A fully automated high-bay warehouse speeds up processes at Eisbär Eis. The ice cream specialist controls and monitors all workflows via the GUS-OS Suite : from storage to delivery - and thus has the IT basis for further growth.
The chance
When summer is just around the corner, the demand for refreshing ice cream increases - an ice cream producer like Eisbär Eis has to be prepared for this. The company, which consists of two sister companies, produces and packages more than two million ice cream portions every day, which are shipped to retailers and delivery services throughout Europe. When another record summer loomed in 2019 and space in the existing warehouse at the Ribnitz-Damgarten site near Rostock became scarce, Eisbär Eis decided to build a new high-bay warehouse for its frozen products because renting storage capacity is expensive and would mean additional transport routes for frozen products. Therefore, the only option was to build a modern, fully automated warehouse that would provide 75,000 cubic meters of space for more than 12,000 pallets and ensure faster and more efficient processes. In order to digitally map, control and monitor this warehouse and the pallets, a software solution that was as powerful as it was flexible was required.
IT - rethought
Eisbär Eis deliberately decided not to use a separate warehouse management system and relied on the GUS-OS Suite, which has been in use since 2012. The ERP system is used for the IT connection and control of the warehouse and pallets according to the master-slave principle. In this way, Eisbär Eis not only avoids data redundancies, but also minimizes the need for additional interfaces. Both the high-bay warehouse and the PLC control system and packing robots in production can be controlled from the GUS-OS Suite. At the heart of the solution is an integrated material flow computer (MFR) that runs in the background and directs the work processes. In order to keep an eye on all material, warehouse and transport movements at all times, a total of ten control stations have been set up, which enable up-to-the-second information as well as flexible and fast stock corrections at the click of a mouse. In addition, the workflow engine of the GUS-OS Suite Eisbär Eis allows processes and tasks in warehouse management to be mapped in the system without a great deal of programming effort. The agile introduction of the new high-bay warehouse remained within the agreed budget, with live operation commencing three weeks ahead of schedule.
Fit for the future
Eisbär Eis, for example, benefits from using the GUS-OS Suite to control its fully automated high-bay warehouse:
- All processes from storage to loading and delivery can be mapped via the GUS-OS Suite using workflows and control and monitoring stations
- Storage becomes more cost-effective as there is no need to rent and manage expensive external parking spaces
- Fully automatic loading via two loading ramps plus express interface is faster, easier and clearer
- A batch blocking check and the printing of shipping labels are carried out fully automatically immediately before the pallets are ejected
- The path of pallets is monitored by the system from production to loading - pallets can no longer be mixed up, so that incorrect loading and incorrect deliveries to customers are avoided
- Thanks to the GUS-OS Suite ERP solution already in use in the company, no separate warehouse management system is required - data redundancies are avoided and interfaces reduced
- The ERP solution forms a scalable and future-proof basis for future growth and the integration of additional warehouse capacities
