the global market leader for dialysis therapies and dialysis products such as dialysis machines, dialyzers and related disposables. In Schweinfurt, Germany, dialysis products are manufactured according to highest standards.
The Solution
Klinkhammer built the component warehouse necessary for this in form of a two-aisle automatic small parts warehouse. The double-deep storage of containers and trays with insert bins guarantees proper storage of a wide range of products. The warehouse was built within 2 stages of construction during ongoing operation.
Automatic storage and retrieval cranes with multiple load handling device ensure a fast and optimized transport as to load changes. The ERP-system by Ordat manages orders and stocks and transfers the transport movements to the material flow computer of the DC21 system. A carriage distributes the storage and retrieval boxes to the stations in the pre-zone of the automatic small parts storage (goods-to-man principle).
