sor capabilities. The design features an automated storage
and retrieval system (AS/RS) and warehouse management
software (WMS) from SSI Schaefer and incorporates about
1,000 of Pepperl+Fuchs’ own industrial sensors, which feed
data to the WMS, monitoring product flow throughout the
facility.
After an eight-month pause to deal with insurance claims
and another year to repair damage and test the system again,
Pepperl+Fuchs’ DC officially reopened last September,
almost exactly two years after Harvey. And the manufacturer is already reaping rewards: The collaborative system has
reduced receiving and picking times to a fraction of what
they were before the project’s implementation and is helping
to streamline Pepperl+Fuchs’ North American supply chain.
NO STRANGER TO AUTOMATION
Germany-based Pepperl+Fuchs has been automating its
facilities since the 1990s and runs modern, high-tech DCs
in Mannheim, Germany, and Singapore. The firm decided
to automate and relocate its main North American DC
from suburban Cleveland to Katy, Texas, five years ago,
in large part to put it on par with the other facilities, but
also to streamline global supply operations. The suburban
Houston location places Pepperl+Fuchs closer to its oil
and gas industry customers and eases logistics challenges
associated with receiving products from its European and
Asian warehouses, company leaders explain. Products can
be shipped to Houston via the Galveston Bay in one day,
compared with up to three days to Cleveland, for example.
The Houston area also eases airfreight challenges and costs
for Pepperl+Fuchs clients.
“[We have] more concentrated business in the Houston
area, and the logistics infrastructure is better, so it made
sense,” says Mehmet Hatiboglu, Pepperl+Fuchs’ COO.
Automation was vital too. Pepperl+Fuchs sells a wide
range of industrial sensors and explosion-proof enclosures
to customers in the automotive and oil and gas industries,
shipping thousands of different items per week, in small lot
sizes. Customer service and order precision are paramount,
Hatiboglu adds.
“In our business, you have to be fast and accurate in your
deliveries,” he says, noting that the company’s Mannheim,
Germany, DC has an order accuracy rate of 99.98%. He
credits that to the facility’s AS/RS system. “If you don’t have
an AS/RS, you are slower, less accurate. For us, it’s a must to
have an automated system.”
The company’s North American DC operations were
largely manual prior to the relocation and automation
project, and the improvement rates have been staggering,
reports Colin Akers, Pepperl+Fuchs’ director of operations
for North America. He says receiving has been cut to 15
minutes from an hour and parts picking has been cut to
one minute from four. Accuracy and quality have improved
as well.
