News from traceNET & the automated high-bay warehouse at Gemüsebau Steiner
Since 2021, a high-bay warehouse integrated into the traceNET ERP system has been optimising the processes of the Upper Bavarian vegetable producer. In an Austrian-German-Dutch cooperation, the project was set up in 6 months.
activeIT asked Gemüsebau Steiner´s Operations Manager for Packaging & Logistics, Sebastian Gruttauer and traceNET Head of Consulting, Andreas Reiterer, what they thought of the project process, the challenges and the renewed collaboration.
Austrian ERP system feat. Dutch high-bay warehouse - how did the collaboration between activeIT and KOAT work out?
Gruttauer: "Communication between activeIT and KOAT proved to be a bit of a challenge at the beginning, as both had different approaches. It was a little difficult for us at the beginning to find the best solution that worked for everyone. Nevertheless, after initial connection problems, the integration of traceNET went very well. The course of the project was generally as planned and in some places even easier than expected."
Reiterer: "The project itself was very exciting - integrating a third-party system always presents a certain challenge. From my point of view, there were two of them - on the one hand, the joint definition of what the interaction between traceNET and KOAT should look like and how it should be integrated into Steiner's processes, and on the other hand, communication with KOAT. Here, however, we were able to draw on the experience of Mr Corne Bol from KOAT, as he has already implemented several projects of this kind. The initial connection problems: The reason was the communication of the PLC with our server service - here we had to carry out some analyses during operation in order to find the cause of the problem. However, in cooperation with Mr Gruttauer, we were also able to resolve this issue."
What has improved through automation?
Gruttauer: "The high-bay warehouse offers several advantages. On the one hand, we have more storage space, and on the other, everything is now automated. The harvest is reliably registered by the pusher and booked into the high-bay warehouse via the pusher terminal. There is a function there that shows how many kilograms of which tomato variety are stored and how old the oldest goods are. That's great because I can see exactly what's there."
How has the work process changed as a result of integration into traceNET?
Gruttauer: "On the one hand, the FIFO principle is ensured by the integration. On the other hand, it makes work much easier for our employees. Previously, the crates of tomatoes had to be placed on the packaging line by hand - an extremely strenuous task. Since the integration, this has been done by a gripper. What's more, everything is much clearer and I can see what's there at the click of a mouse. The risk of losing the overview, i.e. overlooking goods and booking them in incorrectly, is therefore a thing of the past."
What is on the agenda for 2022 and what conclusions can you draw from the project?
Gruttauer: "Considering the complexity of this project, there were few problems immediately after the integration, with the exception of connection interruptions. Otherwise, everything worked well. Andreas Reiterer, Head of Consulting at traceNET, also gave me great advice when the whole concept for the communication was being developed. I had a lot of confidence in him, and rightly so!"
Reiterer: (laughs) "Thank you for the trust you have placed in us - it shows that the collaboration works really well - and that's the most important thing!"
Gruttauer: "Looking back, it wouldn't have been necessary to organise communication so comprehensively from the outset, as we didn't use all the modules from the start. This year, the last part of communication is definitely on the agenda. Namely, that the goods are ordered from the traceNET ProductionClient. At the moment, we still have a solution from KOAT."
Reiterer: "My summary is that the collaboration with Mr Gruttauer was - as always - very good. KOAT always endeavoured to drive the project forward and bring it to a good conclusion. It was a good Austrian-German-Dutch co-operation. I always find it exciting to see what new ideas our customers come up with and how a solution is then found together."
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