An additional aisle was added to the existing high-bay warehouse, which required a complete overhaul of the storage strategy.
E-mobility is advancing—with thyssenkrupp playing a key role as a driving force. Within its Automotive Technology segment, the steel group operates the thyssenkrupp Automotive Body Solutions business unit, which employs over 2,100 people in the field of automotive body construction. It covers the entire product development process, from the preliminary development phase through to series production. Key to this are the latest innovations in automation and robotics—including at the Mühlacker site near Karlsruhe. This is where thyssenkrupp Automotive Body Solutions produces complete car bodies for the electric models of two well-known German automakers.
The body warehouse at the Baden-Württemberg production facility was expanded in 2023 to include a second aisle—which was then integrated into the existing conveyor system. These measures necessitated an expansion and optimization of the SAP Warehouse Management System already in use, which is why the body-in-white specialist turned to io. io’s planned solution: to expand and optimize the existing SAP EWM, including integrated material flow control (MFS). For this expansion of the SAP warehouse management system—which is integrated down to the PLC level—io served as a design and implementation partner throughout all phases of the project.
Ideal Solution for the Project Goal
As part of the optimization process, an additional aisle was added to the existing Karossen high-bay warehouse. This development necessitated a comprehensive adjustment of the putaway and retrieval strategy. “Our project goal centered on the question of how to get the car bodies into the high-bay warehouse using the existing conveyor system,” recalls Marco Lederle, Managing Director & Partner at io. He and his colleagues found the ideal solution by integrating a two-way handling system. “This allows the racks to be accessed both for putaway and in the opposite direction, for fully automated loading of parts onto trucks—all via the same conveyor system.”
Lederle considers the fact that, due to the tight schedule, no emulation was possible for extensive SAP offline tests to be the project’s greatest challenge. “We therefore focused our attention on comprehensive test management—without being able to test against an emulation, as is customary. In particular, we focused on the message flow and the interfaces, listing and thoroughly documenting all test cases.” This approach had just as positive an impact on the project’s success as the comprehensive design phase: No detail of the solution concept developed at the outset had to be adjusted along the way.
Complex requirements, tight deadlines
On top of that, great importance was placed on transparent project progress and open communication—through weekly updates on status, scheduling, and budget. And this continued right up to the end. The go-live went smoothly, allowing the entire project to be completed within the planned timeframe and budget—despite complex requirements and tight deadlines. This, of course, also pleases the client: “The successful SAP EWM/MFS enhancement led to a significant increase in throughput in our outbound process,” says Thorsten Becker, Head of Enterprise Solutions at thyssenkrupp Automotive Body Solutions. “We are very satisfied with the results and would like to thank the entire team at io and thyssenkrupp for their excellent collaboration.”
