Together with the intralogistics system provider Dematic, the company has implemented a total solution consisting of a four-aisle automatic small parts warehouse (AS/RS) on the ground floor and a four-aisle Dematic Multishuttle® with twelve levels in the basement, in addition to the existing high-bay warehouse (HRL). With the parallel introduction of SAP EWM as a warehouse control and material flow system, Nussbaum is now prepared for further growth.

‘Well installed’ – this guiding principle of Nussbaum could equally well be used for the new logistics systems and processes that the long-established Swiss company has put into operation together with Dematic.

The family-owned company, now in its fourth generation, wanted to reorganise its logistics in the central warehouse in order to be able to guarantee its customers fast delivery in the future as well, reliably and with high quality.

Nussbaum wanted to continue to use the existing warehouses and, if necessary, to implement a new modern warehouse with more space, more automation and faster processes while maintaining a high picking quality by means of a building extension. In addition, the old warehouse management and control software was to be replaced. The decisive factor in choosing Dematic was not only compliance with the specified restrictions, but also the overall solution, which also takes into account room for future growth.

Nussbaum stocks around 5,000 different items in its central warehouse. This is because goods ordered by customers by 5:30 p.m. leave the logistics centre the same day and are delivered throughout Switzerland the next day. The site not only has a central warehousing function, but is also one of 15 branch sites in Switzerland, which means that Nussbaum offers plumbers the required material directly for pick-up, including expert advice. Such pick-up orders have the highest priority in the logistics centre and must be processed immediately.

However, due to strong growth, Nussbaum reached the limits of its capacity with the warehouse built in 2004 and the processes, which were mainly organised manually, and came under increasing pressure to pick the 600 to 800 orders per day and hand them over to the transport service providers within the delivery time frame. As a result, the company had to employ more and more staff to cope with the volume. This in turn led to the processes becoming increasingly inefficient, the delivery quality dropped due to the high workload and costs rose disproportionately. Nussbaum therefore decided to expand its storage capacity and to automate most of its processes.

The current system integrates the existing high-bay warehouse with around 4,000 storage spaces, which now serves as a warehouse for pallets with heavy items or items that cannot be containerised due to their size. All other items are packed into the 600 x 400 x 220 mm containers either already in production or in the incoming goods area, recorded in the system and then stored in the new small parts warehouse or in the Dematic Multishuttle®. To do this, an almost identical twin cuboid has been built next to the high-bay warehouse, which accommodates both the four-aisle small parts warehouse on the ground floor and the four-aisle Multishuttle in the basement. In the existing building adjacent to the head end, space has been created for the conveyor system and four picking workstations from the Multishuttle. 

The AKL, with space for around 42,600 containers in double-deep storage, serves as a replenishment warehouse for the Multishuttle. The MiniLoad storage and retrieval machines achieve up to 100 double cycles per aisle per hour. A lift is used to transport totes from the ground floor to the Multishuttle warehouse, which can accommodate 13,400 totes on 12 levels with double-deep storage. Nussbaum deliberately chose the new Multishuttle generation with its lighter shuttle vehicles, which can reach speeds of up to 4 m/s and acceleration values of 2 m/s². This makes it possible to achieve up to 600 double cycles per lane and hour on this system. In order not to interfere with the ongoing goods receipt, many tasks and test runs could only be carried out on weekends and during ongoing operations.

The four picking workstations connected via conveyor technology are supplied with item containers and also with empty containers from the Dematic Multishuttle. Up to ten orders can be picked simultaneously at one workstation. A pick-by-light system is installed above the customer order totes for this purpose. A photo of the ordered goods, among other things, is shown to the picker on a screen, while the display above the customer order totes provides information on which goods are to be placed in which totes and in which quantities.

When designing the workstations, the issue of ergonomics for the employees played a major role. The technology should be easy to use so that fewer mistakes are made and high picking performance or speeds can be achieved. At peak times, 960 item containers can be sequentially processed per hour across all four stations. On busy days, around 7,500 items are picked at Nussbaum.

The Dematic Multishuttle is also used as a sorter at Nussbaum – this means that the item containers belonging to an order are sequenced in a specific order, e.g. according to product group or, for the company's own stores, also according to item positioning on the shelf, and removed to the packing station for outgoing goods. Normally, the sorter in logistics centres is a hardware solution. At Nussbaum, this function was implemented by Dematic as a software solution because the multi-shuttle warehouse has sufficient capacity and can therefore cover this function in a cost- and space-saving way.

Two new ergonomically optimised packing stations have been installed on the ground floor, next to the existing pallet packing stations, for packing customer orders in boxes ready for dispatch. These are directly connected to the picking and individual storage areas via the conveyor system.

A special feature is the counter workstation for customers to pick up their own orders, which is connected via the conveyor system. If an order comes in from here, the system has to process it immediately. To do this, all the containers in the system are moved to buffer locations using the free-movement function, so that the item containers requested from the counter can be transported directly from the Multishuttle to the counter workstation. There, an employee removes the required quantity and pushes the container away again. This means that the goods can be picked and handed over to the customer within three minutes of the order being received.

At the same time as the warehouse expansion, Nussbaum has replaced its old warehouse management and control system and commissioned Dematic to implement SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM). The system is part of SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM) and supports the complex and highly automated processes in modern warehouses.

Nussbaum is thus opting for a future-proof and flexible open software. The fact that the material flow computer is already integrated into the system and that Dematic supplies everything from a single source was particularly convincing. In addition, Dematic was able to dispense with additional middleware by directly connecting the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) of the new system using the SubDriver solution. The SubDriver is a maintenance-free PLC module that is installed in the control cabinet and converts the RFC data from the SAP system into TCP/IP data for communication with programmable logic controllers.

The commissioning was carried out in two stages and initially involved replacing the old IT and implementing SAP EWM in the existing warehouse. In a second step, the new plant areas were connected to this. The extensive functional tests in advance – especially for the new software – could mostly only be carried out at the weekend so as not to disrupt operations.

The new warehouse of R. Nussbaum AG now offers sufficient storage capacity for future growth. For example, only two of four aisles are currently used in the automated small parts warehouse. The steel structure for a further expansion is already in place and only needs to be extended by the storage and retrieval machine and the aisle equipment. Similarly, only nine of twelve levels are used in the multi-shuttle warehouse. Four additional workstations can also be installed in the picking area.

In a follow-up project, Nussbaum will also connect the production via conveyor technology in order to supply the production line directly with containers and to be able to store the finished products directly in the small parts warehouse or multishuttle. Thus, the successful cooperation between the two companies is entering the next round.