Goodbye data gaps: Peakboard realizes forecast for Würth
Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG
challenges
At the Künzelsau North distribution center, incomplete data on the quantity and size of parcels caused uncertainty in personnel planning and overstaffing at packing stations.
solution
With Peakboard, Würth developed a dashboard that integrates data from SAP and a material flow computer and visualizes series and package information in real time — for precise forecasts and transparent processes.
benefits
- Accurate prediction of package volumes and sizes
- More efficient and flexible personnel planning
- Avoiding backlogs and series losses
Time to Value
The solution was implemented in just two steps and is currently already being used in the team management office.
Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG is the parent company of the globally active Würth Group. The Würth Group is the world market leader in the development, production and sale of assembly and fastening materials. With a product portfolio of over 125,000 items, Würth supplies customers from crafts, construction and industry. In 80 countries, the Group currently employs over 88,000 people in more than 400 companies with around 2,800 sales offices. In fiscal year 2024, the company generated sales of 20.2 billion euros.
Peakboard offers a solution that not only creates transparency in the packaging plant, but also in the entire order picking system.
Flying blindly without a forecast
At the North Distribution Center in Künzelsau, the goods are picked in two stages: The products are first picked by staff in the high-bay warehouse, provided with a printed pick slip and then transported in containers to the sorting system. There, employees scan the pick sheets for the items and are shown via an IPC which box they must use for the respective item. The reason for this is a reduction in package height introduced by the company. In the packing shop, personnel carry out a final quality control of the items and fill the boxes with filling material as required.
However, this procedure has had significant disadvantages in the past. For example, at the high-bay warehouse and at the sorting station, the processed pick positions are specified in the system with containers, which does not provide any information about the number of customer packages resulting from this.
“This created gaps in information in the packaging plant about upcoming package quantities and the size of the shipping boxes,” explains Markus Abel, automation and digitization project manager in the packaging sector at Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG.
Among other things, this lack of transparency had a negative effect on personnel planning, as employees could not be deployed efficiently due to uncertain package volumes.
“In the past, this often meant that we completely occupied the workstations at the packing station because we could not estimate the quantities of parcels we would receive that day. As a result, the station was partially overstaffed when the volume of parcels was lower than expected.”
More than just a glimpse into a crystal ball
“In order to be prepared for the next series cycle, we needed a solution that would enable us to make a reliable forecast,” says Markus Abel.
The journey to Stuttgart software developer Peakboard was not far off: He was already a reliable partner of the Würth Group in previous projects, which is why renewed cooperation on this project was obvious. The solution consists of two components: the Peakboard Box as hardware with associated operating system and the Peakboard Designer as a software tool for creating dashboards.
Dashboards bring light into the dark
To successfully implement the forecast in the North Sales Center, Peakboard tackled this project in two steps. First, the software developer visualized the package status, such as size, number, or serial number, from the respective series cycle. The data required for this comes, among other things, from the SAP system, which connects Peakboard directly via integrated interfaces. The dashboard is structured in such a way that it shows team managers a total of five lines, each of which represents a series cycle. The first two lines show the series that have been edited within the last 50 minutes. The third line shows the current series that is currently in production. As a result, the team leader always knows what is currently happening at the previous station, the sorting system. The last two lines represent the remaining series.
A series cycle is processed within 25 minutes. The dashboard is also updated according to this schedule. The second step focused on the actual number of packages on the entire system. Peakboard linked the required data from a material flow computer to the dashboard and visualized it in the form of a bar chart. In this way, every package that is closed and linked at the sorting system flows into this bar display. In this way, you can see at any time what quantity of parcels is currently on the entire system.
“This information allows us to estimate package throughput more precisely. Thanks to the forecast, we can now deploy and redistribute personnel more efficiently,” explains Abel.
Step towards flexible personnel planning
The introduction of a forecast in order picking offers decisive advantages for Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG. Team managers can see the number and size of the packages in advance. This allows them to move and redistribute personnel resources promptly and flexibly as needed. Thanks to the transparent package flow, Würth is also able to avoid package backlogs or series losses through early intervention. Currently, the ad is only in the team leader's office. The company is also planning to install the application in the work area in the long term. This should enable personnel to use their time for other activities, such as product quality control, during possible idle runs between series cycles.
Conclusion: Optimize pick processes with Peakboard
“Peakboard offers a solution that not only creates transparency in the packaging plant, but also in the entire order picking system,” says Markus Abel, summarizing the collaboration with Peakboard.
By connecting various data sources, conclusions about the actual package quantity along the conveyor system can be visually presented. Employees are currently still receiving their pick orders manually by printing them out. In the future, Würth also plans to digitize this process with Peakboard.
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