How a leading global manufacturer of rail vehicles will modernise its new warehouse in Berlin with an automation solution from Movu.
Stadler Deutschland GmbH has been a manufacturer of rail vehicles for over 80 years and is one of the world’s market leaders in this field. Stadler manufactures railcars, light rail vehicles and locomotives. In Berlin, Stadler has been manufacturing vehicles for German transport companies for over 20 years and also provides service. In 2019, Stadler was awarded the contract to build metro cars for the Berlin public transport company.
Automation as an answer to a tight labor market and a shortage of space
As Stadler's new warehouse in Berlin is not only used by production but also the service department, reliable and punctual delivery of parts is essential, otherwise, production comes to a standstill.
Automation was necessary for several reasons:
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Labor shortage due to increased demand in the greater Berlin area.
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Warehouse optimization to increase throughput
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More efficient use of existing storage space
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To be able to handle strong growth
For Stadler, it was also important to optimize the physical strain on employees.
Future benefits of Movu escala for Stadler
One of the main reasons Stadler is choosing Movu escala was the system's ability to manage 21,000 SKUs with only 10,752 storage locations. This high storage density is achieved by stacking bins within the Movu escala system allowing handling of multiple bins per storage location. In addition, the high load capacity of the robots, which can move bins weighing up to 40 kg, played a decisive role.
Order picking and set compilation
The system has an integrated inbound station at the long side and two picking stations at the short side. The picking stations are served by 18 robots.
Here, sets are assembled for the destination points by the system providing one container each for picking and one for deposit at the picking stations. These are temporarily stored in an order buffer.
Space gain by eliminating aisles and lifts
Since the Movu escala robots move up and down on ramps, no separate lift is required. There is also no need for aisles for forklifts or stacker cranes. This results in an additional space gain, in addition to the double storage per storage location.
Easy scalability of storage capacity and performance
Movu escala is designed as a modular system that can be perfectly adapted to changes. Expanding the racking system creates any number of new storage locations in a very short time. Additional shuttles can be used to increase performance, raising the number of order lines to up to 350 per hour.
High system redundancy
Stadler has deliberately opted for a high level of redundancy in the system in order to guarantee punctual delivery to production at all times. The robustness of Movu escala is also due in part to the redundancy. Since all the robots can reach their destination via different routes, if a shuttle malfunctions they are able to bypass the area and still carry out their tasks.
An intelligent solution with great potential
In addition to the improvement in storage density of up to 200% and the increased SKU variety with a reduced footprint, the Movu escala system offers a good basis for further automation of the storage and picking processes thanks to its modular design.
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