Georgsmarienhütte GmbH is one of the leading European suppliers of quality and engineering steel. The company’s products are used to manufacture crankshafts, connecting rods, camshafts, drive shafts, transmission parts, chassis parts and much more. Georgsmarienhütte GmbH is part of the GMH Gruppe, a group of over 20 companies that work together in partnership and have a global presence with their products. From the raw material to the end product, different metallic materials are used.
Initial situation in final operation
The final operation of Georgsmarienhütte GmbH covers an area of approx. 130,000 m² and consists of a wide variety of production facilities such as heat treatment furnaces, straightening and testing lines, reworking units and dispatch stations, interspersed with storage areas. The stocks of steel bar material fluctuate between 50,000 tons and 70,000 tons. According to the principle of “chaotic” warehousing, it is not possible in many places to separate semi-finished materials for further processing and material ready for dispatch by converting stocks, and these therefore merge seamlessly into one another.
Decision to introduce a material flow control system in final operation
Project implementation with OneBase®MFT
This information is linked there with the material information from the feedback from the production systems and master data from the SAP ERP system, leading to the creation of the warehouse visualization in the 3D model in real time. With the help of sensors on cranes and forklifts, all material movements are now tracked seamlessly from the material’s origin to loading onto rail wagons and trucks. The mobile warehouse application provided by ABF also helps with the handling of transports with dachshund wagons between the warehouse bays.
Scope of the new intralogistics system
From transportation on demand to independent decision-making
Usability was always the focus during implementation. For example, existing operational data collection processes were used as triggers to initiate processes in the MFT so that they could run virtually invisibly in the background for employees. The crane and forklift drivers now have a new role to play: in the past, they were tasked with carrying out transports on call. With the new MFT and the user interfaces provided on the vehicle terminals in the vehicle cabs, they now take the decisions themselves.
From now on, this new role must be consolidated and lived. The 3D visualization of the means of transport operator is linked to the mobile application of the ground staff, which provides support when attaching the material. The optimized transport orders are thus processed in system synchronization between the two employees. Shouts or hand signals are therefore a thing of the past.
Continuous further development of material flow control
Project manager at Georgsmarienhütte GmbH Andreas Rahe is very satisfied with the success of the project: “I would like to thank everyone who supported this project and in particular ABF for the reliable support provided by Helmut Danner and his team, who kept a cool head even in the most difficult moments with their experience and calmness.”
ABF is also very happy about the success of this extensive project and is looking forward to laying the foundation for the ongoing digitalization of its customer’s intralogistics. We would like to thank the team of the final operation, the crane department and the vehicle workshop as well as our ABF team for the great cooperation!