proLogistik Ensures Freshness in Warehouse Management at Klaas + Kock

The logistics software developer proLogistik GmbH + Co KG sets up a warehouse management software for the food retailer K+K Klaas + Kock B.V. & Co. KG. The software pL-Store® Foodline was chosen, a software solution whose proverbial specialty lies in the fact that all central applications for the food retail sector are already included in the standard.

(Dortmund/Gronau) For more than seven decades, K+K Klaas + Kock has been convincing with high-quality food and products from the region. But the topic of digitization is also a priority for the retail company. The latest milestone in the consistently pursued IT strategy is the implementation of a warehouse management system. With its help, processes in the field of intralogistics are aligned more efficiently and further flexibilized to be well-prepared for current and future challenges in a demanding market segment.

K+K Klaas + Kock B.V. & Co. KG is a family-owned company in the food retail sector (LEH). It all started in 1950 with a confectionery business. The first own “Tante-Emma-Laden” opened in 1955 in Gronau, Westphalia, by the founding partners Hans Klaas and Hermann Kock, offering a significantly expanded range. With a keen sense of the possible expansion rates associated with the onset of the discount wave, the merchants established a large store in Nordhorn just six years later. As a local supplier, K+K now operates more than 215 consumer markets in northwestern Germany. The main office, along with the attached central warehouse, is still located in Gronau – also known as the hometown of the legendary rock musician Udo Lindenberg during his lifetime.

Regional Strength as a Success Concept

More than 7,000 employees at K+K ensure that customers can rely on the quality and freshness promise. The range of staple goods is continuously supplemented with trend and seasonal products. In addition, meat and sausage specialties of the brand “drilander” are produced in the in-house large butcher shop. Furthermore, K+K has made a name for itself as one of the largest providers of reusable beverages in North Rhine-Westphalia. Currently, the selection includes around 18,000 different items, which are delivered to the sales points via a fleet of around 120 vehicles.

Regional strength is an essential building block of the success concept. At the same time, K+K utilizes the potentials of digitization to meet the ongoing expansion and to position the company more flexibly and efficiently. As early as 2011, an ERP solution was installed by GWS Gesellschaft für Warenwirtschafts-Systeme, Münster, with gevis ERP, which enabled numerous objectives to be achieved: optimized master data management, electronic invoice verification and management, as well as the processing of ordering processes via EDI and the internet. Additionally, there is a web shop through which supermarkets located within a radius of 150 km can order promotional goods directly.

Consistent Continuation of the Digitization Strategy

In 2016, the starting signal was given for the further development of IT infrastructures. “To meet the sensitivity of our consumers, we have always placed great importance on the highest food quality in conjunction with sustainability and transparency,” says Rob Verbunt, the project manager responsible for the digitization project LVS at K+K. “To ensure this sustainably and to operate economically securely at the same time, the logistical processes had to be designed and reorganized to be functionally secure. Therefore, K+K decided to implement a warehouse management system.”

The winner was pL-Store^® Foodline from proLogistik, a software solution for warehouse management. Its proverbial specialty is that all central applications for the food retail sector are already included in the standard. Highlights include online inventory management, options for parallel picking, shelf life management with monitoring of remaining shelf lives, space management including optimization procedures, and customer-specific labeling of goods.

“The decision in favor of proLogistik was also supported by the fact that the intralogistics system house could provide the necessary hardware from a single source, so we did not have to look for another provider,” Mr. Verbunt further notes. In addition, the warehouse management system (LVS) from proLogistik already has a standardized interface to the gevis ERP | NAV GWS Gesellschaft für Warenwirtschafts-Systeme, so that any connection problems could be excluded from the outset.

Phased Model Minimizes Commissioning Risks

Initial requirement specification discussions took place in July 2016. By March of the following year, the pL-Store^® Foodline LVS was put into operation for the first time. Since then, further go-lives of the warehouse management software have taken place or are ongoing. The phased model agreed upon between K+K and proLogistik provided for a total of ten commissioning phases: Initially, the goods receipt, forklift control, reserve space management, and picking in the dairy products area were successively activated. This was followed by tobacco products and the receiving processes for the dry goods. The great advantage of this approach is that the underlying complexity of the project can be reduced and risks minimized. Affected employees also benefit from “training on the job” and can gradually familiarize themselves with the new workflows. Another point: agility in requirement design. For example, it should be possible over the planned period to also consider new, customer-relevant specifications that arise from current incidents or tightened safety regulations in the LVS.

Industry LVS Enhanced with Individual Applications

Beyond the standard functions in pL-Store^® Foodline, proLogistik has implemented an additional function for multiple transports. This is significant for K+K because individual vehicles from the in-house forklift fleet can physically and systemically pick up multiple pallets simultaneously and drop them off at transfer points. There, the load carriers are picked up by other material handling equipment and distributed individually to assigned storage locations. Various exchange item procedures that need to be automated were also taken into account. Simply put: As soon as item A runs out and transitions to item B, the LVS automatically supports this transition without the need to synchronize stocks or documents.

There are also permanent exchange items. If items A and B are practically equivalent for customers, the system can automatically consider the stocks of both goods for delivery. Additionally, there is the “Auto-Cancellation” function. Since a manual cancellation is not feasible due to the volume of documents and the business relationships between the branch as a customer and the central warehouse as a supplier, non-deliverable quantities are automatically canceled under certain conditions to optimize processes.

Robust Hardware for Paperless Order Processing

Instead of using order lists to walk through or drive along the aisles of the central warehouse, employees today use mobile hardware “made in Germany” that has replaced the error-prone and time-consuming paper-based system. While handheld devices for barcode scanning are used for picking fresh goods, K+K relies on onboard computers for goods receipt, forklift control, and picking dry products. Devices of the type pro-V-pad from proLogistik are used. These are compact yet powerful industrial PCs. They feature a plastic housing resistant to (impact) shocks and an extremely stable, hardened, and wear-free capacitive touch surface. They are also protected by laminated safety glass, ensuring long-lasting, smooth operation. Not only functional but also investment security are the result.

Quality Promise Secured for the Future

With the introduction of a new ERP solution and the subsequent implementation of the warehouse management system pL-Store^® Foodline from proLogistik, the traditional retail company K+K Klaas + Kock B.V. & Co. KG, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, has taken decisive steps into the digital age. The customer is now free to decide to activate further processes in the future, so that ultimately all processes in the field of intralogistics, which are associated with a multitude of orders with various items on a daily basis, can be processed paperlessly.

Nevertheless, humans continue to play a crucial role. “Our warehouse staff also appreciates the system support, as many tasks are now easier and faster, and fewer errors occur,” summarizes K+K project manager Mr. Verbunt. Furthermore, remaining shelf lives or best-before dates (MHD) are no longer a problem, as they are subject to control by the LVS. “Not least, the gained transparency over all stocks in connection with reduced handling effort and improved supply security is important,” adds Rob Verbunt. Ultimately, K+K wants to remain close to the customer who places their trust in the retail company. Always full supermarket shelves with high-quality products, where food safety is also taken into account, are an indispensable requirement in conjunction with competent advice and friendly service.

Photo: Muck / proLogistik

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