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decide to expand its logistics operation and to employ automation to
ensure timely, accurate shipping of
its surgical products.
That goal was complicated by the
variation in orders. “The new solu-
tion [had] to be capable of handling
2,500 orders per day,” says Bernd
Hermle, logistics director of
Aesculap. “The order sizes vary con-
siderably. The smallest orders consist
of only one item, whereas large
orders may include new equipment
for an entire hospital unit.”
Given the urgency of some ship-
ments, speed and accuracy were
paramount in the solution Aesculap
sought. Hermle says that highest-priority
orders received as late as 4: 45 p.m. must
be shipped by 5: 30 p.m. that day. Some
move even faster: At times, orders needed
most urgently are collected by emergency
vehicles.
Further complicating the business,
German law requires strict batch tracing
for all medical products. And many of
those products are fragile and require
sterile packaging.
AS/RS PROVIDES THE SOLUTION
Today, the distribution center carries
21,400 stock-keeping units (SKUs).
According to Aesculap, those include 200
that are classified as “super-fast movers,”
20,500 standard products, and 700 bulky
items.
Most of those products come directly
from Aesculap’s production facilities in
the same complex. When the distribution
center receives the goods, items move to
one of three warehouse areas: a manual
picking section for the fastest movers, a
mini-load automated storage and
retrieval system (AS/RS) for the standard
products, and a pallet warehouse for the
bulky goods.
Aesculap turned to TGW to develop
and install the facility’s new pick system,
which includes an automated storage and
retrieval system, conveyors, controls, and
TGW’s warehouse control software,
which links to the company’s SAP enterprise resource planning system. The new
pick system was designed to perform
13,000 picks during a 10-hour shift.
The 200 most urgent items are picked
from racks at three workstations under
the direction of the facility’s warehouse
management system (WMS). Workers are
directed to the rack location by mobile RF
devices. The WMS also manages the size
of the picking area covered by each worker, varying it depending on the number of
operators logged in at any one time. This
helps to minimize travel time and optimize the picking process, Hermle says.
The majority of Aesculap’s goods—the
“standard” products—are handled in the
TGW mini-load system, which has a total
capacity of 51,240 totes over nine aisles.
Products are broken out into three groups
