Customer-oriented logistics
About it
Phoenix Contact S.p.A., a subsidiary of the German multinational company having the same name, has been operating in Italy since 1997 in the field of electric and electronic connection technology, signal conditioning and industrial automation. The parent company, founded in 1923, has today a production network of nine centres operating in three continents, 11,000 collaborators and 47 sales subsidiaries. The Italian office is in Cusano Milanino (MI) and employs about 90 people.
Objectives
Since 2011 Phoenix Contact Spa has adopted a new organization based on three sales segments for the development of targeted actions promoting the reference market growth. These segments concern: Device Connectors- Industrial Components and Electronics – Control and Industry Solutions. The opening of the Cesano Maderno-based warehouse, which involved the move and reorganisation of logistic activities previously performed in Cusano Milanino, is the result of a precise strategy decided by the company. The aim is to focus on the sale and service to customers. The new centre has been designed to better respond to the company’s future objectives, which include a better warehouse management for high-rotation items. Automation and flexibility are the main features of the logistic pole, which is already provided with sensors, motors, IP cameras for future enlargements with no need of additional Ethernet networks. The new warehouse has been sized to meet an expected increase of managed order lines by 47% within 2015. The other target of the company is to increase production by 80%.
The implemented solutions
The incoming items are recorded in the system via terminal by barcode reading, unloaded in the dedicated area and weighed to ensure a precise certification for all articles. Easystor WMS identifies the products for urgent delivery, and directly sends them to the shipping area through a conveyor line. This line is controlled by a PLC that reads the sensors and scanners placed along the plant and manages all motors via Profinet. The codes applied on every package are read by a scanner along the entire route, thus enabling their automatic sorting and the optimization of picking routes by the system. The various Phoenix Contact products are located in four storage macro areas, according to their rotation speed and sizes. In detail, the warehouse includes:- 3 vertical warehouses for very low rotation material,- gravity racks with pick-to-light system to manage high rotation references, static warehouse for medium rotation items (5 levels dedicated to picking, 5 dedicated to stock), adjustable pallet racks for bulky products. The warehouse is crossed by an order preparation line, a shipping area and a product assembly area.
Conclusions
The benefits deriving from the new logistic structure have been immediate: from 1,800 to 2,500 processed order lines, with the aim of reaching 2,700 and a 98% service level in terms of accurate and punctual deliveries.
