Automotive Intralogistics is Key
for Lowering Costs and Boosting Profits

Companies in the automotive industry place the highest demands on intralogistics concerning transparency, performance, and process reliability. Shorter product life cycles, market pressure, and regulatory requirements, also demand a high degree of future viability in terms of scalability and flexibility from the intralogistics system. In addition to an increase in demand for digitalized traceability processes, another important requirement is to optimally fulfil various production concepts, such as just-in-time or in-sequence, to guarantee maximum availability of servicing production and quality products.

Efficient Spare Parts Storage and Highly Dynamic Shipping

Spare parts distribution is characterized by seasonal fluctuation, customer model preference, order structures, as well as promotions. To service customer needs, high demands are placed on order processing speed and quality. To facilitate the safe storage of a variety of components with a reduced warehouse footprint, you need to rely on automation expertise from GEBHARDT Intralogistics. Our team of automation experts can reduce your footprint and enable a higher performance for your material flow processes. We support you from manual shelving systems all the way to implementing complete automated fulfilment centers with highly dynamic shuttle warehouses with high-performance goods-to-person workstations. This allows you to achieve increased output with reduced floor space while also lowering your total cost of ownership with less labor.

Cost Reduction Due to Optimized Operation Sequences

At Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, the task was to optimize parts distribution processes and reduce transport costs. An efficient order picking system was designed to connect the upstream and downstream functional areas via 7,700 feet of high-performance conveyor technology. With this successful project, the goals of both process optimization and transport cost reduction were achieved. Additionally, GEBHARDT Intralogistics significantly improved the workplace conditions for the team members.

Say Goodbye to Challenging Spare Parts Storage in the Automotive Industry

Spare parts storage can be a challenge for vehicle manufacturers and OEM suppliers. Large quantities of components need to be kept for certain make and models, sometimes for extended periods. At the same time, demand for parts and order processing remains high. In addition, seasonal or unpredictable peaks in demand may occur. Furthermore, there is a difference in multi-channel distribution of product in what dealers, retail part suppliers, and other subsidiaries need in comparison to direct end-user consumers who only order spare parts via the internet in quantities of one or two. Therefore, it may make sense to reconsider your current distribution solution.

With automated storage and retrieval technologies, omnichannel distribution doesn't have to be complex. GEBHARDT Intralogistics can work with you to determine how much storage is needed and ensure that virtually every has a secure location and each item that is picked is correct. So, whether you're shipping pallets full of mixed SKU OEM parts to a dealer, or one SKU to an end-user customer, you'll know that parts are correct and that your inventory is updated automatically.

Automated Production Logistics from Incoming Goods to Outgoing Goods

As a company in the automotive sector, you demand high reliability and performance from your production logistics. It must be extremely efficient to process a high number of orders in a short time, and if necessary, to supply your production with just-in-time or just-in-sequence components. For starters, you need a flexible system that can respond to changing market conditions at any time. To meet these requirements, GEBHARDT offers automatic various tote, tray, and pallet warehouses to collect goods quickly and keep them available for production in a highly dynamic manner. Your production processes are easily supplied with the required components and by using the gold standard in quality conveyors. This consists of GEBHARDT System 300 or System 500 conveyor technology. Should you require a more flexible solution, GEBHARDT can supply mobile robots and provide additional design options, particularly with classic conveyor technology. Plus, incoming goods and ergonomic order picking workstations ensure that your employees have a safe working environment and help reduce downtime.

GEBHARDT Engineers an Innovative Logistics Center at KW Automotive

At the chassis manufacturer KW automotive in Fichtenberg, Swabia, the task was to implement the entire intralogistics solution including an automated warehouse and a modern conveyor technology, as well as a pick-to-light system (PTL). This solution was put into place within the built-to-order production workflow, and it integrates easily into the production process and network capabilities.

