AIMING HIGH

THE NEW MAHLE LOGISTICS CENTRE IN ST. MICHAEL, AUSTRIA, ENSURES ON-TIME SUPPLIES OF MAHLE ORIGINAL AND KNECHT FILTERS TO THE EUROPEAN AFTERMARKET.

The constantly changing number of European vehicles necessitates a constant expansion of the range of fi lters. This goes hand in hand with a permanent optimisation of trade stocks, making the logistics services of automotive parts manufacturers one of the most important factors for product availability. The biggest fi lter production works in the MAHLE group in St. Michael ob Bleiburg, Austria, has been expanded to cope with this challenge in future: with a hightech, high-bay warehouse that offers space for 38,700 pallets.

UNBROKEN LOGISTICS CHAIN
After a construction time of only 11 months, the new logistics centre has been in operation as the fi lter supply centre for European aftermarket needs since February 2010. Its commissioning was preceded by an uncompromising optimisation process, whereby the former external storage areas were shut down and integrated in the new centre. Trucks can now be loaded directly from the high-bay warehouse so that internal transports are now even shorter. The MAHLE aftermarket regional warehouses are also supplied directly from St. Michael – making for more time savings. The unbroken logistics chain that this creates from manufacturing via high-bay warehouse through to dispatch guarantees an optimum fl ow of materials with an effective stocking of semifi nished and fi nished goods. Peaks in stock movements can also be safely handled thanks to the increased storage capacity – today, tomorrow and in the future: because expansions that may become necessary in the future have already been taken into account in current plans.

OPTIMISED SWAPPING IN AND OUT
But what is daily work like in the new high-tech warehouse? During goods receipt the container is fi rst checked for contour, forklift slots and weight. The barcodes are then scanned and compared with the data previously determined by the SAP system. The pallet is then transported to one of the 10 stacker cranes which safely stows it away in the compartment specifi ed by the warehouse management system.

Shipping out is just as precise: the pallet is removed from the high-bay warehouse and forwarded to production or dispatch via nodal points, the so-called retrieval tables. The lines are arranged so that the forklift truck can remove them in one direction.

This highly complex procedure is controlled by specially developed software whereas goods in, production supply and shipping out for dispatch is controlled via SAP. An online interface ensures a permanent data exchange. The system has been consistently planned to meet the needs of MAHLE Aftermarket customers and, for example, is able to compile all pallets on a truck into a consignment, print dispatch labels for specifi c customers and optimise the packaging material logistics – including its own order reserve or the warehouse management of packaging sets.

THE NEXT STEP: BUILD-TO-ORDER
Even more speed and fl exibility will be needed to provide an optimum service for aftermarket customers in future. MAHLE is therefore working on a new Build-to-Order system that is based on the order call behaviour in the industry. Instead of storing the fi lters ready packed and labelled as is the case at present they will be kept in stock unpacked as semi-fi nished goods and completed through printing and packaging as required. The ambitious goal is to achieve a lead time of 3 working days from the receipt of the order to delivery. This will change the high-bay warehouse from a simple storage warehouse into an integral part of the automatic production process. Just-in-time deliveries will be possible thanks to the connected materials handling technology and a special production buffer store.