TQ-Systems GmbH

Carousel storage optimizes production logistics

TQ-Systems, a German electronics provider in Seefeld near Munich, relies on 45 Hänel Rotomat® storage systems to optimize production logistics. LACOM/TS communications software and the LACOM/IDOC server are used for intelligent and flexible coordination of the put and pick operations for SMD and THT components in the storage carousels. The Hänel systems replaced decentralized storage areas where employees manually retrieved items for various assembly lines. This process is now centralized, automated and extremely efficient.

At TQ-Systems' Seefeld headquarters in the Bavarian region of Germany, some 70,000 storage positions in the Hänel Rotomat® solution are included in the customer's SAP WM module. Most positions are allocated for electronic SMD and THT components. The Rotomat® storage carousels have effectively optimized warehouse logistics so that more productivity can be achieved without the need for additional employees.

Various types of supply systems provide the items needed for production – trolleys transport the components from the central warehouse in the basement to the assembly area on the ground floor. Careful planning and constant expansion of the new Hänel Rotomat® storage solution optimized the storage density in the carousels – from the floor to the ceiling. Based on precise requirement planning by TQ-Systems, Hänel fitted the storage carousels with special profiles to accommodate intermediate, split-level shelves.

The addition of variable dividers ensures an optimal storage density of nearly 100 percent.
Hänel LACOM/TS communications software and the LACOM/IDOC server provide the fast and direct channel that connects the storage carousels with the SAP warehouse management system. All storage data is managed centrally in SAP, including storage and retrieval operations that are communicated as transport orders to the LACOM/TS application via the IDOC interface. Thus multiple job orders can be filled simultaneously on several storage carousel systems. During put and pick operations, item packaging is scanned for data that activates inventory control in SAP – inventory levels are automatically compared and adjusted in real time without interrupting the IT chain.

The intelligent Hänel communications software LACOM/TS also regulates user management and access rights. This means, for example, that two lockable Rotomat® systems in the cluster can be operated manually and separately as consignment storage systems.

To prevent potential damage from ESD, the internal components of each storage carousel are coated with an antistatic finish. What's more, the buildup of static electricity on the carriers is prevented by brass bushings mounted in the carrying levers. Each system is also equipped with an electromechanical safety switch and a photoelectric safety light curtain at the access point.