Flexibility is Essential

Suppliers in the automotive industry know what high demands placed on production by just-in-time (JIT) requirements means. At peak times, unfinished products are delivered daily in high volumes. After receiving goods, it’s necessary that intralogistics processes are designed to be effective and efficient to achieve more than simply providing you with a clear and tidy incoming goods area. Furthermore, your customers demand the highest transparency and quality from your processes. The impact of a constantly changing product range presents new challenges to the flexibility of your production system. Having a highly automated internal intralogistics system enables a flexible approach for each new incoming product change too.

Ergonomics Deliver Faster Throughput and Deliver Higher Quality

A shortage of skilled workers and demographic changes are daily challenges for any manufacturer—it’s the same with the automotive industry. As a result, manufacturers offer incentives for loyalty and long-term employment by creating better work environments, which include optimized workstations and make tasks ergonomic. Furthermore, most manufacturers have regulatory requirements within the industry. So, topics such as occupational safety and ergonomics are on your daily agenda. GEBHARDT supports our clients in designing intralogistics system that provide maximum support to employees. Switching to a GEBHARDT warehouse goods-to-person system with a can reduce lifting requirements without wasting precious space. For transport orders, employees can easily be supported by mobile robots such as the GEBHARDT Karis. In addition, the integrated workstations of the SimplePick product offering are designed with ergonomics in mind. This engineering helps to reduce strain on employees during their daily work. However, in addition to the reduction on strain, employees can deliver faster throughput. This happens when working with equipment that gives them a comfortable work environment, tasks are made easy, and visual cues give an advantage.

GEBHARDT Provides a Perfectly Dimensioned Distribution Center

By leveraging GEBHARDT automation and digitalization solutions, you reduce the daily workload of employees. Plus, it brings a level of transparency throughout your work process while you reduce operating costs. An intelligently designed intralogistics system from GEBHARDT provides the opportunity to incorporate individual requirements into workstations. If testing is needed, GEBHARDT has a test center available. Our team of engineers will evaluate order picking tasks from an ergonomic point of view to be customer specific, flexible, and scalable. This was also the experience of Leuze when they were building the new international distribution center.

The Challenge of Demographic Changes

Demographic changes, labor shortages, an ageing workforce, and changing customer requirements, are placing greater demands on the employees within your intralogistics operation. Concepts based on ergonomic design principles are needed to support employees in the best possible way and maintain their health in everyday working life. This enables a reduction in absenteeism and offers your skilled workers improved workplaces, a further incentive to stay longer with your company.

Digitalization Ensures Transparency in Intralogistics

Tracking the production progress and delivery status of your products is of great importance, especially in the automotive environment. To meet customers’ high-quality demands and to respond quickly to changing conditions, accurate data in real time is a necessity. In addition, this data enables optimization of your operational and material flow processes. It gives clear requirements while monitoring your system, and it provides necessary KPIs for reporting.

Digitalization and software are the keys to transparency and efficiency for your automation systems. GEBHARDT provides StoreWare® warehouse management software that can integrate with any ERP solution and SAP. Our own cloud-based solutions Galileo IoT and Galileo Insight provides maximum transparency and further improved availability through analytics.

Prime Example of Perfectly Networked Intralogistics

At the GEBHARDT Innovation Center in Sinsheim, GEBHARDT Intralogistics Group has real systems in operation so that interested parties and customers can see demonstrations of software and IoT applications. These applications interact under realistic storage and order-picking conditions. “The GEBHARDT Innovation Center is designed to show automation in our own warehouse while at the same time process real orders and demonstrate picking for customer,” explains Marco Gebhardt, CEO of the GEBHARDT Intralogistics Group. The development and production of intralogistics solutions and IoT applications are subject to continuous growth, which is why the Innovation Center is constantly expanding with new and further developments, such as the AGV KARIS® or the SimplePick series.

Automation Promotes Sustainability

Finally, with automation, you're also investing in sustainability initiatives along with resource conservation. In addition, you're meeting specific requirements for economic efficiency and investment security. Logistics automation reduces labor costs over several years of operation and is the key to increasing efficiency. Higher throughputs and error-free picking also provide faster service and better quality.