Forklift management system with GPS optimizes 11,000 m² yard logistics in the concrete industry

The L-mobile forklift management system prevents loading errors and reduces search and loading times at Birkenmeier Stein+Design GmbH.

What is currently one of the biggest challenges of outdoor storage for companies active in the concrete industry? Is it the long distances that forklift drivers have to cover every day? Frequent empty runs of the forklifts? Extended search times if the required product cannot be located immediately? Whatever it is, warehouse management will suffer at the end of the day – and that will cost time and money. The successful cooperation between L-mobile and Birkenmeier Stein+Design GmbH proves that it can be done differently: with the flexible L-mobile forklift management system and GPS positioning in the outdoor storage yard.

The initial situation

Loading errors and lacking transparency in the flow of products presented Birkenmeier Stein+Design GmbH with some challenges in warehouse management.

As a manufacturer of high-quality cement-bound products and design elements for the creation of gardens, terraces and outdoor spaces, the medium-sized family business is dependent on efficient logistics processes to realize customer orders on schedule. This involves making around 250 entries per day that need to be picked and then loaded in an outdoor area of around 11,000 m².

But the company faced challenges time and again. The main problem: products in stock were searched for but could not be located. This was mostly due to delays in making the entries in the system and to the lack of transparency in terms of the entirety of products stored in the different storage locations that resulted in real-time operation. The result: incorrect loading of product pallets, lack of tracking the flow of products, and extended loading times of the manufactured concrete products. Another challenge: the wide range of products and the peak times during seasonal business do not allow for a permanent organization of the storage yard.

To counteract these problems and ensure smooth loading processes including locating the pallets in the yard in real time, Birkenmeier was looking for a mobile solution that would reduce the time required for loading the manufactured products by moving directly to the product pallets in the outdoor area of the storage facility. The solution was found in the L-mobile forklift management system with GPS positioning and the mobile L-mobile warehouse ready for MS Dynamics warehouse solution that was linked to the existing ERP system.

Locating forklifts easily with the precise forklift management system

A forklift management system is a software solution for managing and controlling forklifts and industrial trucks within logistics or production processes. The objective of a forklift management system: optimizing forklift utilization and guaranteeing the highly efficient processing of transport orders. To achieve this goal, all forklifts and industrial trucks within a warehouse logistics system are managed and controlled by means of a central software solution. All forklifts are located in real time and coordinated so as to ensure route optimization. The processing of transport orders, such as stocking, transferring or replenishment, has also been fully digitized. Instead of using printed receipts, all orders are transmitted to the forklift drivers automatically on a terminal installed on their forklift, allowing them to process entries digitally by means of a scanner.

Locating the forklifts by means of GPS (Global Positioning System) has proven successful in particular in large outdoor storage facilities such as that operated by Birkenmeier. The global satellite navigation system ensures exceptionally precise positioning that is accurate to within a few centimeters. This enables a dynamic display of forklift movements on the terminals. However, in addition to GPS, forklifts can also be coordinated and located by means of other technologies, such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and UWB (Ultra Wide Band). These two technologies are widely used especially for indoor location.

The solution

Successful optimization of the 11,000 m² yard logistics at Birkenmeier by means of the forklift management system: in a first step, ideal conditions for successfully implementing the project were created within the company. In addition to WLAN coverage on the entire site, all forklifts were equipped with the required hardware: terminals, handheld scanners, GPS antennas and WLAN antennas are now standard equipment on the forklifts. Paired with the newly implemented mobile warehouse solution, forklift management system and linkage to the ERP system, this ensures efficient control of the company’s internal logistics processes.

Unique pallet IDs and GPS po-

sitioning reduce search times

Every pallet of concrete products is provided with a unique ID to allow accurate location in real time. When a pallet is put into storage, the ID is scanned with the mobile handheld scanner and the information transmitted to the ERP system. Since each storage location has a GPS coordinate, the system can determine the location of a product in real time. The forklifts can also be precisely located in the system by means of GPS tracking. The result: maximum inventory visibility, which not only prevents empty runs but also enables forklift drivers to locate goods instead of searching for them.

Pre-picking customer orders:

transparent and route-opti-

mized

As soon as the company receives a customer order, forklift drivers can start pre-picking the order items. The seamless connection of the forklift management system, mobile warehouse solution and ERP system creates ideal conditions to speed up and facilitate the workflow. The pre-picking order containing all of the products to be picked is thus automatically displayed, as a digital pick list, on the terminal of the forklift driver who is in the most favorable position for picking the order. The driver is guided to the products on an optimized route, transports them to the picking station, scans the products, picks them onto a pallet, and then scans the pallet with the pre-picked products. In the process, a new order is generated by the system and the new order-related pallet is in turn labeled with a unique ID. The pallet is placed in its new storage location, which is then also scanned, and the system keeps track of the pallet’s location at all times.

Reduced loading times

The system has also accelerated the loading process. Extended loading times used to pose a major problem. Route-optimized coordination of the forklift drivers has enabled a much more efficient process. Each forklift driver sees the exact location of the required product on a map displayed on his terminal, and can thus move to it on the most direct route. This not only reduces errors when loading customer orders but also allows them to be processed more quickly and with greater adherence to schedule.

In conclusion, the use of a forklift management system has successfully minimized daily search times and empty runs in the storage facility of Birkenmeier Stein+Design GmbH, as everyone involved has a full overview, at all times, of the products in stock and their storage location. This means that products are finally located instead of being searched for. The pallet loading process has also been significantly accelerated. In addition, the system’s mobile scanning function has significantly reduced errors related to the picking process.