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Looking to meet the challenges and cost pressures of an ever-changing market, the family-owned business Mehler decided to invest in a centralised and automated high-bay warehouse in Tirschenreuth.The objective of this new-build project was to consolidate the local warehouses to achieve the greatest possible storage density. Mehler brought the IGZ subsidiary IGZ Automation onto the project as the general contractor for handling the areas of planning, project management, structural steel, plant and control systems.The end result of the project was a new dual-aisle warehouse with 2,016 tote bays and a single-aisle warehouse with 648 Euro pallet bays, plus a conveyor-based handling system. Mehler was particularly keen to ensure that the physical work of employees in the warehouse was made

For some years now, SAP has been offering a powerful MES system in the form of Manufacturing Execution (SAP ME), which represents a perfect addition to the existing functionality in SAP ERP. In this way, existing production planning is extended by making SAP-integrated production control and handling available to the shop-floor.A host of new features in SAP ME (SAP Manufacturing Execution) 6.1 makes it clear that it has established itself as a "global player" in the broad-based market for MES systems.In comparison with the previous version, SAP ME (SAP Manufacturing Execution) 6.1 offers additional improvements such as: Ergonomically improved touchscreen interfaces for intuitive system operationAdditional standard integration scenarios with SAP ERP modulesExtended documentation with how-to

Highly-automated shuttle storage systems are currently "in", as demonstrated by the numerous ongoing implementation projects in collaboration with well-known German and international corporations. Nevertheless, experts in the sector disagree on how to concretely assess the advantages and disadvantages of shuttles in comparison with stacker cranes with regard to operating efficiency and performance.The notion that proprietary material flow systems are required for the control of shuttles because of specific control strategies –  as some plant system providers  still argue – has long been refuted:IGZ | The SAP Project House for logistics and production and certified SAP Special Expertise Partner has developed several successful implementations of designs and solutions for shutt

Due to the necessity of process changes and the ever-increasing requirements facing manufacturing, Aspöck Systems GmbH has decided to introduce a deeply integrated all-in-one IGZ solution based on SAP ME (SAP Manufacturing Execution) with SAP EWM (SAP Extended Warehouse Management).Based in Austria, Aspöck Systems GmbH is Europe's leading manufacturer of complete lighting systems for all makes of towed vehicles. Convinced by the SAP strategy and the added value of an open IT platform, Aspöck has decided to retire the current production and warehouse management system, and model the functionality within SAP ME (SAP Manufacturing Execution) and SAP EWM (SAP Extended Warehouse Management).A specific, sophisticated and close integration of the company's production, warehousing, picking, ass

By now, various technologies in the field of "augmented reality" or "Pick-by-Vision" have found their way into in-house logistics. With Smart Glasses (e.g. Google Glass), various technology providers have succeeded in demonstrating how a pair of glasses can be used as a multifunction device for employees in a warehouse. In the picking area (Pick-by-Vision) at IGZ's customers, real-time orders – here via SAP EWM (SAP Extended Warehouse Management) – are overlaid onto the operator's field of view via an embedded micro-display housed in the glasses.Thanks to this online technology, which is linked to the SAP EWM (SAP Extended Warehouse Management) system in real time, the user is presented continuously with the current system state of the SAP order needing to be processed and can be deplo

The tyre retreading process at Continental's new lifecycle plant requires close collaboration between production and logistics. To manage workflows on the factory floor and warehouse, the tyre maker has therefore opted to interface the warehouse and production management systems together. Reducing emissions of the CO2 greenhouse gas and careful management of our resources are important topics of our time. Continental is stepping up to this challenge with what is to date its unique hot- plus cold-process approach to re-treading HGV tyres, whereby significantly less energy is consumed than when manufacturing new tyres. Customers such as trucking companies can thereby benefit from significantly lower prices. The operational basis for the business is the new ContiLifeCycle Plant, which th

With Release 15.0 of its Manufacturing Suite, SAP is systematically pursuing its strategy of providing comprehensive support for shop-floor handling in manufacturing. All of the constituent modules in the Manufacturing Suite (SAP ME, SAP MII and SAP PCo) now share a common release strategy.This reduces maintenance and upgrade effort for users of the SAP Manufacturing Suite. Particularly in cases where the various parts of the production unit happen to deploy different module sets from the Suite. Indeed, this is increasingly the situation: after all, not every part of production will need to deploy the entire set.For a business department, however, functional enhancements are much more important. A few examples are listed below, which underline SAP's strong commitment to enhancing standard

In November, SAP Germany presented the SAP Quality Awards 2014 in the SAP Arena, Mannheim. The "GOLD" winner in the category "Business Transformation" for 2014 was the wholesaler and retailer Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co., Hamburg, together with its SAP EWM (SAP Extended Warehouse Management) implementation partner IGZ, for its implementation of SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM) in the new distribution centre in Erlensee.Gebr. Heinemann and IGZ are very happy to have completed the successful rollout of SAP EWM (SAP Extended Warehouse Management) at the Erlensee logistics centre. A particular challenge in this very successful SAP EWM (SAP Extended Warehouse Management) project was the world's first realization of a highly dynamic material flow system with SAP EWM/MFS in a distribution

With the "Perfect Plant" initiative, SAP has made good on its promise to support its customers in their shop floor integration projects. The tools involved here are the familiar planning functions in SAP ERP/SAP SCM, in combination with the new shop floor integration functionality offered by SAP MII and manufacturing execution features from SAP ME. SAP users have responded positively to the SAP "Perfect Plant" initiative.The broad application spectrum for the SAP MII integration platform means that SAP functionality can be deployed directly, right down to the machines on the production floor.In addition to the core functions, i.e.– standardisation of connectivity to the shop floor layer (machinery and IT systems);– centralisation of ERP postings from production; and– standardised KPI

In July 2009, Falkenberg-based SAP Logistics integrators IGZ Logistics + IT GmbH were named one of Bavaria's Best 50 companies for the second year in a row. This honour was granted to the Falkenberg-based IT company on account of the continuous growth and positive business development it has experienced over the last five years. IGZ specialises in the implementation of manual and automated production and distribution logistics systems using the software suite from SAP AG.Every year, the Bavarian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport and Technology presents this coveted prize at an awards ceremony in Munich to the 50 best owner-managed companies in Bavaria. The coveted prize, in the shape of a Bavarian porcelain lion, was accepted along with a framed prize certificate by the two IGZ mana