Every second a new car is fitted with mechatronic systems for doors, seats, or electric motors from Brose. And, more than 80 manufacturers and 40 suppliers rely on the performance of the international company. This high-end performance requires absolute reliability of all processes – especially due to the constant increase in the number of new developments and articles. All are good reasons for restructuring logistics and production supply at the second-largest production site – and for concentrating warehouse capacities. The big objective for Brose – a forklift free factory.
Since a reliable production operation is a key to Brose, the solution needed to be precise. The introduction of tugger trains to take product supply to the production facility enabled a reliable automation process. The intralogistics processes, including tugger train loading, are all fully automated for the world-renowned automotive supplier. The innovation of the material flow concept is apparent in the functional scope of SAP EWM, a concept unrivaled in the industry. It includes sequenced retrieval and provision is based on the needs and the fully automatic loading of bins for tugger trains. It has been integrated into the existing SAP infrastructure, which is precisely tailored to the needs of Brose.
To achieve the specific tugger train logistics requirements, an extensive planning tool has been designed in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich. As a certified SAP partner, SSI SCHAEFER implemented this directly within SAP EWM. The result is a reliable, preplanned timing of tugger trains based on multiple variables, including shifts, breaks, or routes within a given timetable.
The downstream process and plant control is carried out via SAP. In addition, a 5-aisle high-bay warehouse and a 7-aisle miniload system automatic storage and retrieval machines house the various automotive parts for storage until needed for manufacturing. Numerous conveyor system components, as well as the use of robotic applications for automated depalletizing, ensure high process efficiency in the material flow.
Case Study: Reference Brose, Czech Republic
A technical success for Brose regarding an innovative material flow design for a highly dynamic production supply – all within a forklift free factory.
