Koenig & Meyer, a manufacturer of music accessories based, moved into a new logistics center and has seized the opportunity to implement a state-of-the-art warehouse management system.
A few weeks ago, König & Meyer experienced a total transformation of its warehouse logistics. The manufacturer of music accessories – based in Wertheim, Germany (southeast of Frankfurt) – moved into its brand-new logistics center with space for 7,200 pallets.
And if that weren’t enough, it also went live with its new state-of-the-art warehouse management system (WMS) from AEB. Highlights include pick-by-voice technology and a completely mobile solution for large-consignment packing.
“We didn’t want to move into our new logistics center with our old solution, which relied heavily on manual processes,” explains Björn Brem, who heads the WMS project at König & Meyer. “Our aim was to create a forward-looking logistics concept by improving and – wherever feasible – automating our processes and workflows.”
König & Meyer opted for the AEB's Warehouse Management since the company had already been running AEB’s shipping and export software with great success for ten years. One highlight for König & Meyer is the pick-by-voice solution, which helps the pickers be more productive while reducing the incidence of errors.
Another feature that helps streamline processes is the completely mobile solution for large-consignment packing. The work here consists almost entirely of repacking from warehouse pallets to shipping pallets, so it wasn’t feasible to work with a desktop computer, printer, or scales. Here, König & Meyer is able to rely instead on mobile equipment.
“A large share of our shipments – about 90 to 110 pallets a day – goes to retailers and wholesalers. That’s why it was so important to us to find an efficient solution for large-consignment shipping,” Brem adds. Since König & Meyer also ships up to 130 packages a day to its B2B customers, the customer solution also includes a traditional packing station with a carrier link.
“Even during the start-up phase, our picking processes were already much more efficient and our warehouse transport routes much shorter. We’ll see more positive results once we start using the data generated in the system for analysis and optimization,” says Brem, describing the overall improvement from a customer’s perspective. The company achieved its goal of reducing picking errors. “Our customers are the direct beneficiaries,” says Brem with evident pleasure. The solution has also been a positive experience for the 25 warehouse workers who use the AEB software.
Both König & Meyer’s project director Brem and AEB’s project director Dr. Jochen Fuhrmann were very happy with the working relationship during the approximately year-long project runtime: “We were able to keep to the ambitious go-live timeline even though many of the processes had to be set up for the first time and supported by the WMS. We ended up with a well-engineered solution that we were able to implement without any problems,” concludes Fuhrmann.
Optimized supply chain processes from procurement to fulfillment with AEB's supply chain and logistics software. Including monitoring and alerting, carrier integration, shipping processes, freight and logistics cost management, and warehouse management at the heart of global distribution centers.
