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Production with distribution /
STAEDTLER centralizes its distribution logistics
STAEDTLER centralizes its distribution logistics
The pen and pencil manufacturer STAEDTLER is centralizing its distribution logistics and begun supplying its European customers directly from the newly established Eurologistics Center in Nuremberg in mid-2007. Detours via national interim warehouses will be a thing of the past in the future, when all twelve European national companies are gradually integrated into the newly developed Eurologistics structure. From Nuremberg, STAEDTLER will manage the entire fine distribution of all products in the sense of classic direct delivery set-up for the future - and this throughout Europe.
Customer: STAEDTLER Mars GmbH & Co. KG
The company is Europe’s largest manufacturer of pencils, colored pencils, and rubbers. Two thirds of all products are produced in Germany. The company was established in 1835, is now present in more than 150 countries, and operates eight production facilities worldwide, three of them in Germany, as well as several sales offices.
Location
Nuremberg
Industry sector
Production with distribution
Solutions
OPS, MPS
Volume
2 million orderlines per year
Special features of the project
The WITRON system takes care of the route scheduling process. Based on specific rules, it suggests the optimal carrier and checks whether consignments can be created, thus densifying the shipment of goods. WITRON advises the shipments via EDI to the respective transport carrier and at the same time provides the “dispatch advice” data record to specific STAEDTLER customers, who can use it to record their incoming goods.
Challenge
On the one hand STAEDTLER serves the specialist retailers and thus also supplies in small quantities, for which the OPS module (Order Picking System) is used. On the other hand, complete cartons are picked for high-volume buyers such as consumer chains. This is why we combine the OPS with the WITRON MPS solution (Module Picking System) for storing and picking large-volume dispatch units. Both system modules receive the goods either when they come directly from production – connected via an electronic overhead rail transport system on the first upper floor – or via the eight loading gates on the ground floor of the Eurologistics Center. The SAP system introduced by STAEDTLER recently this year, notifies the WITRON warehouse management system (WMS) of incoming goods on a pallet-by-pallet or summary basis. In both cases, delivery from production or via the docks is mainly on Euro pallets. However, to stay flexible with an eye on potential future requirements, there is also the possibility of directly recording and storing totes.
Customer opinion
The ideas put into practice in the system are well-thought and purposeful. ”We can expand the OPS picking zone by another seven locations and can run the system in three-shift operation instead of the planned two-shift operation. The centralized distribution logistics gives us a high level of transparency plus a continuous update on sales and revenue figures. We can optimally manage our international sales and improve service through shorter delivery times, higher technical delivery capability, and delivery accuracy.