Warehouse management system underpins maximised performance in the dispatch operation

1,090 homogeneous or mixed Düsseldorfer pallets are produced every hour in the Vitaqua production facility of the mineral water bottlers Brandenburger Urstromquelle in Breuna, Germany. The automated high-bay warehouse, with 51,000 slots for europallets, used to store the firm’s various products plus the raw materials and supplies, enables up to 400 trucks a day to be planned and loaded.
The function of the logistics operation is based on meticulous interlinkage between the production lines and the warehouse. This is handled by means of data transfer from the production operation and the line management system (LMS) installed there to the warehouse management system (WMS). For each pallet discharged from a palletiser, the Modulpal machine sends a signal to the WMS. Using the production order filed in the LMS, a data record is generated in the WMS for the pallet involved, and a transport order transmitted to the material flow computer.
The electric overhead conveyor (EOC) system accepts the pallets from the production lines and the WMS assigns a storage slot for the pallet in question. When the pallet is accepted by the high-bay warehouse’s automatic storage and retrieval unit, the storage routine is carried out and booked onto the warehouse slot concerned. The goods are now available for a retrieval reservation.
Besides the storage procedure, the warehouse management computer also permits direct dispatch from the production line. If there is a released order item in the system, the pallet will be booked directly onto the order, and transported to the dispatch zone. The pallets in the material flow computer are continuously tracked for their precise position.
Intra-plant traffic for trucks is monitored and controlled in its entirety by the courtyard management system. A vehicle identification system guides the drivers accurately to the unloading and loading points for delivering and collecting the merchandise.