w3/max controls Cosmolux' high bay warehouse
Successful cooperation between Köhl AG and w3logistics AG for Cosmolux in Echternach/Luxemburg.
Core of the HAZMAT high bay warehouse with 10,000 pallet places are three stacker cranes, which serve five aisles. They automatically move pallets of articles like shower gel, toothpaste or hairspray, before these are sent out on their way to large German discount stores.
To increase warehouse throughput, Köhl AG received the order to reconstruct and modernise the stacker cranes and the conveyor system control. In addition to this, with its standard software w3/max, w3logistics delivered a solution that enables an efficient warehouse management and an effective coordination and control of the warehouse equipment – because speed and flexibility are nuts and bolts in the discount business. Moreover, an automatic interface to an ERP system was needed, which was also implemented by w3logistics.
After thorough tests of the interface between conveyor technique and w3/max, the changeover was done in cooperation with Köhl AG as the "big bang" during only one weekend. On Friday, the whole stock was transferred from the old software system into w3/max and already on Monday morning the first truck was loaded with pallets that were retrieved by w3/max.
Such a system change without noteworthy interference with the production was the result of detailed in-house tests at w3logistics. To achieve this, a graphical simulator developed by w3logistics was especially modified for this warehouse, so that numerous scenarios could be modelled and thus potential problems could be taken care of in advance.